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MCP Overview

The Model Context Protocol (MCP) is an open standard that lets AI agents discover and use tools through a unified interface. RickyData operates an MCP Gateway that hosts thousands of MCP servers, so you can connect once and access all of them.

What the MCP Gateway provides

  • One endpoint, thousands of tools — connect to https://mcp.rickydata.org/mcp and discover tools via gateway meta-tools
  • No local installation — servers run on-demand in the cloud, no npm install per tool
  • Wallet-scoped identity — your secrets, enablement state, and spending are isolated to your wallet
  • Pay-per-use — tool discovery is free; execution costs $0.0005 USDC per call via x402
  • Hardware-backed security — servers run on AMD SEV-SNP Confidential VMs with execution proofs
5,000+ toolsx402 nativeTEE-attestedWallet-scopedOpt-in discovery

How it works

Your client
Claude Code, Cursor, SDK...
rickydata gateway
Auth · routing · x402
MCP server
Tool definitions
Tool
Live data, compute, APIs
JSON-RPC over HTTPStreaming · SSEPer-call x402 settlementSigned attestations

When you connect an MCP client to the gateway, tools/list returns five gateway meta-tools (gateway__search_servers, gateway__enable_server, gateway__disable_server, gateway__list_enabled, gateway__server_info). These let your AI agent search the marketplace, enable servers, and manage its tool inventory. Once a server is enabled, its tools also appear in tools/list.

When you connect an MCP client to the gateway, tools/list returns the five gateway meta-tools. These let your AI agent search the marketplace, enable servers, and manage its tool inventory. Once a server is enabled, its tools also appear in tools/list.

Connect in 30 seconds

# Claude Code
claude mcp add --transport http mcp-gateway https://mcp.rickydata.org/mcp

# Or with auth
claude mcp add --transport http mcp-gateway https://mcp.rickydata.org/mcp \
--header "Authorization:Bearer mcpwt_..."

For other clients, see the Quickstart (Web) guide.

Discovery model

The gateway uses an opt-in discovery model:

  1. tools/list always returns the 5 gateway meta-tools
  2. Server tools only appear after you explicitly enable them
  3. Enablement is scoped to your wallet or session

This prevents tool list explosion — you see only what you've chosen to activate.

Session scoping

Enablement state is keyed by (in order of precedence):

  1. Wallet + X-MCP-Session header (most specific)
  2. Wallet only
  3. X-MCP-Session header only
  4. Auto-generated anonymous session

Wallet-scoped sessions auto-hydrate from previously configured secrets, so servers you've set up before become available without re-enabling.

Pricing

ActionCost
Browsing, searching, tools/listFree
MCP tool call$0.0005 USDC
Free tier100 requests/day (tool calls count as 0.25 each)

All payments use USDC on Base mainnet (chain ID 8453) via the x402 protocol.

Next steps