Needwing

Official registry Search and web

Grounded web and Agent-network research for any MCP client: answers with cited evidence.

Install

Add this to your client's MCP configuration (Claude Desktop: claude_desktop_config.json; Cursor: .cursor/mcp.json; VS Code and others use the same "mcpServers" shape).

Remote (streamable-http)
Claude Code
claude mcp add --transport http needwing 'https://needwing.ai/mcp/trial'
JSON configuration (Claude Desktop, Cursor, VS Code)
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "needwing": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://needwing.ai/mcp/trial"
        }
    }
}
Remote (streamable-http)
Claude Code
claude mcp add --transport http needwing 'https://needwing.ai/mcp'
JSON configuration (Claude Desktop, Cursor, VS Code)
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "needwing": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://needwing.ai/mcp"
        }
    }
}

Documentation

From the project's README on GitHub, refreshed weekly. Links open on GitHub.

Contents
  1. Needwing plugins
  2. Install
  3. Repository layout
  4. 中文说明(Chinese)
  5. Links
  6. License

Needwing plugins

Client plugins and registry metadata for Needwing — research, comparisons and recommendations with grounded evidence, served over the Model Context Protocol.

  • Remote MCP endpoint: https://needwing.ai/mcp (Streamable HTTP; MCP 2026-07-28 and the earlier initialize eras)
  • Authentication: OAuth 2.1 (PKCE S256; CIMD/DCR) discovered automatically from the endpoint's 401 WWW-Authenticate resource metadata — every manifest here is header-free, so the client runs the OAuth sign-in on first use — or a static Authorization: Bearer key (a named key afk_… or a workspace key)
  • Caller tools (scope research): needwing_ask, needwing_status, needwing_reply, needwing_evidence, needwing_stop
  • No account yet? The sign-in page offers “Try without an account” (research-only, small daily quota), or run client.py setup from the connect guide

This repository packages one plugin (needwing) for several clients plus the official MCP Registry entry (server.json).

Install

Claude Code (and Grok Build)
claude plugin marketplace add actionflow-team/needwing-plugins
claude plugin install needwing@needwing

or inside a session: /plugin marketplace add actionflow-team/needwing-plugins and /plugin install needwing@needwing. Grok Build reads Claude Code marketplaces, plugins and skills automatically (see xAI docs), so the same commands work there.

Codex
codex plugin marketplace add actionflow-team/needwing-plugins
codex plugin add needwing@needwing-plugins

Without plugins, add the remote server directly (OAuth: run codex mcp login needwing afterwards; key: export NEEDWING_API_KEY first):

# ~/.codex/config.toml
[mcp_servers.needwing]
url = "https://needwing.ai/mcp"
# bearer_token_env_var = "NEEDWING_API_KEY"   # key variant; omit for OAuth
Cursor

Open this one-click install link (generated by scripts/make-cursor-deeplink.mjs):

cursor://anysphere.cursor-deeplink/mcp/install?name=needwing&config=eyJ0eXBlIjoiaHR0cCIsInVybCI6Imh0dHBzOi8vbmVlZHdpbmcuYWkvbWNwIn0%3D

or paste into ~/.cursor/mcp.json (key variant shown; delete headers for OAuth):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "needwing": {
      "url": "https://needwing.ai/mcp",
      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer ${env:NEEDWING_API_KEY}" }
    }
  }
}
Gemini CLI
gemini extensions install https://github.com/actionflow-team/needwing-plugins

(or install from a local clone: gemini extensions install ./gemini-extension). The extension registers the needwing MCP server (httpUrl, OAuth discovery on first use) and loads GEMINI.md context with the Needwing research instructions. Key variant — add "headers": {"Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_KEY"} to the needwing entry in gemini-extension.json when installing from a local copy.

Claude Code key variant

The bundled .mcp.json has no headers, so Claude Code runs OAuth. To use a static key instead, edit the installed needwing server (or a project .mcp.json) to:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "needwing": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://needwing.ai/mcp",
      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer ${NEEDWING_API_KEY}" }
    }
  }
}

${NEEDWING_API_KEY} is expanded from your environment (MCP docs); set it before starting Claude Code. Never commit a literal key.

Repository layout

.claude-plugin/marketplace.json      Claude Code marketplace (plugin "needwing")
.agents/plugins/marketplace.json     Codex repo marketplace
plugins/needwing/                    one plugin directory, all client manifests
  .claude-plugin/plugin.json         Claude Code manifest
  .codex-plugin/plugin.json          Codex manifest
  .cursor-plugin/plugin.json         Cursor manifest
  .mcp.json                          MCP server config (Claude Code + Codex)
  skills/needwing/SKILL.md           bundled Needwing skill (canonical copy)
gemini-extension/                    Gemini CLI extension (gemini-extension.json + GEMINI.md)
server.json                          MCP Registry entry (ai.needwing/needwing)
scripts/                             validate / sync-skill / make-cursor-deeplink
docs/                                sources, publishing runbook

npm test validates every manifest: JSON parsing, required fields per format, that every MCP URL equals the fixed endpoint, that the bundled skill matches the hash in skills.lock.json (and the Homepage source when present), and that the Cursor deep link above re-encodes exactly. Requires Node.js ≥ 24, no dependencies.

The bundled skill is the canonical served skill (GET /api/connect/skill). Re-sync it after upstream changes with:

NODE_USE_ENV_PROXY=1 npm run sync-skill          # fetch from needwing.ai and update
node scripts/sync-skill.mjs --from-source        # offline: copy from the Homepage source tree

中文说明(Chinese)

Needwing 插件仓库为各大客户端提供同一套远程 MCP 接入配置与注册信息。

  • 远程 MCP 端点:https://needwing.ai/mcp(Streamable HTTP)
  • 认证:默认走 OAuth 2.1 登录(所有清单均不带请求头,客户端会自动发起 OAuth);也可改用 静态 Authorization: Bearer 密钥(具名密钥 afk_… 或工作区密钥)
  • 调用工具(research 范围):needwing_ask、needwing_status、needwing_reply、 needwing_evidence、needwing_stop
  • 没有账号?登录页提供 “无需账号试用”(仅研究用途,每日小额配额),或按 连接指南 运行 client.py setup

安装方式:

  • Claude Code / Grok Build:claude plugin marketplace add actionflow-team/needwing-plugins 然后 claude plugin install needwing@needwing
  • Codex:codex plugin marketplace add actionflow-team/needwing-plugins 然后 codex plugin add needwing@needwing-plugins
  • Cursor:点击上方一键安装链接,或把上面的 JSON 片段写入 ~/.cursor/mcp.json
  • Gemini CLI:gemini extensions install https://github.com/actionflow-team/needwing-plugins

npm test 校验所有清单格式、固定的 MCP URL、技能文件哈希与 Cursor 深链。插件文件采用 MIT 许可;Needwing 服务条款见 https://needwing.ai/terms,隐私说明见 https://needwing.ai/privacy。

License

MIT for the plugin files in this repository. Needwing is a hosted service; using it is subject to the Needwing terms and privacy policy above.

Frequently asked questions

What is Needwing?

Grounded web and Agent-network research for any MCP client: answers with cited evidence.

How do I install Needwing?

It runs as a remote server. In Claude Code: claude mcp add --transport http needwing 'https://needwing.ai/mcp/trial'. For other clients, paste the JSON configuration from this page into their MCP settings.

Does Needwing need an API key?

Its registry entry lists no required key or secret. Some features may still need an account with the service it connects to.

Is Needwing open source?

Yes. Its code is on GitHub under the MIT license.

Who maintains Needwing?

It is published by actionflow-team. AI.tn lists it but does not maintain or endorse it.

From the official MCP Registry. Listing is not an endorsement: review a server's code and permissions before giving it access to your data.