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Thrifle

Official registry E-commerce

US return policies, price-match rules, discounts, deals and Amazon price verdicts. Read-only.

Source code Website Documentation

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 thrifle 'https://api.thrifle.com/api/mcp'
JSON configuration (Claude Desktop, Cursor, VS Code) 
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "thrifle": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://api.thrifle.com/api/mcp"
        }
    }
}

Documentation

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

Contents
  1. Thrifle MCP server
  2. What you can ask
  3. Connect it
  4. Try it from a terminal
  5. Run it yourself
  6. How it is built
  7. Fair use and licensing
  8. Links

Thrifle MCP server

US return policies, price-match rules, discounts, deals, credit-card terms and Amazon buy-or-wait verdicts — as read-only tools for Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor and any MCP client.

https://api.thrifle.com/api/mcp

No auth. No signup. 24 tools. Every answer links to the thrifle.com page it comes from.

What you can ask

ToolExample
get_return_policyWhat is Costco's return policy on a laptop?
compare_return_policiesIs it easier to return to Target or Walmart?
search_return_policiesWhich furniture stores offer free returns?
get_price_match_policyDoes Best Buy price match Amazon?
who_will_price_matchWho will match this Amazon price on a TV?
get_merchant_discounts · search_discountsDoes Home Depot have a military discount?
get_cancellation_guideHow do I cancel Planet Fitness?
get_birthday_freebie · search_birthday_freebiesWhat does Starbucks give you on your birthday?
search_deals · get_deal · get_deal_of_the_day · get_store_dealsIs there a deal on AirPods Pro right now?
predict_amazon_priceShould I buy this Amazon product now or wait?
search_credit_cards · get_credit_card · get_store_credit_cardsDoes the Lowe's card use deferred interest?
get_money_monitor · get_price_pulseWhat is the average credit-card APR right now?
check_product_recallsHas this product been recalled?
about_thrifleWhat is Thrifle and what does it cover?

The data behind these tools: a return-policy database covering 2,250 US retailers with an A+–D− grade computed from the policy's own terms, price-match and price-adjustment policies, military/student discount programmes, birthday offers, cancellation guides, a curated deal feed, a credit-card database built from issuer pricing pages, and price history for hundreds of thousands of Amazon products. All of it is editor-verified and every record carries a last_verified date.

Connect it

Claude.ai / Claude Desktop (every plan; Free allows one custom connector) Settings → Connectors → Add custom connector → paste the URL → leave authentication empty.

Claude Code

claude mcp add --transport http thrifle https://api.thrifle.com/api/mcp

ChatGPT — Settings → Apps & Connectors → Create (developer mode) → paste the URL, no authentication.

Cursor — click the badge above, or add to ~/.cursor/mcp.json:

{ "mcpServers": { "thrifle": { "url": "https://api.thrifle.com/api/mcp" } } }

VS Code — click the badge above, or code --add-mcp '{"name":"thrifle","type":"http","url":"https://api.thrifle.com/api/mcp"}'.

Perplexity (+ Custom connector → Remote), Grok (grok.com/connectors → Custom), Mistral Le Chat (Connectors → Custom MCP Connector), Gemini CLI (httpUrl under mcpServers), Gemini Enterprise (Manage team → Connected apps → Add MCP Server) all accept the same URL.

Claude Code plugin — this repo is also a Claude Code plugin (.claude-plugin/plugin.json, .mcp.json, and a thrifle-shopping skill that teaches the model which tool answers which question).

Try it from a terminal

curl -s https://api.thrifle.com/api/mcp | jq .tools

curl -s -X POST https://api.thrifle.com/api/mcp \
  -H 'content-type: application/json' -H 'accept: application/json, text/event-stream' \
  -d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"tools/call","params":{"name":"get_return_policy","arguments":{"merchant":"Costco"}}}'

Run it yourself

git clone https://github.com/ejazmu/thrifle-mcp && cd thrifle-mcp
npm install
npm start          # http://127.0.0.1:8787/mcp, reading Thrifle's public API
npm test           # 17 protocol + shaping fixtures, no network needed

This is the same code that serves api.thrifle.com/api/mcp. THRIFLE_API_BASE points it at a different API base; MCP_RATE_PER_MIN / MCP_RATE_PER_DAY set the per-IP limits; MCP_API_KEYS (comma-separated) lists keys that bypass them via Authorization: Bearer.

How it is built

  • Stateless Streamable HTTP. One McpServer + transport per request, JSON responses, no sessions — nothing to resume, nothing shared between callers, nothing for a CDN to buffer. GET on the endpoint returns a human-readable discovery document.
  • Tools call Thrifle's public REST API, never a database. That keeps the MCP answer identical to the website's answer: affiliate-link handling, expired-deal rules and serve-time grading all apply automatically. src/api-client.js is a 60-line loopback fetch.
  • Shapers, not raw payloads. src/shape.js turns each API response into the facts plus the canonical thrifle.com url and a cite block, and drops internal fields. Pure functions, all covered by fixtures.
  • Read-only by construction. Every tool declares readOnlyHint: true; the catalogue in src/tools.js has no write path.
  • Price verdicts never trigger a live fetch — they read the tracked-price database only.

Fair use and licensing

Free for assistants answering a person's question: 60 calls a minute and 1,500 a day per address. Bulk or commercial use is licensed — see thrifle.com/data-licensing; a licence comes with a key that lifts the limits. Deal buy_url values are thrifle.com redirects and may be affiliate links.

Docs: https://thrifle.com/mcp · Return-policy database: https://thrifle.com/return-policy · Price Predict: https://thrifle.com/price-predict · Money: https://thrifle.com/money · Contact: hello@thrifle.com

MIT licensed. © 2026 Thrifle Technologies LLC.

Frequently asked questions

What is Thrifle?

US return policies, price-match rules, discounts, deals and Amazon price verdicts. Read-only.

How do I install Thrifle?

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

Does Thrifle 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 Thrifle open source?

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

Who maintains Thrifle?

It is published by ejazmu. 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.