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io.github.elyngved/failmodes

Official registry AI and agents

MCP server for the Fail Modes taxonomy — a knowledge base of AI system failure modes

Source code 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 failmodes 'https://www.failmodes.com/api/mcp'
JSON configuration (Claude Desktop, Cursor, VS Code) 
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "failmodes": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://www.failmodes.com/api/mcp"
        }
    }
}
NPM package failmodes-mcp
Claude Code 
claude mcp add failmodes -- npx -y failmodes-mcp@0.1.0
JSON configuration (Claude Desktop, Cursor, VS Code) 
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "failmodes": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "-y",
                "failmodes-mcp@0.1.0"
            ]
        }
    }
}

Documentation

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

Contents
  1. failmodes-mcp
  2. Tools
  3. Quick Start
  4. Configuration
  5. How It Works
  6. Links
  7. License

failmodes-mcp

MCP server for the Fail Modes taxonomy — a machine-readable knowledge base of AI system failure modes.

Provides four tools over 100+ canonical failure mode records spanning factuality, alignment, planning, code generation, instruction following, and more.

Tools

ToolDescription
search_failure_modesSearch by symptom text or keyword phrase. Returns ranked matches.
get_failure_modeRetrieve the full structured record for a failure mode by ID slug.
list_categoriesList all taxonomy categories with descriptions and mode counts.
list_modesList all modes, optionally filtered by category ID.

Quick Start

No installation required — run directly with npx:

npx failmodes-mcp

Configuration

Claude Desktop

Add to ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json (macOS) or %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json (Windows):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "failmodes": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "failmodes-mcp"]
    }
  }
}
Cursor / VS Code

Add to your MCP settings file:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "failmodes": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "failmodes-mcp"]
    }
  }
}
Remote (no install required)

A hosted Streamable HTTP version is also available — no npm package needed:

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

How It Works

On first tool call, the server fetches current taxonomy data from failmodes.com and caches it in memory for the duration of the session. Requires internet access.

The stdio transport makes this compatible with any MCP client that supports running local processes (Claude Desktop, Cursor, VS Code, etc.).

License

MIT

Frequently asked questions

What is io.github.elyngved/failmodes?

MCP server for the Fail Modes taxonomy — a knowledge base of AI system failure modes

How do I install io.github.elyngved/failmodes?

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

Does io.github.elyngved/failmodes 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 io.github.elyngved/failmodes open source?

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

Who maintains io.github.elyngved/failmodes?

It is published by elyngved. 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.