Smithery
Open marketplace for MCP servers - distribution, analytics, and a protocol-compliant gateway. Positions itself as the largest MCP server marketplace. A registry, not a host: you deploy, Smithery distributes.
What it is
Smithery helps developers distribute MCP servers. Publishing on Smithery gives a server a dedicated page where users can discover, try, and install it from any MCP client. It bills itself as the largest open marketplace for MCP servers. Critically, Smithery is a registry, not a hosting provider - the developer deploys the server elsewhere (Vercel, Cloudflare, Val Town, etc.) and registers its public HTTPS URL. Source: Smithery Docs, https://smithery.ai/docs/build, 2026-05-31 Source: xmcp Docs, https://xmcp.dev/docs/discoverability/smithery, 2026-05-31
What it adds on top of a raw server
- Distribution - a discoverable server page with install instructions for any client.
- Analytics - tracks tool calls and usage patterns so authors see how their server is used.
- Smithery Gateway - for Streamable HTTP servers, a proxy that handles MCP protocol compliance, metadata enrichment, and caching automatically.
- OAuth UI - automatic authentication-modal generation for servers that need user config or API keys.
- Publishing paths - register a remote server by URL, or publish an MCPB bundle for a local stdio server. Source: Smithery Docs, https://smithery.ai/docs/build, 2026-05-31
Where it fits
Smithery layers discovery, analytics, and an OAuth-aware gateway on top of the protocol-level MCP Registry. For Kevin, who works at an MCP-centric company (Dedalus Labs), Smithery is both a competitor reference point and a distribution channel: a server Kevin builds (for example via Remote MCP Server or Val Town) can be published to Smithery for reach and usage telemetry. Runtime governance over which Smithery-listed servers an agent may invoke is a separate concern handled by Golf - MCP Agent Security.
Timeline
- 2025 | Smithery grew into one of the most-referenced MCP marketplaces during the post-launch MCP ecosystem expansion, predating the official registry's GA. Source: Smithery Docs, https://smithery.ai/docs/build, 2026-05-31
- 2026-05-31 | Tool page created. Smithery documented as a registry-plus-gateway: deploy elsewhere, publish by URL, gateway proxies Streamable HTTP with auto compliance, caching, and OAuth UI. Source: Smithery Docs, https://smithery.ai/docs/build + xmcp Docs, https://xmcp.dev/docs/discoverability/smithery, 2026-05-31