---
title: "MCP discovery, how servers are found — StudioMeyer Academy"
description: "Directories, marketplaces, .well-known/mcp. How the MCP ecosystem actually works."
canonical: "https://studiomeyer.academy/en/lernwege/fuer-entwickler/lektionen/06-mcp-discovery-und-marketplaces"
language: en
image: "https://studiomeyer.academy/og/academy-og-share.png"
publisher: "StudioMeyer Academy, https://studiomeyer.academy (llms.txt: https://studiomeyer.academy/llms.txt)"
---

## Why this is its own lesson

You know what MCP is, how to set up servers, and how memory is portable. What's missing: where do you find good servers? And when you build your own in Level 6, how does anyone find it?

## The three directories that matter

**1\. modelcontextprotocol.io (spec + reference servers)**, the official spec site, with a curated list of reference servers at `github.com/modelcontextprotocol/servers`. Not a classic listing directory, but the source the spec and Anthropic's own docs point to.

**2\. Claude Connectors (in Claude Desktop + claude.ai)**, built-in connector lists from 2026. One-click install, pre-configured OAuth.

**3\. MCPize Marketplace (`mcpize.com`)**, commercial, specialized in hosted HTTP servers.

Alongside there are community lists on GitHub (`modelcontextprotocol/servers` and `awesome-mcp-servers`).

## The protocol under the hood, RFC 9728

For a while there was a rumor about a `.well-known/mcp` endpoint. It doesn't exist. What the official MCP spec (state `2025-06-18`) actually defines is `/.well-known/oauth-protected-resource` per [RFC 9728](https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc9728), OAuth Protected Resource Metadata. That's the discovery mechanism for HTTP MCP servers secured with OAuth 2.1.

When a client hits your MCP server domain, it asks for OAuth metadata first:

```
https://your-domain.com/.well-known/oauth-protected-resource
```

Response is JSON per RFC 9728:

```json
{
  "resource": "https://your-domain.com/mcp",
  "authorization_servers": [
    "https://your-domain.com"
  ],
  "scopes_supported": ["mcp:tools"],
  "bearer_methods_supported": ["header"]
}
```

The client now knows the authorization server, runs the OAuth 2.1 flow with PKCE, and then talks to the actual MCP endpoint (`/mcp`) with a bearer token.

Current spec version is `2025-06-18`. Earlier drafts (`2024-11-05`, `2025-03-26`) are obsolete. Building a `.well-known/mcp` endpoint means building something no client will ever fetch.

## Stdio servers (npm) vs HTTP servers (discovery)

**Stdio servers** run locally with the user (`npx -y my-server`). Discovery via npm + docs + directory listing.

**HTTP servers** run centrally. Should expose `.well-known/mcp` so users only type the domain.

## For publishers, where to list

When you build your own MCP server in Level 6, discovery is half the battle:

- **npm publish** (10 minutes)
- **GitHub README + awesome-mcp-servers PR** (30 minutes)
- **modelcontextprotocol/servers pull request** (GitHub PR to the official reference list, a few days of review)
- **MCPize Marketplace** (1 hour setup)
- **Claude Connector** (submission + Anthropic review)

## Practice, two servers to look at

1. **Sequential Thinking** (Anthropic, stdio + npm).
2. **Brave Search MCP** (stdio + npm).

Both have READMEs that exemplify how to document MCP servers.

## What you have now

The ecosystem picture. As a user you know where to find servers. As a future publisher you know where to put yours.

## Update 2026-04-28: hook bundles as a distribution class

With Claude Code v2.1.118 (`type: "mcp_tool"` hooks, see Lesson 10), a new distribution class emerges: hook-recipe plugins. Instead of publishing a whole MCP server, users publish pre-configured hook bundles for existing servers (Memory, CRM, GEO, etc.). One `claude plugin install studiomeyer-memory-hooks` and the user has all 4 Memory hooks active without manually editing settings.json.

Marketplaces like `studiomeyer-marketplace` list these alongside MCP servers. Each plugin needs: `plugin.json`, `README.md` with idempotency check + GDPR note, `tests/` with smoke test. The five bundles for our SaaS MCPs are recipes in Phase 16 (`/recipes/16.1-mcp-tool-hook-intro` through `16.5-academy-hook-bundle`). Copy-paste them into settings.json today, plugin packaging is in the pipeline.

## Sources

- [MCP Authorization Spec (2025-06-18)](https://modelcontextprotocol.io/specification/2025-06-18/basic/authorization), the official spec for OAuth Protected Resource Metadata
- [RFC 9728, OAuth 2.0 Protected Resource Metadata](https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc9728), the IETF document the MCP spec points to
- [modelcontextprotocol/servers](https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/servers), reference server list
- [awesome-mcp-servers](https://github.com/punkpeye/awesome-mcp-servers), community list
- [MCPize Marketplace](https://mcpize.com), commercial listing for hosted HTTP servers

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For developers · Module 1 of 1

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