Penny Press

by con-scribe · remote · no sign-in to list tools · v1.0.1 · published by GitHub user con-scribe

Short essays and fragments. Free for humans; machines pay pennies per read via x402.

Final · 2Changes · 3

Compare Registry entry

7 tools: 2 do something that can't be undone, 3 change things and 2 only read.

Scanned Oct 21, 2026

Deletes or cancels0Claude Code: deny
Can't be undone2Claude Code: ask: see these tools
Changes things3Claude Code: ask: see these tools
Only reads2Claude Code: allow: see these tools

2 checks matched something in the tool definitions. No finding is not a safety guarantee. How the checks work.

claude mcp add --transport http penny-press https://www.pennypress.org/mcp

Findings

Matches of fixed checks, with the text they matched.

2 warn

Warnessay_payment_info
The server marks "essay_payment_info" read-only (readOnlyHint: true), and its own name, description or input give the class "irreversible".
Matched text
annotations: {"readOnlyHint":true,"destructiveHint":false,"idempotentHint":true,"openWorldHint":false}; The name "essay_payment_info" says "payment": a word that usually means money moves, which cannot be taken back.
What this check looks for
Warnlexicon_snapshot_info
The server marks "lexicon_snapshot_info" read-only (readOnlyHint: true), and its own name, description or input give the class "irreversible".
Matched text
annotations: {"readOnlyHint":true,"destructiveHint":false,"idempotentHint":true,"openWorldHint":false}; The name "lexicon_snapshot_info" says "snapshot": a word for reading.
What this check looks for

Tools

Open a tool for its reasons and full description. Descriptions are the publisher's own words, shown as they are.

7 tools

Can't be undone 2Sends, pays, publishes or merges: once done, it cannot be taken back.Claude Code: ask

essay_payment_infoGet the x402 payment details for one essay (price, network, asset, recipient wallet) so a machine buyer knows how to pay.1 finding
Why it is in this group
- The name "essay_payment_info" says "payment": a word that usually means money moves, which cannot be taken back.
- The server marks it read-only (readOnlyHint: true), but an annotation never lowers a class.
Findings
- Warn
  The server marks "essay_payment_info" read-only (readOnlyHint: true), and its own name, description or input give the class "irreversible".
  Matched text
  annotations: {"readOnlyHint":true,"destructiveHint":false,"idempotentHint":true,"openWorldHint":false}; The name "essay_payment_info" says "payment": a word that usually means money moves, which cannot be taken back.
  What this check looks for
Description, as the server wrote it
Get the x402 payment details for one essay (price, network, asset, recipient wallet) so a machine buyer knows how to pay.
Annotations the server declares
- readOnlyHint: true
- destructiveHint: false
- idempotentHint: true
- openWorldHint: false
lexicon_snapshot_infoPayment details for the Penny Press Lexicon full dataset snapshot ($0.25): every author-defined term with part of speech, definition, verbatim usage example, and source essays, as …1 finding
Why it is in this group
- The name "lexicon_snapshot_info" says "snapshot": a word for reading.
- The description's first verb is "payment": a word that usually means money moves, which cannot be taken back.
- The server marks it read-only (readOnlyHint: true), but an annotation never lowers a class.
Findings
- Warn
  The server marks "lexicon_snapshot_info" read-only (readOnlyHint: true), and its own name, description or input give the class "irreversible".
  Matched text
  annotations: {"readOnlyHint":true,"destructiveHint":false,"idempotentHint":true,"openWorldHint":false}; The name "lexicon_snapshot_info" says "snapshot": a word for reading.
  What this check looks for
Description, as the server wrote it
Payment details for the Penny Press Lexicon full dataset snapshot ($0.25): every author-defined term with part of speech, definition, verbatim usage example, and source essays, as versioned JSON.
Annotations the server declares
- readOnlyHint: true
- destructiveHint: false
- idempotentHint: true
- openWorldHint: false

Changes things 3Creates or changes something that can be changed back.Claude Code: ask

common_cents_infoOverview of Common Cents, the Penny Press collection of 20 author-curated quotations in five themed clusters: the themes, quote count, and payment info for the $0.01 full machine-r…No findings
Why it is in this group
- Nothing in its name or description says what it does, so it is counted as a write.
- The server marks it read-only (readOnlyHint: true), but an annotation never lowers a class.
Description, as the server wrote it
Overview of Common Cents, the Penny Press collection of 20 author-curated quotations in five themed clusters: the themes, quote count, and payment info for the $0.01 full machine-readable set.
Annotations the server declares
- readOnlyHint: true
- destructiveHint: false
- idempotentHint: true
- openWorldHint: false
witness_attest_infoHow to attest a work's fingerprint with LitWit ($0.05): what to submit, what the tamper-evident receipt contains, and the x402 payment details.No findings
Why it is in this group
- Nothing in its name or description says what it does, so it is counted as a write.
- The server marks it read-only (readOnlyHint: true), but an annotation never lowers a class.
Description, as the server wrote it
How to attest a work's fingerprint with LitWit ($0.05): what to submit, what the tamper-evident receipt contains, and the x402 payment details. The service never sees your work — only its hash.
Annotations the server declares
- readOnlyHint: true
- destructiveHint: false
- idempotentHint: true
- openWorldHint: false
witness_verifyCheck whether a SHA-256 content hash has been witnessed by LitWit, the Penny Press literary notary.No findings
Why it is in this group
- Nothing in its name or description says what it does, so it is counted as a write.
- The server marks it read-only (readOnlyHint: true), but an annotation never lowers a class.
Description, as the server wrote it
Check whether a SHA-256 content hash has been witnessed by LitWit, the Penny Press literary notary. Free. Returns the matching attestation entries (entry id, sequence, timestamp, title) or an empty result.
Annotations the server declares
- readOnlyHint: true
- destructiveHint: false
- idempotentHint: true
- openWorldHint: false

Only reads 2Looks things up and changes nothing.Claude Code: allow

lexicon_lookupLook up a term in the Penny Press Lexicon (the author's own definitions of his political-economy vocabulary).No findings
Why it is in this group
- The name "lexicon_lookup" says "lookup": a word for reading.
Description, as the server wrote it
Look up a term in the Penny Press Lexicon (the author's own definitions of his political-economy vocabulary). Returns free metadata — part of speech and the essays where the term appears — plus payment info for the $0.01 full definition.
Annotations the server declares
- readOnlyHint: true
- destructiveHint: false
- idempotentHint: true
- openWorldHint: false
list_essaysList all published essays and fragments: titles, descriptions, prices, and reading URLs.No findings
Why it is in this group
- The name "list_essays" says "list": a word for reading.
Description, as the server wrote it
List all published essays and fragments: titles, descriptions, prices, and reading URLs. Full text is free for humans at /read/{slug}; machine reads at /essays/{slug} are paid via x402 (USDC on Base).
Annotations the server declares
- readOnlyHint: true
- destructiveHint: false
- idempotentHint: true
- openWorldHint: false

This is not a safety rating, and no finding is not a safety guarantee. The groups and findings come from fixed checks of the tool definitions the server returned on the date shown, not from its code or what it does when called. How the checks work.

Install

Pinned to version 1.0.1. Values in angle brackets are yours to fill in.

claude mcp add --transport http penny-press https://www.pennypress.org/mcp

Run in a terminal.

Claude Code permissions

Allow the reads, ask before a change, deny the deletes. Paste into .claude/settings.json.

.claude/settings.json

{
  "permissions": {
    "allow": [
      "mcp__penny-press__list_essays",
      "mcp__penny-press__lexicon_lookup"
    ],
    "ask": [
      "mcp__penny-press__essay_payment_info",
      "mcp__penny-press__lexicon_snapshot_info",
      "mcp__penny-press__common_cents_info",
      "mcp__penny-press__witness_verify",
      "mcp__penny-press__witness_attest_info"
    ],
    "deny": []
  }
}

Tools that only read are allowed, tools that change things ask first, tools that delete or cancel are denied. It assumes the server is installed as penny-press. Review it before you use it.

Keep track

Get told when this server's tools change: a new tool, a new description, a new class.

https://anlyon.dev/servers/io.github.con-scribe/penny-press/changes.xml

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Anlyon alternative

5 of these tools change something. Run those as governed actions.

Declare what an action changes, and Anlyon puts it under a shared limit, binds every approval to the exact request, and grades the outcome. It works on any HTTPS API you can describe as an action.

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Source: MCP Registry. Synced Oct 21, 2026, 18:28 UTC.

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