🤝 The Emissary — Summon a Server of the Pact (MCP)
An Emissary of the Pact is an MCP server: not an inert spell you read, but a
live process or endpoint your harness connects to, whose tools then become
yours (its Channels). Binding one therefore runs code and often hands
over secrets — so this rite only ever discovers and proposes. The conjurer
alone approves the binding. (Lexicon: Pact → Emissary → Channels.)
You do not clone or vendor an Emissary. You find its metadata, weigh its
house, and hand the conjurer the exact words to summon it themselves.
The Rite of Summoning
Seek. Find candidate Emissaries for the capability — the official MCP
Registry searches server-side, so this is one call, not a crawl:
- Run the bundled search — a tiny, dependency-free helper over the live
Registry (the canonical catalogue). Run it, or read it and re-express it in
bash / PowerShell / JS — it is only one HTTP GET:
python3 scripts/find-emissary.py <keyword> # e.g. notion, "github issues"
The raw call it makes, if you would rather not run the script:curl -s "https://registry.modelcontextprotocol.io/v0/servers?search=<keyword>&version=latest" \
| jq '.servers[].server | {name, description, remotes, packages, repository}'
- Browse the directories in
references/sources.md
— the awesome-list, PulseMCP, Smithery — for breadth and reviews, then open
each link to the real repo.
Choose by house, not by stars. Prefer the first-party Emissary — the
service's own official server. Failing that, an accountable, maintained
source. A viral community server is still street magic: read how far its code
reaches before you trust it.
Read its binding-terms. From the server's server.json (or its README):
how it connects — a remote endpoint (streamable-http / sse URL) or a
package to launch locally (npx / uvx / docker) — and what it
demands: environment secrets, API keys, OAuth scopes.
Propose — do not bind. Present to the conjurer, plainly:
- what the Emissary is and whose house made it,
- its Channels (the tools it exposes) and what access / secrets it needs —
work these out yourself from the Emissary's repo, README, or registry entry;
no script does this for you, and the definitive list enumerates the moment it
is connected,
- the exact way to add it for their harness, e.g.
- Claude Code:
claude mcp add <name> -- npx -y <package>
- or the JSON block for
.mcp.json / Cursor / VS Code,
- or the remote URL and its OAuth flow.
Then STOP. Do not run the command, open the connection, or write any
secret into a config file or the repo.
The conjurer binds it. Only the user performs the add and supplies the
secrets. Confirm it connected, then labour on with the new Channels in hand.
Wards
- An Emissary acts with your reach and your credentials. Vet its house
before binding; grant least privilege — only the scopes and secrets the
task truly needs.
- The Scrying Ward cannot help you here. That ward scans inert spells for
dark magic; a running Emissary executes code it never sees. Trust is the
conjurer's to grant, deliberately.
- Prefer official remotes with proper OAuth over piping an unknown install
script to a shell. Never paste a secret you cannot rotate.
- Never auto-connect. Discovery is yours; the binding is always the user's.
Find the Emissary, weigh its house, hand over the words — and let the conjurer
open the door. 🕯️
Companion: [[the-grimoire]] finds spells; the-emissary finds Emissaries.
1---2name: the-emissary3description: Find and connect an MCP server — an "Emissary of the Pact" — when the agent needs a tool, service, API, or data source it does not already have. Use when the user asks for an MCP server, to connect to or integrate an external service (Notion, GitHub, Figma, a database, Slack, a SaaS API…), asks "is there an MCP for X", "add an MCP", or sets a task that needs live tools the agent lacks. This rite DISCOVERS a server from the official MCP Registry and reputable directories and PROPOSES its connection config for the user to approve — it NEVER installs, launches, or writes credentials on its own. The companion to the-grimoire: that finds spells (inert skills); this finds Emissaries (live tool-servers).4---56# 🤝 The Emissary — Summon a Server of the Pact (MCP)78An **Emissary of the Pact** is an MCP server: not an inert spell you *read*, but a9**live process or endpoint** your harness *connects to*, whose tools then become10yours (its **Channels**). Binding one therefore **runs code** and often **hands11over secrets** — so this rite only ever **discovers and proposes**. The conjurer12alone approves the binding. *(Lexicon: Pact → Emissary → Channels.)*1314You do **not** clone or vendor an Emissary. You find its metadata, weigh its15house, and hand the conjurer the exact words to summon it themselves.1617## The Rite of Summoning18191. **Seek.** Find candidate Emissaries for the capability — the official MCP20 Registry searches **server-side**, so this is one call, not a crawl:21 - **Run the bundled search** — a tiny, dependency-free helper over the live22 Registry (the canonical catalogue). Run it, or read it and re-express it in23 bash / PowerShell / JS — it is only one HTTP GET:24 ```bash25 python3 scripts/find-emissary.py <keyword> # e.g. notion, "github issues"26 ```27 The raw call it makes, if you would rather not run the script:28 ```bash29 curl -s "https://registry.modelcontextprotocol.io/v0/servers?search=<keyword>&version=latest" \30 | jq '.servers[].server | {name, description, remotes, packages, repository}'31 ```32 - **Browse the directories** in [`references/sources.md`](references/sources.md)33 — the awesome-list, PulseMCP, Smithery — for breadth and reviews, then open34 each link to the real repo.35362. **Choose by house, not by stars.** Prefer the **first-party Emissary** — the37 service's own official server. Failing that, an accountable, maintained38 source. A viral community server is still street magic: read how far its code39 reaches before you trust it.40413. **Read its binding-terms.** From the server's `server.json` (or its README):42 *how* it connects — a **remote** endpoint (`streamable-http` / `sse` URL) or a43 **package** to launch locally (`npx` / `uvx` / `docker`) — and *what* it44 demands: environment secrets, API keys, OAuth scopes.45464. **Propose — do not bind.** Present to the conjurer, plainly:47 - what the Emissary is and **whose house** made it,48 - its **Channels** (the tools it exposes) and what access / secrets it needs —49 work these out yourself from the Emissary's repo, README, or registry entry;50 no script does this for you, and the definitive list enumerates the moment it51 is connected,52 - the **exact** way to add it for *their* harness, e.g.53 - Claude Code: `claude mcp add <name> -- npx -y <package>`54 - or the JSON block for `.mcp.json` / Cursor / VS Code,55 - or the remote URL and its OAuth flow.5657 Then **STOP.** Do not run the command, open the connection, or write any58 secret into a config file or the repo.59605. **The conjurer binds it.** Only the user performs the add and supplies the61 secrets. Confirm it connected, then labour on with the new Channels in hand.6263## Wards6465- **An Emissary acts with your reach and your credentials.** Vet its house66 before binding; grant **least privilege** — only the scopes and secrets the67 task truly needs.68- **The Scrying Ward cannot help you here.** That ward scans *inert spells* for69 dark magic; a running Emissary executes code it never sees. Trust is the70 conjurer's to grant, deliberately.71- **Prefer official remotes with proper OAuth** over piping an unknown install72 script to a shell. Never paste a secret you cannot rotate.73- **Never auto-connect.** Discovery is yours; the binding is always the user's.7475*Find the Emissary, weigh its house, hand over the words — and let the conjurer76open the door.* 🕯️7778Companion: [[the-grimoire]] finds spells; the-emissary finds Emissaries.
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