MCP server

Use Payload Directory from your AI agent

Payload Directory is also a Model Context Protocol server. Connect it to Claude, Cursor, VS Code or any MCP client, and your agent can find, inspect and compare Payload plugins and templates while it works on your project, with the same up-to-date data as this site.

Free
No sign-up or API key
Read-only
Plugins and templates

Endpoint (Streamable HTTP)

https://payloaddirectory.dev/api/mcp

Set it up

Claude Code

Run in your terminal

claude mcp add --transport http payload-directory https://payloaddirectory.dev/api/mcp

Claude Desktop and claude.ai

Open Settings → Connectors → Add custom connector, name it Payload Directory and paste the endpoint URL above. No authentication is needed.

Cursor

~/.cursor/mcp.json (or .cursor/mcp.json in your project)

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "payload-directory": {
      "url": "https://payloaddirectory.dev/api/mcp"
    }
  }
}

VS Code

.vscode/mcp.json

{
  "servers": {
    "payload-directory": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://payloaddirectory.dev/api/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Clients that only run local (stdio) servers

Bridge through mcp-remote

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "payload-directory": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "mcp-remote",
        "https://payloaddirectory.dev/api/mcp"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Tools

searchPlugins — Full-text search over plugins, templates or both, optionally filtered by Payload major version or category.
getPlugin — Everything about one plugin: health score, compatible Payload versions, npm stats, AI summary and README.
getTemplate — Everything about one template: stack, how to get started, demo and video links, and README.
listCategories — The plugin or template category tree, with counts.
comparePlugins — Two to five plugins side by side.

Try asking

“Find a Payload plugin for SEO that works with Payload 3.”
“Compare the S3 storage plugins and tell me which is best maintained.”
“Which Payload template should I start an online store from?”
“How do I get started with the official website template?”

Good to know

It only reads public directory data. It cannot change anything and never sees your code.
Descriptions, READMEs and AI summaries come from plugin and template authors, so the server tells agents to treat them as untrusted content and never follow instructions inside them.
It is meant for MCP clients, not browsers: it does not allow cross-origin requests, so a web page cannot call it.
Please keep automated use reasonable; heavy traffic may be throttled.