How to distribute an MCP server through registries

If you are working out how to distribute an MCP server, this is what we did at seodraft over the weekend of September 26 and 27, 2026, catalog by catalog.

On September 27, 2026, seodraft went live in the official MCP Registry under the name app.seodraft/seodraft, version 1.0.0. By that Sunday we were also listed on Smithery, on Glama and on cursor.directory, with several more submissions waiting for review.

You will find what each place actually asked for, from a DNS TXT record to an OAuth test account, plus the directories that stopped us at signup. We have no measured results yet, and we say so plainly further down.

These are the steps in the order we would repeat them:

• Treat every catalog as a distribution channel
• Start with the official MCP Registry and keep DNS access close
• Set up an OAuth test account on day one
• Open a public repo with config only
• Use the Claude directory to polish the product
• Split distribution channels from backlink channels
• Which catalog to tackle first if your MCP ships this week

Treat every catalog as a distribution channel

People looking for an MCP server search their AI client's registry or directory, so every catalog in the ecosystem works as a distribution channel for your MCP.

seodraft is an MCP server that clients like Claude or Cursor connect to. Someone who needs a server like ours opens their client's catalog and searches there before they ever reach Google.

Some catalogs also link to seodraft.app. We count that as a bonus: many listings are worth more for the people who see them than for the link they carry.

The idea comes straight from how we build the product, with the agent as the main interface. We covered that shift in Agent-first: why seodraft killed most of its web UI, when the MCP became the front door.

Start with the official MCP Registry and keep DNS access close

The official MCP Registry is the first step, and before you publish it asks you to prove that you own the server's domain.

The official registry asks for a server.json and domain proof through a DNS TXT record; that is why our name is reversed, app.seodraft/seodraft, and the TXT record has to stay in place to publish future versions.

This is the server.json the registry serves for us today, a remote server with no package to install:

{
  "$schema": "https://static.modelcontextprotocol.io/schemas/2025-12-11/server.schema.json",
  "name": "app.seodraft/seodraft",
  "title": "seodraft",
  "description": "Turn the AI you already pay for into an SEO agent: measured topics, SERP briefs, rule-checked drafts",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "websiteUrl": "https://seodraft.app/features/mcp-server",
  "remotes": [
    { "type": "streamable-http", "url": "https://seodraft.app/mcp" }
  ]
}

The TXT record goes on the apex of the domain, with the shape v=MCPv1; k=ed25519; p=<your public key>. The registry's authentication guide shows how to generate the key pair, and its quickstart covers publishing with the mcp-publisher CLI.

You can see the entry in the official MCP Registry. DNS verification came up twice in the same weekend, first in the registry and then on Glama.

If you can edit your domain's DNS without asking anyone, each of those checks takes one more TXT record.

Set up an OAuth test account on day one

If your MCP requires an OAuth login, directory health checks will fail until you hand them a test account.

Glama listed seodraft on its own, but it showed Unhealthy because its health check got a 401, since our MCP requires an OAuth login. We fixed it by claiming the listing with another DNS TXT record and setting up an OAuth test profile with a test account, and it now shows Healthy.

The listing lives on Glama. Smithery works differently and reads the server directly.

Smithery picked up our tools from the server URL alone, and its verification checklist showed 53/100, still pending. The listing is published on Smithery.

Open a public repo with config only

A public repo with config and docs gets you into the catalogs that require GitHub while your product code stays private.

We created github.com/ch0rch/seodraft-agents, a public repo with only config and docs, to get into the catalogs that require a repo, like cursor.directory, where the plugin is already live.

cursor.directory and Cursor Marketplace ask for a repo with a plugin.json, the MCP config, skills, rules, a logo and a README. The plugin is visible on cursor.directory, and Cursor Marketplace is still in manual review.

botdirectory.ai also runs through GitHub. You get in with a PR that adds the bot file and passes a validation, and ours carries the seodraft bot template.

Use the Claude directory to polish the product

The Claude connectors directory was the most demanding catalog we tried, and it pushed us to improve the product before we could submit the form.

For the Claude connectors directory we added privacy and terms pages in English and Spanish, docs with a troubleshooting section, titles and annotations on every tool, OAuth with CIMD, a review account with sample data, 5 test prompts and 7 compliance declarations, spread across a 10-step form.

The annotations mark whether each tool only reads or can delete something. Tool texts show up in the directory listing, and that is where our internal jargon stood out.

Chorch rewrote the text of all 37 tools so they sound like the product, with no internal jargon, no dashes and no shouting caps.

We did everything between Saturday the 26th and Sunday the 27th without timing each site, and the Claude directory took most of Sunday because of the product changes it asked for. We sent it on September 27, and Claude warns that review can take weeks and approval is not guaranteed.

Split distribution channels from backlink channels

Many MCP directories bring potential users and no useful SEO link, so log each one in the column where it belongs.

Glama shows the server URL and internal nofollow links, with no link to seodraft.app, so its value for us is distribution.

Launch sites with free slots differ a lot in how long they make you wait. In the free launch queues, Uneed gave us January 27, 2027 as our launch date, with a dofollow link if we reach 20 votes, while DevHunt offered August 7, 2029.

On top of that, 5 general directories stopped us at signup, for reasons that included an account creation error, an ID document check, an IP rejection and an anti-bot wall. The general directories that accept a signup ask for a form, a logo and a description, and sometimes votes or a waitlist.

For now we decided not to pay for any MCP directory listing.

This is where each catalog stood on September 28, 2026:

Which catalog to tackle first if your MCP ships this week

With one weekend, start with the official MCP Registry and a public config repo, because they settle the DNS and GitHub pieces that other catalogs ask for later.

These are still in review or waiting in a queue: the Claude connectors directory, Cursor Marketplace, mcpservers.org, Future Tools, AI Agent Tools, botdirectory.ai with an open PR, and grokbot.dev. mcpservers.org quotes up to 2 weeks of review on the free plan, and AI Agent Tools announces 48 hours.

We have not measured any result yet: no backlinks, DR, traffic or installs, because it is early and most submissions are still in review.

Your concrete next step: if your MCP requires OAuth, set up the test account with sample data before you send the first form. Part of this batch was done by our backlinks agent, using the same working setup we described in the founder's personal agent inside seodraft.

If you also want a steady blog with the agent you already pay for, try seodraft: your agent writes, the rules decide and you approve. It costs $9/month after a 7-day free trial, and if you want to tell us how you distribute your MCP, write to chorch@seodraft.app.