os-alt

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MCP server

Plug os-alt into Claude Desktop, Cursor or any MCP-aware assistant — answers about self-host alternatives without a browser tab.

The Model Context Protocol lets your AI assistant call structured tools on a remote server. This one exposes the os-alt directory — 100 SaaS pages, 227 unique open-source repos with live GitHub health — as four read-only tools your assistant can use directly. No API key, no rate limits, no signup.

JSON-RPC 2.0 over HTTP · read-only · CORS open · https://code-rho-dun.vercel.app/api/mcp

Install — Claude Desktop

Open ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json on macOS or %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json on Windows and add an entry under mcpServers:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "os-alt": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://code-rho-dun.vercel.app/api/mcp"
    }
  }
}

On older Claude Desktop builds that only speak the stdio transport, use the mcp-remote shim instead — same data, just proxied through a local npx: 

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "os-alt": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "mcp-remote", "https://code-rho-dun.vercel.app/api/mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Restart Claude Desktop and the four os-alt tools become available in any chat.

Install — Cursor

Settings → MCP → Add new MCP server. Or drop this directly into ~/.cursor/mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "os-alt": {
      "url": "https://code-rho-dun.vercel.app/api/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Install — anything else

Any MCP client that speaks JSON-RPC 2.0 over HTTP works against the same endpoint. Send a single POST per request:

curl -s https://code-rho-dun.vercel.app/api/mcp \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"tools/list"}'

Tools

search_saas(query, limit?)

Free-text match against name / slug / category / blurb. Returns slug, name, category, alternatives count and page URL for each hit. Default 20 results, max 50.

curl -s https://code-rho-dun.vercel.app/api/mcp \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":2,"method":"tools/call","params":{"name":"search_saas","arguments":{"query":"datadog"}}}'

get_saas(slug)

Full editorial detail for one SaaS — pricing anchor, every recommended self-host alternative (license, setup time, monthly cost, migration sketch, fit/weak notes) and a step-by-step migration guide if one exists for the primary alt.

list_categories()

Returns the 15 self-host categories with the count of SaaS pages and slug list under each. Lets the assistant browse before drilling in.

get_health(github)

Live health for one repo (owner/name): alive / stale / dead / unknown, last commit date, age in days, open issues, archived flag. Recomputed on every os-alt deploy.

Why this exists

If you ever asked an LLM "what are the open-source alternatives to Datadog?" you've seen the failure mode — the model lists projects that are abandoned, archived, or haven't shipped in three years. os-alt curates that and tags every project with live commit data. Plugged in via MCP, your assistant can answer the question accurately without browsing.

Source & status