Submit Once, Get Listed Everywhere: The MCP Registry Backlink Strategy

Introduction

The MCP (Model Context Protocol) ecosystem now has a long tail of directories, tool hubs, and aggregator sites, and many of them automatically sync from the official MCP Registry. X user @fantexi997 shared a neat way to use that. Wrap the AI-callable features of your website in an MCP server and publish it to the official Registry (DR 91). Within a few days, a batch of MCP directories and aggregators pick it up automatically. You submit once, get listed in many places, and earn a cluster of backlinks along the way, all for free.

This guide combines the original post with the official MCP Registry docs to walk you through the whole publishing process.

What Is the MCP Registry?

The MCP Registry is the official metadata registry for MCP servers, maintained by the Model Context Protocol project. It stores only metadata (name, description, repository, and package or remote endpoint), not the code itself. Many third-party MCP directories pull their data from it, which makes it the upstream source for the wider ecosystem.

Per the official docs, the MCP Registry is currently in preview. Breaking changes or data resets may happen before general availability.

Domain Rating and Link Attributes

Item	Details
Official Registry DR	DR 91 (from the original post)
What you get	A listing on the official Registry, plus automatic listings on third-party MCP directories, tool hubs, and aggregators
Cost	Free

Note: the original post doesn't say whether each syncing site's links are dofollow. That varies by site, so check each one after your listings appear.

Step-by-Step: Publishing Your MCP Server

The steps below follow the official Quickstart, which uses the mcp-publisher CLI and GitHub authentication.

Step 0: Turn your website's features into an MCP server

Identify the parts of your site that an AI agent would want to call, such as lookups, generation, conversion, or search, and expose them as an MCP server. You can publish it in one of two ways:

Package-based: publish to npm, PyPI, NuGet, OCI, or MCPB, and users run it locally.
Remote-only: host your MCP server at a publicly reachable URL (e.g. https://yourdomain.com/mcp). No package is needed. For most websites, this is the most natural option.

Step 1 (package-based): Add ownership verification

For npm, add an mcpName property to package.json. Its value becomes your server's name in the Registry:

"mcpName": "io.github.your-username/your-server"

With GitHub authentication, the name must start with io.github.your-username/. For PyPI and NuGet, add a line mcp-name: <server-name> to the package README instead. Remote-only servers can skip this step and the next one.

Step 2 (package-based): Publish your package

The Registry hosts metadata only, so publish the package itself first, for example with npm publish --access public.

Step 3: Install mcp-publisher

On macOS or Linux with Homebrew:

brew install mcp-publisher

You can also download a prebuilt binary from GitHub Releases. Then run mcp-publisher --help to confirm it's installed.

Step 4: Generate and edit server.json

From your project directory, run:

mcp-publisher init

Then edit the generated server.json:

name must match the mcpName in your package.json.
description is capped at 100 characters. Keep it focused on what the server does, because anything longer fails validation.
Set repository.url to your GitHub repo.
For remote-only servers, replace the packages array with remotes:

"remotes": [
  { "type": "streamable-http", "url": "https://yourdomain.com/mcp" }
]

Step 5: Authenticate

mcp-publisher login github

Open https://github.com/login/device, enter the code shown in your terminal, and authorize the app.

If you'd rather use your own domain as the name prefix (e.g. com.yourdomain/your-server, which is better for branding), use DNS authentication instead. Add a TXT record at the apex of your domain. Don't place it under a selector like _mcp-auth., or authentication will fail.

Step 6: Publish

mcp-publisher publish

When you see ✓ Successfully published, you're done. You can confirm with the Registry API:

curl "https://registry.modelcontextprotocol.io/v0.1/servers?search=io.github.your-username/your-server"

Step 7: Wait for the syncs and track your backlinks

According to the original post, a batch of MCP directories, tool hubs, and aggregators will list your server within a few days. Search for your server name periodically, log each listing in a spreadsheet, and check whether it links back to your site and what the link attributes are.

Pitfalls and Things to Watch Out For

Your namespace must match your auth method. With GitHub auth, the name must start with io.github.your-username/. The error "You do not have permission to publish this server" almost always means this is wrong.
Organization namespaces are tricky. According to the docs, the interactive mcp-publisher login github flow currently can't publish to an org namespace (io.github.orgname/). Use GitHub Actions (OIDC) or a Personal Access Token with read:org permission instead.
Keep the description to 100 characters or fewer.
Expired tokens. If you see "Invalid or expired Registry JWT token", run mcp-publisher login github again.
The Registry is still in preview. Data resets are possible, so keep an eye on official announcements and republish if needed.
The Registry doesn't verify that you own the remote URL, only the namespace. Still, make sure your endpoint actually works, or the listings won't do you much good.
Check link attributes yourself. Not every syncing site uses dofollow links.

Who Is This For?

SaaS products, API services, and developer tools
Websites whose core features an AI agent could call (lookups, generation, conversion, data services, etc.)
Products that want a foothold in the AI agent ecosystem and to reach developers

Brochure sites and content sites with no callable functionality aren't a great fit.

Source: https://x.com/fantexi997/status/2110001884820107512

Official docs: https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/registry/tree/main/docs/modelcontextprotocol-io