pretext · mcp · protocol reference

Pretext MCP — protocol reference

How agents call Pretext-hosted MCP servers: base URL, tools, response shape, rate limits.

# Overview

Every Pretext-hosted vendor exposes an MCP endpoint at https://pretext.md/mcp/<slug> using streamable HTTP transport. Public, no auth, rate-limited per IP + per vendor.

# Tools (v1)

ask_vendor

Ask a question. Returns a FAQ-matched answer or a polite acknowledgement that a research ticket has been filed.

Input: { question: string  // ≤ 500 chars }
Output: {
  content: [{ type: "text", text: "..." }],
  _meta: {
    pretext_status: "hit" | "miss",
    matched_content_id?: string,   // when hit
    ticket_id?: string,            // when miss
    vendor_will_respond?: boolean  // when miss
  }
}

# Rate limits

Per IP: 10 requests / 10 seconds
Per vendor: monthly cap from their plan (default 10,000)
Per IP ticket-write cap: 30 misses-that-create-tickets / hour

# Errors

404: unknown slug
429: rate limited (with Retry-After)
503: vendor paused / MCP disabled globally