DNS Lookups, WHOIS, and SSL Checks From Your AI Agent

You're debugging a deployment issue in Claude Code. The DNS might not have propagated. The SSL certificate might be expired. The redirect chain might be wrong. Until now, you'd switch to a browser, open three different websites, and paste results back into your conversation.

Today we're releasing @codetidy/mcp-live — a free MCP server with 12 live network tools that your AI agent can call directly. DNS lookups, WHOIS queries, SSL certificate checks, HTTP header inspection, and more — all from inside your editor.

claude mcp add codetidy-live --transport http https://mcp-live.codetidy.dev/mcp

Why a Separate Package?

Our main @codetidy/mcp server has 62 offline, deterministic tools — JSON formatting, Base64 encoding, hashing, UUID generation. Every tool declares openWorldHint: false: no network access, no side effects, completely predictable. That's why MCP clients like Claude auto-approve them.

Live network tools are fundamentally different. They make outbound HTTP requests. Results vary depending on DNS state, server configuration, and network conditions. Mixing them with offline tools would break the trust contract. So we built a separate server with its own security annotations:

• openWorldHint: true — these tools make real network requests
• readOnlyHint: true — they only read, never modify
• idempotentHint: false — results can change between calls

This also avoids MCP client tool-count limits. Cursor caps at 40 tools; our main server already has 62. Keeping them separate means both packages work within client constraints.

The 12 Tools

DNS Tools

Five tools for diagnosing DNS issues without leaving your conversation:

• DNS Lookup (codetidy_dns_lookup) — query A, AAAA, CNAME, TXT, NS, SOA, MX, and CAA records for any domain
• Reverse DNS (codetidy_reverse_dns) — find the hostname for an IP address via PTR records
• MX Lookup (codetidy_mx_lookup) — check mail exchange records and priorities
• DNS Propagation (codetidy_dns_propagation) — verify DNS changes across global resolvers (Google, Cloudflare, Quad9, OpenDNS)
• Email Auth Checker (codetidy_email_auth_checker) — validate SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records for email deliverability

Network Tools

Four tools for HTTP and connectivity debugging:

• IP Lookup (codetidy_ip_lookup) — geolocation, ASN, ISP, and network info for any IP
• Website Status (codetidy_is_it_down) — check if a site is up or down with response time and status code
• HTTP Headers (codetidy_http_headers) — inspect response headers for any URL, including caching and security headers
• Redirect Trace (codetidy_redirect_checker) — follow the full redirect chain from initial URL to final destination

Security Tools

Three tools for security auditing:

• WHOIS Lookup (codetidy_whois_lookup) — domain registration info via RDAP (the modern JSON-based successor to raw WHOIS)
• SSL Checker (codetidy_ssl_checker) — inspect SSL/TLS certificates, expiration dates, chain validity, and HSTS status
• Security Headers (codetidy_security_headers) — audit Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, HSTS, and more with a letter grade

Real Workflows

Here's how these tools change debugging workflows:

"Check if our DNS migration is complete" — Your agent calls codetidy_dns_propagation and reports which global resolvers have the new records and which are still serving stale data. No more refreshing whatsmydns.net.

"Is our SSL certificate about to expire?" — The agent calls codetidy_ssl_checker and tells you the exact expiration date, certificate chain, and whether HSTS is configured. If it finds issues, it can suggest fixes in the same conversation.

"Why are emails going to spam?" — codetidy_email_auth_checker validates your SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records and flags misconfigurations. The agent can then help you write corrected DNS TXT records.

"Trace the redirect chain for this URL" — codetidy_redirect_checker follows every hop, showing status codes and destinations. Useful for debugging SEO redirect issues or finding redirect loops.

How It Works Under the Hood

All 12 tools use free, public APIs that require no authentication:

• DNS queries — DNS-over-HTTPS protocol (RFC 8484), which returns structured JSON instead of raw wire format
• WHOIS data — IANA's RDAP registries, the modern JSON-based successor to the legacy WHOIS text protocol
• SSL/HTTP inspection — direct fetch() to target URLs, reading certificate info and response headers
• IP geolocation — built into the edge runtime's request metadata

No API keys. No rate limits to manage. No cost.

Setup: 30 Seconds

Claude Code

claude mcp add codetidy-live --transport http https://mcp-live.codetidy.dev/mcp

Claude Desktop / Cursor

Add alongside your existing CodeTidy server:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "codetidy": {
      "type": "url",
      "url": "https://mcp.codetidy.dev"
    },
    "codetidy-live": {
      "type": "url",
      "url": "https://mcp-live.codetidy.dev"
    }
  }
}

Local Fallback

For self-hosting or testing locally (requires Node.js 18+):

npx @codetidy/mcp-live

Two Servers, One Toolkit

With both @codetidy/mcp (62 offline tools) and @codetidy/mcp-live (12 network tools), your AI agent has 74 developer tools — covering everything from JSON formatting to DNS propagation checks. The offline tools handle deterministic computation; the live tools handle real-world network queries. Same philosophy: free, MIT licensed, no signup required.

Full setup guide: codetidy.dev/mcp
npm: @codetidy/mcp-live