Hound MCP

The dependency bloodhound for AI coding agents.

Hound is a free, open-source MCP server that gives AI coding agents a nose for supply chain security. It scans packages for vulnerabilities, checks licenses, inspects dependency trees, and detects typosquatting — with zero API keys, zero config, and zero cost.

Why Hound?

Most security tools require accounts, API keys, or paid plans. Hound uses only two fully free, unauthenticated public APIs:

• deps.dev (Google Open Source Insights) — package metadata, dependency trees, licenses, OpenSSF Scorecard
• OSV (Google Open Source Vulnerabilities) — CVEs, GHSAs, fix versions

No sign-up. No config. Just install and go.

Quickstart

Claude Code

claude mcp add hound -- npx -y hound-mcp

Claude Desktop / Cursor / Windsurf

Add to your MCP config file:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "hound": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "hound-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Config file locations:

• Claude Desktop (macOS): ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
• Cursor: ~/.cursor/mcp.json
• Windsurf: ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json

VS Code (Copilot)

{
  "mcp": {
    "servers": {
      "hound": {
        "type": "stdio",
        "command": "npx",
        "args": ["-y", "hound-mcp"]
      }
    }
  }
}

Tools

Hound registers 12 tools in your MCP client.

hound_audit ⭐

Scan a whole project by passing your lockfile content. Parses package-lock.json, yarn.lock, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, Cargo.lock, or go.sum and batch-queries OSV for vulnerabilities across all dependencies.

hound_audit(lockfile_name: "package-lock.json", lockfile_content: "<contents>")

hound_vulns

List all known vulnerabilities for a package version, grouped by severity with fix versions.

hound_vulns(name: "express", version: "4.18.2", ecosystem: "npm")

hound_inspect

Comprehensive package profile — licenses, vulnerabilities, OpenSSF Scorecard, GitHub stars, and dependency count in one call.

hound_inspect(name: "lodash", version: "4.17.21", ecosystem: "npm")

hound_score

Compute a 0–100 Hound Score combining vulnerability severity (40 pts), OpenSSF Scorecard (25 pts), release recency (20 pts), and license risk (15 pts). Returns a letter grade A–F with a full breakdown.

hound_score(name: "express", version: "4.18.2", ecosystem: "npm")

hound_upgrade

Find the minimum version upgrade that resolves all known vulnerabilities. Checks every published version and returns the nearest safe one.

hound_upgrade(name: "lodash", version: "4.17.20", ecosystem: "npm")

hound_compare

Side-by-side comparison of two packages across vulnerabilities, OpenSSF Scorecard, GitHub stars, release recency, and license. Returns a recommendation.

hound_compare(package_a: "express", package_b: "fastify", ecosystem: "npm")

hound_preinstall

Safety check before installing a package. Checks vulnerabilities, typosquatting risk, abandonment, and license. Returns a GO / CAUTION / NO-GO verdict.

hound_preinstall(name: "some-package", version: "1.0.0", ecosystem: "npm")

hound_tree

Full resolved dependency tree including all transitive dependencies, with depth and relation type.

hound_tree(name: "next", version: "14.2.0", ecosystem: "npm", maxDepth: 3)

hound_advisories

Full advisory details by ID — works with GHSA, CVE, and OSV IDs.

hound_advisories(id: "GHSA-rv95-896h-c2vc")
hound_advisories(id: "CVE-2024-29041")

hound_typosquat

Generates likely typo variants of a package name and checks which ones exist in the registry — surfaces potential typosquatting attacks.

hound_typosquat(name: "lodash", ecosystem: "npm")

hound_license_check

Scan a lockfile for license compliance. Resolves licenses for all dependencies and flags packages that violate the chosen policy.

hound_license_check(lockfile_name: "package-lock.json", lockfile_content: "<contents>", policy: "permissive")

Policies: permissive (MIT/Apache/BSD only), copyleft (allows GPL but not AGPL), none (report only).

hound_popular

Scan a list of popular (or user-specified) packages for known vulnerabilities. Great for a quick ecosystem health check.

hound_popular(ecosystem: "npm")
hound_popular(ecosystem: "pypi", packages: ["requests", "flask", "django"])

Supported Ecosystems

Built-in Prompts

Hound ships with 3 MCP prompts you can invoke directly from your AI client.

security_audit

Full project security audit — scans for vulnerabilities, license issues, and typosquat risks.

/security_audit ecosystem="npm"

package_evaluation

Go/no-go recommendation before adding a new dependency.

/package_evaluation package="axios" version="1.6.0" ecosystem="npm"

pre_release_check

Pre-ship dependency scan that flags release blockers.

/pre_release_check version="1.2.0"

Local Development

# Clone
git clone https://github.com/tiluckdave/hound-mcp.git
cd hound-mcp

# Install
pnpm install

# Build
pnpm build

# Test
pnpm test

# Lint
pnpm lint

# Format
pnpm format

# Run all checks (typecheck + lint + test)
pnpm check

# Run locally as MCP server
node dist/index.js

Contributing

Contributions are welcome. Read CONTRIBUTING.md first — the one rule is zero API keys, forever. Hound must always work without any account or authentication.

License

MIT © 2026 Tilak Dave