// mcp field guide

MCP servers, read by risk surface

A growing, sourced guide to the Model Context Protocol servers agents actually use — what each one does, which of its tools are destructive or irreversible, and an honest verdict on where a human-approval guard genuinely helps. Every profile cites the official repo and docs. We call out where a guard adds little, too — that's how you know the rest is trustworthy.

The through-line: a guard is worth exactly as much as a server's destructive surface. A read-only server barely needs one. A server whose one tool can DROP TABLE, merge to main, or issue a refund needs a human checkpoint on that tool — and honesty that some of those actions can't be undone, only compensated. So we grade each server not with a logo, but with a fit verdict you can argue with.

The servers

DEVOPS · reference server

Filesystem

Sandboxed read/write to your files. No delete tool — the real risk is overwrite.

reads ×10createoverwrite / edit / move
Guard fit MODERATE

DEVOPS · official (GitHub)

GitHub

Repos, issues, PRs, Actions. A big safe read surface plus a few high-blast-radius writes.

search / readpush / PRmerge / deploy / post
Guard fit STRONG

DATA · reference + community

PostgreSQL

Read-only reference server vs. write-capable ones. The split is the whole story.

query / analyzeinsert / updateDROP / TRUNCATE / DELETE
Guard fit WEAK → STRONG

FINTECH · official (Stripe)

Stripe

An agent touching real money on a live account. A refund is a new transaction, not an undo.

read / reportcreate objectsrefund / cancel / void
Guard fit STRONG

INFRASTRUCTURE · community / Red Hat

Kubernetes

kubectl-equivalent power over a live cluster. Deleting a namespace or PVC is the K8s DROP TABLE.

get / describe / logsapply / scale / execdelete / drain
Guard fit STRONG

COMMUNICATION · official (Slack)

Slack

Reads are harmless; posting is effectively irreversible — deleting doesn't un-notify anyone.

search / readreact / draftpost message
Guard fit MODERATE

PRODUCTIVITY · official (Notion)

Notion

"Delete" is recoverable trash. The real edge is a full-content overwrite and bulk edits.

search / fetchcreate / moveoverwrite / bulk edit
Guard fit MODERATE

PRODUCTIVITY · Anthropic / Google

Google Drive

Mostly read today. The strong case (sharing, permanent delete) is latent until those tools ship.

search / readcreate / copyshare / delete (latent)
Guard fit LOW (today)

OBSERVABILITY · official (Sentry)

Sentry

Mostly read/diagnostic + triage. One truly irreversible tool. An honest low-risk profile.

inspect / search / seertriage / provisiondelete monitor
Guard fit MODERATE

DATA / BACKEND · official (Supabase)

Supabase

Arbitrary SQL, migrations, branch deletes — but read-only mode + project scoping are the recommended defaults.

read (scoped)migrate / deployDROP / delete branch
Guard fit STRONG

INFRASTRUCTURE · official (Cloudflare)

Cloudflare

A family: read-only servers where a gate is theater, and write servers that delete buckets, databases and zones.

radar / docs / logscreate / deploydelete bucket / DB / zone
Guard fit STRONG

INFRASTRUCTURE · official (AWS Labs)

AWS

A ~60-server suite: most read/advisory, but the Core API server runs any CLI — terminate, delete-stack, s3 rb.

docs / pricing / validatecall_aws (write)terminate / delete
Guard fit STRONG

PROJECT MGMT · Atlassian + community

Jira / Atlassian

Official server has no deletes; community adds jira_delete_issue — and a deleted Jira issue has no trash.

JQL / readcreate / transitiondelete issue (permanent)
Guard fit MODERATE

PROJECT MGMT · official (Linear)

Linear

Read-and-triage with no delete/archive tool. Value is bulk ops + notifications, not "undoing deletes."

search / readcreate / update— none exposed
Guard fit LOW

BROWSER · official (Microsoft)

Playwright

Innocuous tool names, but the same browser_click advances a test page or places a $4,000 order.

snapshot / readclick / type / navigatesubmit / evaluate
Guard fit MODERATE

DATA WAREHOUSE · official (Snowflake)

Snowflake

Cortex + raw SQL. Read-only by default on the managed server; per-statement permissions on the local one.

cortex / SELECTinsert / DDLDROP / TRUNCATE
Guard fit STRONG

DATABASE · official (MongoDB)

MongoDB

Live DB writes and Atlas provisioning. Real --readOnly mode; drop-database is catastrophic.

find / aggregateinsert / provisiondrop / delete-many
Guard fit STRONG

DEPLOY · official (Vercel)

Vercel

No delete/rollback/env-var tools at all — the irreversible edge is money (buy_pro) and production publish.

projects / logsdeploy previewbuy / prod deploy
Guard fit STRONG

COMMUNICATIONS · Twilio (alpha)

Twilio

Send an SMS or place a call and it's delivered + billed instantly — Slack's irreversible post, with real money.

list / lookupconfig / provisionsend / call / buy
Guard fit STRONG

OBSERVABILITY · Datadog + community

Datadog

Weak for the read majority (like Sentry) — but non-default toolsets reach delete, execute_code and remote shell.

query / listmute / downtimedelete / execute
Guard fit WEAK → STRONG

CRM · official (HubSpot)

HubSpot

No delete tool and no customer-facing send — the two expected edges are absent. The real risk is bulk record overwrites.

search / readcreate / updatebulk overwrite
Guard fit MODERATE

FINTECH · official (PayPal)

PayPal

Capture payments, issue refunds, cancel subscriptions — real money that can't be un-moved. A refund is a new transaction.

read invoicescreate / send invoicecapture / refund
Guard fit STRONG

COMMUNITY · unofficial

Discord

No official server. A bot-authenticated agent posts (irreversible), deletes channels with their history, and bans members.

read / listsend / createdelete channel / ban
Guard fit STRONG

CRM · official + community

Salesforce

The official DX server is read-only SOQL; full CRUD, bulk DML and arbitrary Apex live in community connectors.

SOQL querycreate / update / apexdelete / deploy metadata
Guard fit STRONG

COMMERCE · official + community

Shopify

The dev/docs MCP is read-only (wrong demo for a guard). The money is in Checkout and community Admin servers.

docs / catalogcart / checkout setupcomplete_checkout / refund
Guard fit STRONG

SUPPORT · community + first-party

Zendesk

A public reply emails the customer — and the popular server defaults to public, so a "note" can go out by omission.

read / triagecreate / update / notepublic reply
Guard fit MODERATE

NO-CODE DB · community + official

Airtable

No delete-table/base tool exists — the catastrophic scenario isn't reachable. The risk is bulk record delete/overwrite.

list / searchcreate / updatebulk delete / overwrite
Guard fit STRONG

FINTECH · official (Block/Square)

Square

Three generic meta-tools — a payment and a list arrive under the same name. Classify by the args, not the tool.

read servicescatalog / customerspayments / refunds / payouts
Guard fit STRONG

EMAIL · Google + community

Gmail

Official server is draft-only (can't send). The community one sends immediately and permanently deletes.

read / searchdraft / labelsend / permanent delete
Guard fit STRONG

ENTERPRISE / ITSM · official + community

ServiceNow

A write propagates through automation. Change execution, script deploy and deletes reach production process.

querycreate / update recordapprove change / deploy script
Guard fit STRONG

SUPPORT · official (Intercom)

Intercom

Honest: 13 tools, mostly read. The only writes are Help Center articles — no customer reply or delete tool today.

search / fetchcreate / update article— none exposed
Guard fit MODERATE

PROJECT MGMT · official (Asana)

Asana

Read-and-triage; strong only on delete_task (vendor-irreversible), moderate on bulk writes and notify comments.

search / getcreate / update (×50)delete_task
Guard fit LOW

PRODUCTIVITY · Google + community

Google Calendar

Reading is safe; an event with attendees emails real people — the invite/cancellation can't be un-sent.

list / free-busycreate / updatenotify attendees
Guard fit MODERATE

IDENTITY · official (Okta)

Okta

Identity is high-blast: deactivate or delete a user, reset factors, lock people out of everything. Ships elicitation confirms.

list / get usercreate / assign appdeactivate / delete / reset MFA
Guard fit STRONG

INFRASTRUCTURE · official (HashiCorp)

Terraform

Registry-read by default; enable operations and is_destroy apply tears down real infra — the highest blast radius, non-compensable.

registry / searchcreate_run (apply)destroy run
Guard fit WEAK → STRONG

DATABASE · official (Redis)

Redis

No read-only mode. The catastrophe isn't one tool — it's a scan + delete loop, and overwrites with no history.

get / scanset / expiredelete / rename / overwrite
Guard fit STRONG

SEARCH / DATA · Elastic + community

Elasticsearch

The official/Agent-Builder path is read-only search; community servers add delete_index — irreversibly dropping data.

search / mappingsindex docdelete_index (community)
Guard fit WEAK → STRONG

ON-CALL · official (PagerDuty)

PagerDuty

Read-only by default; enable writes and an agent pages real humans at 3am — or resolves a live incident and hides it.

list / getcreate / ack / notetrigger page / resolve
Guard fit MODERATE

OBSERVABILITY · official (Grafana)

Grafana

Weak for the read majority (like Sentry). The sharp edge: delete an alert rule (removes detection) or mute-route an outage.

query / dashboardscreate / update ruledelete rule / mute routing
Guard fit WEAK → STRONG

At a glance

ServerCategoryThe action worth gatingGuard fit
FilesystemDevOpsOverwriting a file (no backup) via write_file/edit_fileMODERATE
GitHubDevOpsmerge_pull_request, deploy triggers, public commentsSTRONG
PostgreSQLDataexecute_sql in write mode — DROP/TRUNCATE/DELETEWEAK → STRONG
StripeFintechcreate_refund, subscription cancel, invoice voidSTRONG
KubernetesInfradelete namespace/PVC, drain, scale-to-zero, execSTRONG
SlackCommsPosting a message (irreversible — un-notifies no one)MODERATE
NotionProductivityFull-content update-page overwrite & bulk editsMODERATE
Google DriveProductivitySharing changes & permanent delete (latent — not yet exposed)LOW
SentryObservabilitydelete_uptime_monitor; org-shaping config writesMODERATE
SupabaseDataDestructive execute_sql, migrations, delete_branchSTRONG
CloudflareInfrar2/d1/kv_delete, zone/DNS delete via the unified APISTRONG
AWSInfracall_aws destructive CLI; CCAPI/IAM deletesSTRONG
Jira / AtlassianProject mgmtjira_delete_issue (permanent, community); bulk opsMODERATE
LinearProject mgmtBulk mutations & notification-emitting comments (no deletes)LOW
PlaywrightBrowserThe consequential submit/confirm; browser_evaluateMODERATE
SnowflakeData warehouseWrite/DDL/DROP SQL beyond the statement permissionsSTRONG
MongoDBDatabasedrop-database, delete-many, Atlas teardownSTRONG
VercelDeployPurchases (buy_pro/buy_domain) & production deploysSTRONG
TwilioCommsSend SMS / place call / buy number — instant, billed, irreversibleSTRONG
DatadogObservabilityMute/downtime; non-default delete / execute_code / remote shellWEAK → STRONG
HubSpotCRMBulk create/update overwriting live customer recordsMODERATE
PayPalFintechCapture (pay_order), create_refund, cancel subscriptionSTRONG
DiscordCommunitySend message (irreversible), delete channel, ban memberSTRONG
SalesforceCRMCommunity CRUD/bulk DML/apex_execute; metadata deploysSTRONG
ShopifyCommercecomplete_checkout (payment); Admin refund/cancel/fulfillSTRONG
ZendeskSupportPublic reply emails the customer (public-by-default trap)MODERATE
AirtableNo-code DBBulk delete_records / overwrite (no schema-delete tool)STRONG
SquareFintechpayments/refunds/payouts via one meta-tool — classify by argsSTRONG
GmailEmailsend_email (no unsend), permanent delete; official is draft-onlySTRONG
ServiceNowEnterprise / ITSMChange approval/execution, script deploy, deletes, membershipSTRONG
IntercomSupportHelp Center article writes (no reply/delete tool today)MODERATE
AsanaProject mgmtdelete_task (vendor-irreversible), bulk writes, notify commentsLOW
Google CalendarProductivityCreate/update/delete event with attendees emails real peopleMODERATE
OktaIdentityDeactivate/delete_user, reset MFA factors — locks people outSTRONG
TerraformInfracreate_run with is_destroy — tears down real infra (gated flag)WEAK → STRONG
RedisDatabaseA scan+delete loop; rename/overwrite with no historySTRONG
ElasticsearchSearch / datadelete_index in community servers (official path is read-only)WEAK → STRONG
PagerDutyOn-callTriggering a page (wakes humans); resolving a live incidentMODERATE
GrafanaObservabilityalerting_manage_rules delete & routing/mute — hides outagesWEAK → STRONG

How we grade each server

  1. Source first. Every capability traces to the official repo, npm, or docs — linked on each page. If we can't verify a tool, we mark it unverified rather than guess.
  2. Group tools by risk. Read-only / mutating / destructive-or-irreversible, using the server's own annotations where they exist.
  3. Grade the fit honestly. A guard's value tracks the destructive surface — so we'll tell you when it's weak (a read-only server) as readily as when it's strong (money, merges, DROP).
  4. Stay current. The MCP ecosystem moves weekly; profiles note their as-of date and link the source so you can re-check.
More profiles in progress — GitLab, Confluence, Neon, Box, Zapier, and Sanity. Want one prioritized? Open an issue.

Guard any of them in a minute

ChronoMCP is a transparent proxy that works with every server here — it passes reads through and gates the destructive calls on a human. Zero rewrite, MIT.

Read the quickstart → GitHub

Profiles describe third-party software from its public sources; ChronoMCP is independent and not affiliated with these projects. Capabilities reflect sources current as of Aug 2026 and change often — follow the source links on each page for the latest.