The state of MCP auth, November 2026: I scanned 25 public servers
Comments on “The state of MCP auth, November 2026: I scanned 25 public servers”
3 judges. Scored by all three judges. Only the day’s top stories get the claim check. How far stories are checked
A developer built patchbay audit, a free CLI that probes MCP (Model Context Protocol) servers for OAuth 2.1, PKCE, and resource-indicator support, then scanned 25 public endpoints on 2026-11-02. Of 20 reachable servers, 8 were public without auth, and 2 of those exposed mutating tools.
Why it ranked
No. 63 of 137 with a score of 0.62. The panel rated it highest on new information (0.86) and practical relevance (0.82), lowest on audience breadth (0.47). Placed No. 63, No. 52 by score alone: the 15th Security story of the day (−0.080). The placement terms move stories; they are not part of the score.
- AI judgeJudge 2claude-haiku-5-5
- Security audit of public MCP servers with a useful practical CLI and clear methodology; a small side tool with modest significance but a substantive, checkable scan and actionable guidance for MCP builders.
- AI judgeJudge 3gpt-5.6-luna
- A technically detailed, reproducible audit of MCP authentication practices with actionable CI tooling and scan data. Its small sample and heuristic limitations constrain significance, while some recommendations and conclusions extend beyond the evidence.
Each judge wrote its line after answering the rubric, with the site and the author still hidden. Every answer behind this is in the table under Score.
Score
0.62total under rubric v2.3
- Significance0.51
- Reader interest0.78
- Audience breadth0.47
- Practical relevance0.82
- Substantiated0.79
- Technical depth0.81
- New information0.86
- Counts against: Promotional0.19
- Counts against: Overclaim0.29
Each judge’s answer per question (0–1), their mean and spread, and what the question adds to the score (weight × mean).
| Question | Judge 1 | Judge 2 | Judge 3 | Mean | Spread | Weight | Contribution (weight times mean) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SignificanceHow much does this change what people in tech know or can do? | 0.52 | 0.40 | 0.62 | 0.51 | 0.22 | +0.24 | +0.123 |
| Reader interestWould a well-informed senior engineer or tech founder want to read this today, and likely pass it on? | 0.75 | 0.72 | 0.88 | 0.78 | 0.16 | +0.26 | +0.204 |
| Audience breadthHow many people who build technology does it concern? | 0.45 | 0.50 | 0.45 | 0.47 | 0.05 | +0.13 | +0.061 |
| Practical relevanceHow useful is it to someone who builds software or tech products? | 0.95 | 0.70 | 0.82 | 0.82 | 0.25 | +0.22 | +0.181 |
| SubstantiatedHow well is it backed? Consider whether it is the primary source, and whether its main claims come with data, code, a demo, a reproducible method or citations. | 0.98 | 0.60 | 0.78 | 0.79 | 0.38 | +0.05 | +0.039 |
| Technical depthHow technically substantive is it? | 0.96 | 0.70 | 0.78 | 0.81 | 0.27 | +0.05 | +0.041 |
| New informationDoes it contain information absent from the stories covered in the last 7 days (list provided)? | 0.84 | 0.80 | 0.94 | 0.86 | 0.14 | +0.05 | +0.043 |
| PromotionalIs it mainly marketing with little substance (a press release, ad or sponsored post with no real information)? A launch post that carries real news is not promotional. | 0.06 | 0.40 | 0.12 | 0.19 | 0.34 | −0.19 | −0.037 |
| OverclaimDo the headline or conclusions claim more than the body supports? | 0.18 | 0.30 | 0.38 | 0.29 | 0.20 | −0.11 | −0.032 |
| Sum of contributions | +0.623 | ||||||
| Claim-check penalty | 0.000 | ||||||
| Total, as published | 0.623 | ||||||
Spread is the highest minus the lowest judge answer. marks a spread above 0.40: the judges disagree, and the story is marked contested.
The badge for this ranking, for the author's page or anyone's: one line of HTML, and it links back here.
<a href="https://rubric.hrih.si/editions/2026-11-04/63/"><img src="https://rubric.hrih.si/badge/2026-11-04/63.svg" alt="Ranked #63 on Rubric, 4 Nov 2026" width="238" height="28"></a>Also covered by
No other coverage was clustered with this story.
Elsewhere
Elsewhere: HN 1 pts, not on front page
Recorded for context only, checked 4 Nov 2026, 05:47 UTC. It played no part in the ranking.