Bring Internet Scanning
to Claude Desktop
Create your Vinkius account to connect Censys to Claude Desktop and start using all 9 AI tools in minutes. Fully managed, enterprise secure, and ready to use without writing a single line of code. No hosting, no server setup — just connect and start using.
GDPR Free for SubscribersCompatible with every major AI agent and IDE
Gemini
What is the Censys MCP Server?
Connect to Censys and explore the world's largest internet scanning platform through natural conversation.
What you can do
- Host Search — Search internet-facing hosts by service, port, OS, location and more
- Host Details — Get comprehensive info on any IP including all services and certificates
- Host History — View how a host's services and ports have changed over time
- Certificate Search — Find SSL/TLS certificates by issuer, subject, validity and more
- Certificate Details — Get full parsed certificate data by fingerprint
- Certificate Hosts — Find all hosts using a specific certificate
- Aggregation — Analyze distributions of services, countries and ASNs
- Host Diff — Compare two hosts to identify infrastructure differences
How it works
- Subscribe to this server
- Enter your Censys API ID and Secret
- Start exploring internet exposure data from Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-compatible client
Who is this for?
- Security Researchers — discover exposed services, track vulnerabilities and analyze attack surfaces
- Sysadmins — monitor their organization's external exposure and identify misconfigurations
- Threat Hunters — track certificate usage, find related infrastructure and identify suspicious hosts
Built-in capabilities (9)
Groups results by a specified field (e.g. "services.port", "location.country", "autonomous_system.name") and returns bucket counts. Useful for understanding the distribution of services, countries or ASNs matching a query. Aggregate host search results by a specific field
Useful for checking remaining API quota and account limits. Get your Censys account information
Returns the full parsed certificate including subject, issuer, validity, key info, extensions, CT logs and raw PEM data. Get detailed info for a specific certificate by fingerprint
Useful for finding all domains sharing a certificate (SANs). Returns IP addresses, ports and timestamps. Pagination via cursor. Get hosts using a specific certificate
Returns all open ports, service banners, TLS certificates, operating system detection, geolocation, autonomous system info and last updated timestamps. Get detailed info for a specific IP address
Shows how the host's services, ports and certificates have changed over time. Returns timestamps, services observed and changes detected. Pagination via cursor. Get historical scan data for a specific IP
Supports query syntax: issuer names, subject fields, serial numbers, validity dates, key algorithms, certificate transparency logs and more. Returns fingerprints, subjects, issuers, validity periods and key info. Search for SSL/TLS certificates
Supports powerful query syntax: service names (e.g. "nginx"), ports (e.g. "services.port:443"), protocols, operating systems, autonomous systems, geographic locations and more. Returns IP addresses, open ports, services, banners and locations. Pagination via cursor. Search for internet-connected hosts
Useful for identifying changes between hosts or finding similar infrastructure. Compare two hosts to see differences
Why Claude Desktop?
Claude Desktop is the definitive way to connect Censys to your AI workflow. Add Vinkius Edge URL to your config, restart the app, and Claude immediately exposes all 9 tools in the chat interface. ask a question, Claude calls the right tool, and you see the answer. Zero code, zero context switching.
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Claude Desktop is the reference MCP client. it was designed alongside the protocol itself, ensuring the most complete and stable MCP implementation available
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Zero-code configuration: add a server URL to a JSON file and Claude instantly discovers and exposes all available tools in the chat interface
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Claude's extended thinking capability lets it reason through multi-step tool usage, chaining multiple API calls to answer complex questions
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Enterprise-grade security with local config storage. your tokens never leave your machine, and connections go directly to Vinkius Edge network
Censys in Claude Desktop
Why run Censys with Vinkius?
The Censys connection runs on our fully managed, secure cloud infrastructure. We handle the hosting, maintenance, and security so you don't have to deal with servers or code. All 9 tools are ready to work instantly without any complex setup.
You stay in complete control of your data. Your AI only accesses the information you approve, keeping your sensitive passwords and private details completely safe. Plus, with automatic optimizations, your AI works faster and more efficiently.
* Every connection is hosted and maintained by Vinkius. We handle the security, updates, and infrastructure so you don't have to write code or manage servers. See our infrastructure
Over 4,000 integrations ready for AI agents
Explore a vast library of pre-built integrations, optimized and ready to deploy.
Connect securely in under 30 seconds
Generate tokens to authenticate and link external services in a single step.
Complete visibility into every agent action
Audit live requests, latency, success rates, and active security compliance policies.
Optimize spending and track token ROI
Analyze real-time token consumption and cost metrics detailed by connection.
Explore our live AI Agents Analytics dashboard to see it all working
This dashboard is included when you connect Censys using Vinkius. You will never be left in the dark about what your AI agents are doing with your tools.
Censys and 4,000+ other AI tools. No hosting, no code, ready to use.
Professionals who connect Censys to Claude Desktop through Vinkius don't need to write code, manage servers, or worry about security. Everything is pre-configured, secure, and runs automatically in the background.
Raw MCP | Vinkius | |
|---|---|---|
| Ready-to-use MCPs | Find and configure each manually | 4,000+ MCPs ready to use |
| Connection Setup | Manual coding & server setup | 1-click instant connection |
| Server Hosting | You host it yourself (needs 24/7 uptime) | 100% hosted & managed by Vinkius |
| Security & Privacy | Stored in plaintext config files | Bank-grade encrypted vault |
| Activity Visibility | Blind execution (no logs or tracking) | Live dashboard with real-time logs |
| Cost Control | Runaway AI token spend risk | Automatic budget limits |
| Revoking Access | Must delete files or code to stop | 1-click disconnect button |
How Vinkius secures
Censys for Claude Desktop
Every request between Claude Desktop and Censys is protected by our secure gateway. We automatically keep your sensitive data private, prevent unauthorized access, and let you disconnect instantly at any time.
Frequently asked questions
How do I get Censys API credentials?
Sign up for a free account at censys.io, go to your account page and generate API credentials. Free tier includes limited queries per day.
What kind of hosts can I find?
Censys scans the entire IPv4 space regularly. You can find web servers, databases, SSH servers, mail servers, IoT devices, industrial control systems and any internet-facing service.
What query syntax is supported?
Censys supports powerful query syntax: service name (services.service_name: HTTP), port (services.port:443), certificate fields (parsed.subject.country: US), OS detection (metadata.os: Linux), ASN, geographic location and boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT).
How does Claude Desktop discover MCP tools?
When Claude Desktop starts, it reads the claude_desktop_config.json file and connects to each configured MCP server. It calls the tools/list endpoint to fetch the schema for every available tool, then surfaces them as clickable options in the chat interface via the 🔌 icon.
What happens if the MCP server is temporarily unavailable?
Claude Desktop handles disconnections gracefully. if the server is unreachable at startup, the tools simply won't appear. Once the server becomes available again, restarting Claude Desktop will re-establish the connection. There is no timeout penalty or error loop.
Can I connect multiple MCP servers simultaneously?
Yes. You can add as many servers as you need in the mcpServers section of the config file. Each server appears as a separate tool provider, and Claude can use tools from multiple servers in a single conversation turn.
Is there a limit on the number of tools per server?
Claude Desktop can handle hundreds of tools per server. However, for optimal LLM performance, Vinkius servers are designed to expose focused, well-documented tool sets rather than overwhelming the model with too many options.
Does Claude Desktop support Streamable HTTP transport?
Yes. Claude Desktop supports both SSE (Server-Sent Events) and the newer Streamable HTTP transport that Vinkius uses. Simply provide the server URL. Claude auto-negotiates the transport protocol.
Server not appearing after restart
Ensure the JSON is valid (no trailing commas). Check the file path: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json (macOS) or %APPDATA%\\Claude\\ (Windows).
Authentication error
Verify your Vinkius token is correct. Go to cloud.vinkius.com to regenerate it if needed.
Tools not showing in chat
Click the 🔌 icon at the bottom of the chat input. If it shows 0 tools, the server may still be connecting. wait a few seconds.
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