The Directory Stays Free to Read. Production Gets a Workspace Cap.
TL;DR
- The Directory API reads the same index as the website. Products, scripts, assistants, and crawlers all hit it, and reading it stays free.
- Free reads stay open: 30 requests a minute from an address, no account. Directory API Pro is $299 a month and raises that to 300 a minute on the workspace, using the workspace API key you already create under Settings → Security.
- The field reference stays on the Directory API guide. This note is who the cap is for. A paced crawl still fits in the free minute. A product that searches on every keystroke does not.
Picture a catalog product where every keystroke fires a search. The first thirty calls in a minute come back fine. The thirty-first comes back 429, with a pointer at the pricing page. That is the moment Pro exists for. A nightly job that waits a couple of seconds between calls never sees it, and we are not asking it to.
A paced reader already fits
Thirty requests a minute, held evenly, is about 43,200 Directory API calls in a day. One careful client can read a lot of the index inside the free cap. The registry adapter has the same caps: 30 requests a minute and 2 a second per address on free, 300 and 10 on Pro, counted on the workspace instead of the IP.
So the trigger is a burst, not a big daily total. Search-as-you-type, a fan-out that opens twenty servers at once, a build that refreshes a slice of the index in one minute. Those cross 30 calls before the window resets. A crawler that is polite about pacing does not.
We do not let a client through because it calls itself Amazonbot, Googlebot, or anything else. The User-Agent header is ignored for access. Naming yourself is free, and it is also meaningless. Anonymous evaluation stays on the free per-address cap, which is the same cap a search engine gets. If you are building a product on the directory, you subscribe. If you are reading it, you read it.
The pricing page says the quiet part in one line: "Reading it is free with no account." That is the policy. Pro is the lane next to it, not a lock on the door.
The key you already have
There is no second key for this. Settings → Security already mints a workspace API key. It is scoped to that workspace and it runs as you inside it. Pro is a license on the workspace. Send the same key as Authorization: Bearer. The wire shape, search, detail, and when a tool can be called over HTTP all live in the Directory API guide.
Sending the key before you subscribe does not raise the numbers. It moves the free cap off the shared address and onto the workspace. That is useful when a whole office, or a handful of jobs, leaves through one cloud address and would otherwise spend one budget. It is not a trial of the higher cap.
Subscribe from pricing after you sign in. $299 a month, one flat license. It is not a connector plan, and it is not a company page on a listing. Those are different products. If a payment fails, calls drop back to the free cap until the payment succeeds. Anything above Pro is a conversation, not a checkout: support@mcpbundles.com.
| Free | Pro | |
|---|---|---|
| Directory API | 2/second, 30/minute | 10/second, 300/minute |
| Registry adapter | 2/second, 30/minute | 10/second, 300/minute |
| Counted on | The address, or the workspace if you send a key | The workspace |
| Price | $0, no account | $299/month |
The two surfaces do not share a counter. Filling the registry adapter does not eat the Directory API minute, and the other way around.
What the license covers
Free covers evaluation, personal projects, research, and helping someone find a server. A product you run for customers needs Pro, even if it stays under the free cap. On every tier, Pro included, the data stays ours to distribute. You can use results inside your own product. You cannot sell or republish the directory as a dataset, feed, API, or competing index. The full wording is in the terms.
Where to start
If you are wiring an agent, a gallery, or your own catalog, start on the Directory API guide. Try it with no account. When the 429 shows up in a real product loop, the upgrade is pricing, then the workspace key you already know how to create.
FAQ
Do I need a new API key for Directory API Pro?
No. Use the workspace API key under Settings → Security, the same key the rest of MCPBundles uses, and send it as Authorization: Bearer. The license is on the workspace.
Will a search crawler get blocked for not paying?
No. Anonymous reads stay on the free cap. A name in the client header does not raise it, and it does not lower it either.
Can I resell data from the directory?
No. On any tier you can use results inside your own product, but you cannot sell or republish the directory as a dataset, feed, API, or competing index.
Is this the same bill as connecting Shopify or upgrading a listing?
No. Connector plans cover your own MCP servers. A company page is a listing you maintain. Directory API Pro only changes the cap on the directory and the registry adapter.
What happens if the card payment fails?
The higher cap pauses. Calls use the free limits until the payment succeeds. You do not lose the key.