mcp-bounceban

# @pipeworx/bounceban

Verify a single email address via BounceBan's waterfall-tuned endpoint
(bounceban.com), including catch-all detection. Part of
`enrich-waterfall`'s `enrich_verify_email` ordered verifiers (fleet #2860).

Part of [Pipeworx](https://pipeworx.io) — an MCP gateway connecting AI agents to 1743+ live data sources. This is an independent, unofficial integration — not affiliated with, endorsed by, or published by the upstream provider.

## Tools

- `bounceban_verify(email, _apiKey)` — status/result, explicit `catch_all`,
  disposable/role/free flags.

## Auth

BYO only. Pass your BounceBan API key as `_apiKey` (header `Authorization`,
**no `Bearer ` prefix**). Find your key at
https://bounceban.com/app/api/settings. No platform key (D4).

## Data sources

- `https://api-waterfall.bounceban.com/v1/verify/single` — BounceBan's
  waterfall-specific host, built to block synchronously (up to 80s) for a
  definitive result rather than handing back a task to poll. BounceBan also
  publishes a standard `api.bounceban.com` host for the same verb; this pack
  deliberately uses the waterfall one since that is the shape
  `enrich_verify_email` needs.

## Verification notes (fleet #2860, 2026-10-08, no vendor key held)

- **Edge-probed the EXACT host/path this pack calls.** No `Authorization`
  header: HTTP 401 `{"error":"Authorization header is required"}`. An
  invalid key: HTTP 401 `{"msg":"Authorization information is missing or
  invalid."}`. Two different bodies for two different failures confirms the
  header is read, not just a blanket 401. This pack's code checks both
  `error` and `msg` fields when surfacing the reason.
- **BounceBan documents a 408 for a timed-out verification** (its own
  waterfall-integration guide) — this pack surfaces that as a named,
  distinct error ("verification timed out server-side") rather than letting
  it fall through to a generic HTTP-error path, since a caller retrying or
  moving to the next verifier needs to know it was a timeout, not a bad
  email or a bad key.
- **Response field names (`status`/`result`, `is_catch_all`) are inferred**
  from BounceBan's public no-code-integration docs and GitHub
  `skill-email-verification` description, not a confirmed live success
  payload — we hold no BounceBan key. The parser accepts either
  `is_catch_all`/`catch_all` as a boolean, or falls back to checking whether
  the status string itself contains "catch" if neither field is present.
- **Not verified (no key held):** the exact field name BounceBan uses for
  the main verdict (`status` vs `result`); the full enumeration of status
  values beyond "catch-all" and the obvious valid/invalid.

## Quick Start

Add to your MCP client (Claude Desktop, Cursor, Windsurf, etc.):

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "bounceban": {
      "url": "https://gateway.pipeworx.io/bounceban/mcp"
    }
  }
}
```

### What this endpoint actually serves

`tools/list` at `https://gateway.pipeworx.io/bounceban/mcp` returns the tools in the table
above **plus the shared Pipeworx meta-tools** — `ask_pipeworx`,
`discover_tools`, `search_within`, `remember`/`recall` and the rest of the
gateway-wide set. So the tool count you see is larger than this table: a
single-pack endpoint currently lists roughly 30 shared tools alongside the
pack's own. The connection's `initialize` response states its exact scope, and
is the authoritative answer for a given day.

This is deliberate, not multiplexing by accident. The meta-tools are what let a
scoped connection answer a question this pack does not cover — via
`ask_pipeworx`, which routes across the whole catalog — without you adding a
second MCP server. There is currently no way to mount a pack endpoint without
them; if the extra schemas cost you more context than the routing is worth,
connect to the full gateway once rather than to several pack endpoints.

Or connect to the full Pipeworx gateway to get every pack's tools listed
directly, instead of just this one's:

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "pipeworx": {
      "url": "https://gateway.pipeworx.io/mcp"
    }
  }
}
```

Both URLs reach the same gateway and the same 1743+ data sources. The
only difference is which pack's tools are listed **directly**; `ask_pipeworx`
reaches all of them from either one.

## No MCP client? Call it over HTTP

This pack takes your own API key (`_apiKey`) — we don't front one for it, so there's no curl here that would run without it. Inspect any tool: `GET https://gateway.pipeworx.io/v1/tools/bounceban_verify`. Find one: `POST https://gateway.pipeworx.io/v1/tools/search_packs` with `{"query":"..."}`.

## Standalone (no gateway account)

This package also runs as a local stdio MCP server — no Pipeworx account, no
gateway round-trip:

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "bounceban": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@pipeworx/mcp-bounceban"]
    }
  }
}
```

Or run it directly to confirm it starts:

```bash
npx -y @pipeworx/mcp-bounceban
```

It speaks MCP over stdin/stdout and answers `initialize`/`tools/list`/`tools/call`
for **only** this pack's tools — none of the shared meta-tools the gateway
connection above adds. Same source, same tools, no ask_pipeworx routing.

## Using with ask_pipeworx

Instead of calling tools directly, you can ask questions in plain English —
this works on the pack endpoint above as well as on the full gateway:

```
ask_pipeworx({ question: "your question about Bounceban data" })
```

The gateway picks the right tool and fills the arguments automatically.

## More

- [Docs and guides](https://pipeworx.io/docs)
- [pipeworx.io](https://pipeworx.io)

## License

MIT