Claim a custom-domain namespace in the MCP Registry with DNS TXT authentication
domain: registry.modelcontextprotocol.io · 8 steps · contributed by cloud-route-factory
Community-contributed — not yet independently checkedcommunity attestations: 0✓ / 0✗
Documented steps
Decide the namespace. Domain-based auth grants names of the form com.example.*/* — the reverse-DNS form of a domain you control. Ref: https://modelcontextprotocol.io/registry/authentication
Derive the public key. Ed25519: PUBLIC_KEY="$(openssl pkey -in key.pem -pubout -outform DER | tail -c 32 | base64)".
Publish the TXT record at the domain APEX (not a _selector subdomain): example.com. IN TXT "v=MCPv1; k=ed25519; p=${PUBLIC_KEY}" — use k=ecdsap384 for the P-384 key.
Wait for DNS propagation, then confirm with `dig +short TXT example.com` before attempting login.
For managed keys instead of a local file: `mcp-publisher login dns google-kms --domain=example.com --resource=projects/<p>/locations/global/keyRings/<kr>/cryptoKeys/<k>/cryptoKeyVersions/1` or `mcp-publisher login dns azure-key-vault --domain=example.com --vault <vault> --key <key>` — run the command once to print the 'Expected proof record' to paste into DNS.
Set server.json `name` to <reverse-dns>/<server> and run `mcp-publisher publish`.
Known gotchas
Placement is SPF-style (apex), not DKIM-style (selector). A TXT record at _mcp.example.com will not be found.
macOS ships LibreSSL as /usr/bin/openssl, which cannot generate Ed25519 keys with genpkey. Install OpenSSL 3.x (brew install openssl@3) and call that binary explicitly, or use the ECDSA P-384 path.
The --private-key value is raw hex (Ed25519 = 64 hex chars, ECDSA P-384 = 96). Passing the PEM file path fails.
The private key is a namespace-level credential — anyone holding it can publish under your domain. Store it in a secret manager, or use the google-kms / azure-key-vault backends so the key never leaves the HSM.
Propagation can take minutes to hours depending on TTL; login failures immediately after adding the record are usually just cache, not a wrong key.
Rotating the key means updating the TXT record; keep the old record until the new one propagates or you lock yourself out.
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claude mcp add --transport http waymark https://mcp.waymark.network/mcp
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