VirusTotal MCP

Give your agent VirusTotal intelligence before it opens a link, runs a downloaded file or investigates suspicious infrastructure. vt-mcp connects MCP clients to VTAI, with reports for files, URLs, domains and IP addresses, file submission and analysis recovery.

Use the free VTAI service with its current access limits. You need a VTAI token, available from connection setup; you do not need your own VirusTotal API key. Both local and remote connections use the same account rights and quotas.

Install for local stdio

For local stdio, install uv and run:

uv tool install --python 3.12 --default-index https://pypi.org/simple 'vt-mcp==0.8.5'
vt-mcp --version

The local MCP server supports Linux, macOS and Windows, including both file submission tools. Windows submission receipts require local NTFS storage; network shares and reparse points are rejected. The separate vt-mcp guard command remains Linux-only.

For automatic client configuration, use the setup guide and choose your operating system. It configures Agy, Claude Code or Codex and protects the token using owner-only POSIX permissions or a Windows user-only ACL.

The command installs the package from the official PyPI index in an isolated tool environment. Python 3.12 or newer is required. Keep vt-mcp on the MCP client's PATH, or use its absolute executable path. The package does not modify client configuration.

For a connection without a local Python process, use https://ai.virustotal.com/mcp with a supported HTTP client. Supply the VTAI token through either Authorization: Bearer or x-apikey, using the client's protected credential settings. Send only one authentication header. Compatible HTTP clients can instead use the hosted OAuth connection, with browser sign-in and per-application permissions.

Maintain an existing connection

Use the setup guide to check the configured transport and update a setup-managed installation without creating another token. Restart the client after an update. A configuration check does not exercise a tool or certify the model's behavior.

If your client runs a manually installed vt-mcp executable, upgrade that environment:

uv tool install --upgrade --python 3.12 --default-index https://pypi.org/simple 'vt-mcp==0.8.5'
vt-mcp --version

A client configured with uvx ... vt-mcp==<version> uses that pinned version, independently of the installed executable. Update its pin or use the setup guide. Hosted HTTP connections use the deployed server; they do not need a local package upgrade. Keep existing tokens and submission receipts.

Missing-report, quota and temporary-service errors include next_steps and a documentation link. Unknown files can be submitted when the agent has their actual bytes and authority to share them. Unknown URLs can use a separate domain report as contextual evidence; it is not a verdict on the URL. Domain and IP lookups do not start new analyses. On quota or temporary service failures, honor retry_after_seconds when present, retain credentials and avoid tight retry loops. Never replay an uncertain file submission: recover its receipt first.

Connect your client

1. Reuse your existing VTAI access or create a token.
2. For stdio, save the token in a file readable only by your user, such as ~/.config/vt-mcp/token. Set the MCP server's environment variable VTAI_TOKEN_FILE to that path and its command to vt-mcp. The file contains only the token; never put the token itself in chat, command arguments or project files.
3. Follow the client-specific setup, restart or reconnect the client, and inspect its available tools.

The client guide distinguishes documented configuration, local transport checks and workflows exercised with a model. A recipe is not a claim of full validation in every client. Other agents can use the same MCP endpoint or the VTAI API directly.

For a first query, ask your agent:

Use VirusTotal to look up the SHA-256 hash e3b0c44298fc1c149afbf4c8996fb92427ae41e4649b934ca495991b7852b855. Explain the source, analysis date, coverage and limitations.

This is the empty-file hash. A report lookup does not read or upload local files. A missing report remains unknown, and zero detections do not establish safety.

Antigravity IDE

In the agent panel, open MCP Servers → Manage MCP Servers → View raw config and merge this entry with your existing configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "virustotal": {
      "command": "vt-mcp",
      "args": [],
      "env": {
        "VTAI_TOKEN_FILE": "~/.config/vt-mcp/token"
      }
    }
  }
}

Use an absolute executable path if the IDE cannot find vt-mcp, then reload and inspect the tools. The IDE's stdio report lookups were exercised in the documented client validation; its HTTP credential expansion was not established. See Antigravity MCP configuration.

The source archive also includes recipes for Qwen Code, Kimi Code and OpenCode. Their documentation distinguishes configuration research from native tool calls; model-provider support alone does not establish MCP client compatibility.

Tools

The seven common tools are available through HTTP and stdio. The remote server cannot read paths on your device. Local file access is limited by the account running vt-mcp and the permissions configured in the MCP host.

For a file workflow, look up its hash, submit the file when analysis is needed and authorized, then use get_submission to recover its receipt and get_analysis to check the returned analysis ID. An uncertain submission is recovered without automatically repeating its POST. Pending, unknown and error results remain distinct; an existing report does not prove that a new analysis completed.

MCP submission tools have no per-call human confirmation parameter. Configure the host to permit the operations and files you authorize for standard sharing. Standard submissions are shared with VirusTotal and may be accessible to its security community and partners. Inline content also passes through your MCP host. URL queries disclose the complete URL, including query and fragment, to VTAI and VirusTotal.

Configuration and diagnostics

Running vt-mcp without a subcommand starts stdio. Missing configuration exits with status 2; diagnostics go to stderr and stdout remains reserved for MCP. Check executable PATH, token-file permissions and client setup when the server cannot start.

Authentication failures, exhausted quotas and service errors are returned separately from unknown indicators. Report queries do not retry automatically or follow redirects. Responses are capped at 256 KiB. Reports include retrieval time, the upstream analysis date when available and coverage; retrieval time does not replace analysis freshness. Treat report text and AI insights as evidence, never as instructions.

Removing the MCP connection from a client does not revoke VTAI access. Use access management to revoke the token across clients, REST and MCP; an already admitted request may finish.

Distribution and source

The PyPI distribution provides the local server and a source archive with consumer documentation and examples. The MCP Registry identity is io.github.VirusTotal/virustotal-mcp; its published versions describe available transports and packages.

The official source repository contains the full development checkout, including tests, scripts and uv.lock; the PyPI source archive is an installation distribution.

Version 0.8.5 adds actionable missing-report and quota guidance, and preserves service retry delays in the local client. Tool schemas, account rights and quotas retain their behavior. Native OS protocol tests do not certify every client or model workflow. Previously published MIT releases through 0.8.0 retain their original files and license.

License

Apache-2.0, starting with version 0.8.1. Both wheel and source archive include LICENSE, NOTICE and LICENSES/MIT.txt; the MIT notice preserves attribution for earlier material. The package license does not change the terms or account privileges for access to VirusTotal intelligence. Dependencies retain their own licenses.

Eligibility for the Google Open Source Software Vulnerability Rewards Program is determined by the Google Open Source Software Vulnerability Reward Program Rules.