A month ago I shipped aicraft-code-review — an open-source MCP server that reviews code locally (OWASP scanning, N+1 detection, style rules) for Claude Code, Cursor and Cline. I had $0 marketing budget and no audience.
One month later: 650+ PyPI installs, 12 Product Hunt followers, and listings in 5 directories — with more pending. Zero dollars spent. Here's the exact playbook, including what didn't work.
The channels, ranked by effort-to-reach
| Channel | Cost | Status | What it took |
|---|---|---|---|
| PyPI | $0 | ✅ 650+ installs | One afternoon: pyproject.toml, wheel build, twine upload
|
| Smithery | $0 | ✅ Live | Deploy via their CLI, quality score 52/100 |
| mcpservers.org | $0 | ✅ Approved in ~1 day | Simple submit form |
| cursor.directory | $0 | ✅ Live | Submit plugin + MCP server + rule |
| Product Hunt | $0 | ✅ Launched | Free launch, real user feedback |
| Glama | $0 | ⏳ Reviewing | Submit + glama.json + Dockerfile |
| awesome-mcp-servers | $0 | ⏳ PR open | Needs Glama listing + badge first |
| Docker MCP Registry | $0 | ⏳ PR open | Root Dockerfile, LICENSE, SECURITY.md
|
| Official MCP Registry | $0 | ⏳ Next |
mcp-publisher publish from the PyPI package |
| MCPFind / Cline marketplace | $0 | ⏳ PRs open | YAML metadata, waiting on maintainers |
| Hacker News | $0 | ✅ 1 point | Honest "Show HN" style post |
| Reddit r/mcp | $0 | ❌ Failed | See below |
What actually moved the needle
1. Directory listings compound. Every listing adds an install path, a backlink, and social proof for the next directory. mcpservers.org approved me in a day; that listing made the cursor.directory submission stronger.
2. Product Hunt gave us the roadmap. We only got 3 upvotes — but two comments became our next release:
-
"Team-shared rule profiles so my whole squad syncs rules" → shipped
MCP_CODE_REVIEW_CONFIG -
"Custom rule sets per repo" → shipped
.mcp-code-review.yamlauto-discovery
Real users telling you what to build beats any amount of guessing.
3. The awesome-mcp-servers repo is the prize. It has 92k stars and its README is how most people discover MCP servers. But the bar is real: your server must be listed on Glama with a quality score badge. Budget 2 weeks for review.
What didn't work (so you don't waste a week)
Reddit with a new account = spam filter. Both my r/mcp posts got silently removed. New accounts can't message mods either. Lesson: build karma in technical subreddits before you have something to promote.
HN is a lottery. One point, zero comments. Fine — the post is still a permanent backlink.
Paid directories come early. mcp.so wants $39. OpenTools is paid-only. Skip them at the start.
The bug that almost sank fresh installs
Two weeks after 0.1.0 shipped, mcp 2.0.0 dropped with a breaking API change — and fresh installs of my server crashed at import. I had pinned mcp>=1.6 without an upper bound.
If you ship a Python MCP server today: pin mcp>=1.6,<2 in your dependencies right now. The 0.1.1 release with the fix went out the same week.
The honest numbers
- PyPI: 650+ installs, 150/month
- Product Hunt: 3 upvotes, 12 followers, 7 comments (all replied)
- GitHub: 2 stars (yes, two)
- Revenue: $0 so far — distribution first, monetization is the next chapter
The playbook in 5 steps
- Ship on PyPI/npm first. Every other channel references your package.
-
Prepare the common requirements once:
Dockerfile,LICENSE,SECURITY.md,glama.json, install docs. Every directory asks for a subset of these. - Submit to free directories in parallel. Fast approvals build momentum.
- Capture feedback (PH comments, issues) and ship it — then tell people you shipped it.
- Do the two big PRs last: awesome-mcp-servers and the Docker MCP Registry, once your listing quality score is in shape.
Next up: the official MCP Registry publish and the Glama badge. If you're building an MCP server, steal this list — and tell me which channel I'm missing.
aicraft-code-review is MIT-licensed and installs with pip install aicraft-code-review.
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