# How to tell if an MCP server is official

Brand match is an evidence problem, not a naming contest.

## What “official” should mean
The publisher controls the brand’s namespace under a proof the registry (or equivalent) accepts — DNS or GitHub org — and that namespace matches the product you think you’re installing.

## What it is not
- A high star count
- Appearing first in a random directory
- A domain that merely *contains* the brand string (farms do this)

## How the census badges it
Official is **query-scoped**. Search `stripe` vs a random third-party name and the badge set changes with the evidence rules. Details: [methodology](/methodology).

## If nothing is Official
We may still list community servers. We may research off-registry hosts. Absence of Official is itself a finding — not a prompt to invent one.