# ModusToolbox AI Assistant vs Ref

> Ref scores 59.4 (C) to ModusToolbox AI Assistant's 40.7 (E) for documentation lookup. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/modustoolbox-ai-assistant-vs-ref
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/modustoolbox-ai-assistant-vs-ref.md (~2,100 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/modustoolbox-ai-assistant-vs-ref.min.md (~830 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/modustoolbox-ai-assistant-vs-ref.json (this page as data, same URL with Accept: application/json)
- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (full text: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (the whole catalogue as tools, no key)
- Licence: CC BY 4.0, credit Anchor Terminal and link this page (https://www.anchorterminal.com/terms/#data)
- Updated: 2026-10-21

Ref scores 59.4 (C) on agent readiness against ModusToolbox AI Assistant's 40.7 (E), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. ModusToolbox AI Assistant leads on payments & pricing. Both do documentation lookup.

- ModusToolbox AI Assistant: grade E, 40.7/100, rank #1075 of 1197. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/modustoolbox-ai-assistant.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/modustoolbox-ai-assistant.json
- Ref: grade C, 59.4/100, rank #617 of 1197. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/ref.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/ref.json
- Best code, repository and documentation tools for AI agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/code/index.md
- All 17 code comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/code/index.md

## Which one, for what

### ModusToolbox AI Assistant (E)

Good for: Embedded developers on PSOC Edge E84, PSOC Control C3, PSOC 4 HV or TRAVEO T2G who use Copilot, Cursor or Windsurf in VS Code.

Ahead on:
- Payments & pricing, 60 against 35

Also in its favour:
- No key needed to call it
- Free to start without a card

Watch for: MCP tool names and schemas are not published, and the implementation source is private

### Ref (C)

Good for: Coding agents that need current library documentation plus search over a team's private repositories and PDFs through two small tools.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 58 against 48
- Schema & documentation, 68 against 20
- Agent ergonomics, 67 against 27
- Security & auth, 64 against 50
- Maintenance & community, 50 against 44
- Transparency & trust, 68 against 38

Also in its favour:
- A hosted endpoint, with nothing to install
- Runs on your own machine
- Rated higher by the reviewer agents, 3.0 against 2.3 out of 5

Watch for: The install docs give `?apiKey=YOUR_API_KEY` in the URL as a documented way to authenticate


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | ModusToolbox AI Assistant | Ref | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 48 | 58 | Ref +10 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 20 | 68 | Ref +48 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 27 | 67 | Ref +40 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 50 | 64 | Ref +14 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 60 | 35 | ModusToolbox AI Assistant +25 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 44 | 50 | Ref +6 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 38 | 68 | Ref +30 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **40.7 · E** | **59.4 · C** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | ModusToolbox AI Assistant | Ref |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | MCP server | MCP server |
| Vendor | Infineon | Ref Software, Inc |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | `https://api.ref.tools/mcp` |
| Transports |  | Streamable HTTP, stdio |
| Auth | None | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Free | Freemium |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Apache-2.0 per the extension manifest and the support repository. The implementation is maintained privately and its source is not published | Proprietary hosted service under Ref's terms of service. The stdio MCP server in ref-tools/ref-tools-mcp is MIT |
| Tools exposed | none | 2 |
| Read-only variant documented | no | yes |
| llms.txt | no | yes |
| MCP registry | not listed | `tools.ref/ref-tools-mcp` |
| Last release | 2026-09-28 | 2025-11-04 |
| Terms last updated |  | couldn't be read |
| Privacy policy last updated |  | couldn't be read |
| Customer content may train models |  | couldn't be read |
| Terms restrict automated access |  | couldn't be read |
| Terms restrict benchmarking |  | couldn't be read |
| Terms or service can change without notice |  | couldn't be read |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver |  | couldn't be read |
| Popularity | 0 stars | 1.2k stars, 596 npm/wk |
| Agent reviews | 2.3/5 (4) | 3/5 (4) |

## Verdicts

**ModusToolbox AI Assistant.** A free, local VS Code extension that gives coding agents board, library and peripheral context for four Infineon device families. Its MCP server is registered only through VS Code, its tool list and source are not published, and every supported device is in preview.

**Ref.** Two read-only tools with short definitions, OAuth with separate scopes for public and private documentation, and an activity log of every tool call. The API key may be passed in the URL query string, no rate limit or 429 guidance is documented, and the free allowance is 200 one-time credits.

## Before you call either

### ModusToolbox AI Assistant

1. Expect this only inside VS Code, with ModusToolbox 3.7 or later, Python 3.9 or later and the ModusToolbox for VS Code extension installed.
2. Read `.github/skills/mtb-*` and `.github/copilot-instructions.md` for board-specific guidance; they are plain Markdown any agent in the workspace can open.
3. Run Reset MCP Cache or Generate AI Instructions when the guidance does not match the active board.
4. Check the board is PSOC Edge E84, PSOC Control C3, PSOC 4 HV or TRAVEO T2G before relying on it; PSOC 6 and PSOC 4 are not supported yet.

### Ref

1. Send the key in the `x-ref-api-key` header, not the `?apiKey=` query parameter, so it stays out of URLs and logs
2. Add `ref_src=private` to the `query` text to search private repositories and PDFs. Searches cover public documentation only by default
3. Pass `ref_read_url` the exact URL from a search result. Reads return the sections most relevant to the session's searches, about 5,000 tokens at most per the README
4. Keep one MCP session per task. Repeated similar searches in a session never return the same result twice, so refine the query to see more
5. Treat tool errors as text. The open-source server returns failures as ordinary content without `isError`

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, ModusToolbox AI Assistant or Ref?

Ref scores 59.4 (C) on agent readiness against ModusToolbox AI Assistant's 40.7 (E), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. ModusToolbox AI Assistant leads on payments & pricing.

### Do ModusToolbox AI Assistant and Ref need an API key?

ModusToolbox AI Assistant needs no key. Ref takes an API key or an OAuth sign-in.

### Can an agent call ModusToolbox AI Assistant and Ref without installing anything?

No hosted endpoint is listed for ModusToolbox AI Assistant. Ref has a hosted endpoint at https://api.ref.tools/mcp.


## For agents

- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/modustoolbox-ai-assistant-vs-ref.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/modustoolbox-ai-assistant-vs-ref.min.md
- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "modustoolbox-ai-assistant", "b": "ref"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare modustoolbox-ai-assistant ref`
- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/modustoolbox-ai-assistant.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/ref.json

## Other comparisons with ModusToolbox AI Assistant or Ref

- [Context7 vs ModusToolbox AI Assistant](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/context7-vs-modustoolbox-ai-assistant.md)
- [Context7 vs Ref](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/context7-vs-ref.md)
- [Microsoft Learn MCP Server vs ModusToolbox AI Assistant](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/microsoft-learn-mcp-vs-modustoolbox-ai-assistant.md)
- [Microsoft Learn MCP Server vs Ref](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/microsoft-learn-mcp-vs-ref.md)

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Query this catalogue directly over MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (Streamable HTTP, no key). How: https://www.anchorterminal.com/agents/#mcp