# Sourcegraph MCP Server vs Superpowers

> Superpowers scores 64.5 (B) to Sourcegraph's 57.5 (C) for git operations. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

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- 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: 2026-10-30

Superpowers scores 64.5 (B) on agent readiness against Sourcegraph MCP Server's 57.5 (C), and leads in 2 of 7 scored categories. Sourcegraph MCP Server leads on security & auth and transparency & trust. Both do git operations.

- Sourcegraph MCP Server: grade C, 57.5/100, rank #714 of 1239. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/sourcegraph-mcp.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/sourcegraph-mcp.json
- Superpowers: grade B, 64.5/100, rank #408 of 1239. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/superpowers.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/superpowers.json
- Best code, repository and documentation tools for AI agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/code/index.md
- All 33 code comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/code/index.md

## Which one, for what

### Sourcegraph MCP Server (C)

Good for: A company that already runs Sourcegraph and wants agents to search and navigate many repositories with compiler-accurate definitions and references.

Ahead on:
- Security & auth, 76 against 58
- Transparency & trust, 78 against 68

Also in its favour:
- No incidents deducted, where Superpowers loses 3 points for them

Watch for: Enterprise plans only, from a $16,000 minimum annual contract through sales. A Cloud trial is by request and subject to eligibility

### Superpowers (B)

Good for: A test-first development method for coding agents

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 68 against 25
- Payments & pricing, 60 against 15

Also in its favour:
- No key needed to call it
- Open source

Watch for: No CI workflow in the repository; the test suites in tests/ run only on a contributor's machine


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Sourcegraph MCP Server | Superpowers | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 25 | 68 | Superpowers +43 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 71 | 71 | even |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 72 | 71 | Sourcegraph MCP Server +1 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 76 | 58 | Sourcegraph MCP Server +18 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 15 | 60 | Superpowers +45 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 83 | 83 | even |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 78 | 68 | Sourcegraph MCP Server +10 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | -3 | |
| **Total** | | **57.5 · C** | **64.5 · B** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Sourcegraph MCP Server | Superpowers |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | MCP server | Agent framework |
| Vendor | Sourcegraph, Inc. | Prime Radiant |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |
| Transports | Streamable HTTP |  |
| Auth | OAuth or key | None |
| Pricing | Paid | Free |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Proprietary. The server is part of the Sourcegraph Enterprise product under the Sourcegraph Terms of Service | MIT (Copyright (c) 2025 Jesse Vincent) |
| Tools exposed | 16 | none |
| Read-only variant documented | yes | no |
| llms.txt | no | no |
| MCP registry | `io.github.sourcegraph/mcp` | not listed |
| Last release | 2026-09-17 | 2026-10-21 |
| Terms last updated | 2026-07-22 | couldn't be read |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2026-06-12 | no document linked |
| Customer content may train models | yes, with an opt-out | couldn't be read |
| Terms restrict automated access | not found in the text | couldn't be read |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | not found in the text | couldn't be read |
| Terms or service can change without notice | not found in the text | couldn't be read |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | yes | couldn't be read |
| Popularity | none | 309k stars |

## Verdicts

**Sourcegraph MCP Server.** Sixteen read-only tools search and navigate code across every repository an instance indexes, with OAuth limited to an `mcp` scope and repository permissions enforced on each call. Access needs an Enterprise contract, priced from $16,000 a year, and no request rate limits were found in the reviewed documentation.

**Superpowers.** Fifteen MIT-licensed skills that make a coding agent design, plan, test first and review before it finishes, with five releases in 90 days and dated release notes. It has no CI workflow or security policy, its bootstrap insists a skill be invoked before any reply, and its optional visual companion loads a logo from Prime Radiant's site unless disabled.

## Before you call either

### Sourcegraph MCP Server

1. Connect to https://<instance>/.api/mcp for the nine core tools. Use /.api/mcp/all for `go_to_definition`, `find_references`, `nls_search` and `compare_revisions`
2. Request only the `mcp` scope in OAuth. Any other scope on the MCP resource fails with `invalid_scope`
3. Without OAuth, send `Authorization: token <access token>` and create the token with the `mcp` scope and an expiry
4. Call `list_repos` first and name the repository in every `code_finder` task. It declines broad searches across repositories
5. Read large files with `startLine` and `endLine`. Files over 128KB return only the first 200 lines

### Superpowers

1. Install it once per coding agent; each harness has its own install command, and the README says a second harness needs a second install.
2. Expect brainstorming to start before any code on a build request. Say so plainly if your human partner wants a quick change done without a design document.
3. Name a model on every subagent dispatch, as the skill asks; an unnamed subagent inherits the session's most expensive model.
4. Set SUPERPOWERS_DISABLE_TELEMETRY=1 before using the visual companion if no request may leave the machine.
5. Keep `.superpowers/sdd/` out of `git clean -fdx`; it holds the progress ledger a resumed run reads.

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, Sourcegraph MCP Server or Superpowers?

Superpowers scores 64.5 (B) on agent readiness against Sourcegraph MCP Server's 57.5 (C), and leads in 2 of 7 scored categories. Sourcegraph MCP Server leads on security & auth and transparency & trust.

### Can an agent call Sourcegraph MCP Server and Superpowers without installing anything?

No hosted endpoint is listed for Sourcegraph MCP Server. No hosted endpoint is listed for Superpowers.

### Are Sourcegraph MCP Server and Superpowers open source?

No open-source release is listed for Sourcegraph MCP Server. Superpowers is open source (MIT (Copyright (c) 2025 Jesse Vincent)).


## For agents

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

## Other comparisons with Sourcegraph MCP Server or Superpowers

- [Azure DevOps MCP Server vs Sourcegraph MCP Server](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/azure-devops-mcp-vs-sourcegraph-mcp.md)
- [Entire vs Sourcegraph MCP Server](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/entire-vs-sourcegraph-mcp.md)
- [GitHub MCP Server vs Sourcegraph MCP Server](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/github-mcp-server-vs-sourcegraph-mcp.md)
- [Graphify vs Sourcegraph MCP Server](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/graphify-vs-sourcegraph-mcp.md)
- [Entire vs Superpowers](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/entire-vs-superpowers.md)
- [Git (MCP reference server) vs Sourcegraph MCP Server](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/git-reference-server-vs-sourcegraph-mcp.md)
- [Git (MCP reference server) vs Superpowers](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/git-reference-server-vs-superpowers.md)
- [graft vs Sourcegraph MCP Server](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/graft-vs-sourcegraph-mcp.md)
- [graft vs Superpowers](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/graft-vs-superpowers.md)
- [Graphify vs Superpowers](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/graphify-vs-superpowers.md)

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