GTM Launch · Gluon · jobs over existence
How the world starts using your travel MCPs
Not by finding another directory. Agents fetch machine files, developers install one command, companies finish a job that already pays. Traffic without a first useful call is vanity. Rank is not for sale. Pelikan DOWN stays labeled. x402 killed.
How usage starts Tips 4-week plan Henry’s 10 Top 20 4 registries Paste packs
How the world starts using travel MCPs
Five loops. Run them in this order. Distro without a live job is a listing farm.
1. Agent loop (no human)
Runtime fetches /llms.txt + /.well-known/mcp.json + Official Registry card. It installs POST /desk and calls run_travel_job. Success: a model recommends the job (group airfare 10+ names later → EasyGroupFlights) and cites the money URL, not mcp.so.
2. Developer loop (<5 min)
One-click Cursor / VS Code or copy Claude / Hermes. First useful reply in <30s. If routing fails, typed tools on the same endpoint are the menu. We do not host their runtime.
3. Company loop (money)
Same job lands on a licensed desk: EGF group quote (human-gated), Pelikan when TLS is live, WhatsApp +421 947 797 797. Desk margin (M1) is the number. No marketplace fee at launch.
4. GEO loop (citation)
Unique fact pages — group airfare, complete-list, for-llms — with FAQ JSON-LD. Models retrieve dense, dated, job-specific pages. llms.txt is standing orders, not a sitemap.
5. Builder loop (supply, gated)
Invite HTTP MCPs that already pass usefulness ≥3. Free list. Eval history. Never sold rank. Hold DMs until EGF pack has converted a real thread.
What does not start usage
50-directory spam, a 125-row scraped aisle, a token, a hosted Smithery clone, Show HN of an empty Desk, or ranking dead Pelikan as #1 because it is ours.
Tips and strategies (learned, 2026)
Compiled from Official Registry / Smithery / Glama / PulseMCP practice, GEO (llms.txt + citable money URLs), two-sided PLG, and our own evals (121 listed, 51 live HTTP, live avg 3.4/5).
| # | Tip | Do this | Do not |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Agents do not browse directories | Keep llms.txt, server.json, /.well-known/mcp.json as real JSON, desk-first | SPA HTML on well-known paths; leftover noindex |
| 2 | Four registries, not fifty | Official MCP Registry + Glama + PulseMCP + Smithery, plus one PR to punkpeye/awesome-mcp-servers | Paid “submit to 50 directories” services |
| 3 | Crawl then claim | Glama (~tens of thousands of servers) auto-indexes GitHub; claimed listings beat unclaimed | Leave EGF / Desk unclaimed with a wrong homepage |
| 4 | Unique job in every blurb | “Group airfare, 10+ pax, names later” in every registry field | “Flight search MCP” — commodity copy dies in 37k+ listings |
| 5 | Money URL first | Human site in website/docs; MCP endpoint second; GitHub third | GitHub-only listings (weak backlink, wrong ICP) |
| 6 | PLG metric = time to first useful call | <30s on Desk; install kit on every HTTP MCP page | Vanity sessions, star counts, scraped inventory size |
| 7 | Supply-led only with a quality gate | Public shop ~15 recommendable; complete-list is the audit | Lead with 125 mistagged government lookups |
| 8 | GEO cites the job, not the brand | Prompt set: group airfare → money page + EGF. Baseline ChatGPT / Claude / Perplexity / Gemini | llms.txt theater while non-brand prompts cite mcp.so |
| 9 | Factory before distro | Pack EGF into Grokbot + WhatsApp + Desk until a real quote thread exists | Show HN / registry PR of an empty flagship |
| 10 | Steal install, kill hosting | Smithery one-click tabs; Glama job+score; PulseMCP per-client JSON | Hosted MCP runtime (liability + cost). We are not Smithery |
| 11 | Attribution from the first quote | Handoff: wa.me / email / Pelikan link with a ref. Stamps = receipts, not a chain | Assume we “saw the booking” before EGF/Pelikan accept the ref |
| 12 | Henry posts, Vision drafts | Paste packs below. Cron deliver=local | Unsupervised X / HN / builder DMs / auto-filed group quotes |
Actionable plan (this month)
Opportunity-map outranks sprint-map. Sequence is factory → activation → GEO → Henry-gated distro. Hackathon 12–13 Sep is Pelikan TLS + EGF/WA same thread — not a portal.
Week of 8 Sep — factory
Keep Desk as homepage. Curate shop 125→15. EGF Grokbot + WhatsApp compose (never auto-file). Pelikan stays honest DOWN. HotelHop chips stay off until inventory. Public evals stay on.
Week of 15 Sep — activation
Typed tools on /desk (menu for agents) + free-text (humans). Install success check. 12s abort + channels fallback. /data/desk-evals.json public. Drop-ins for Cursor/VS Code/Claude.
Week of 22 Sep — GEO
Confirm indexation of Desk, group-airfare, for-llms, complete-list. Run the 6-family prompt set on 4 engines. Fix whatever still cites mcp.so. No blog volume.
Week of 29 Sep — distro (Henry)
Only after one real EGF thread: Official Registry + awesome-mcp PR + Show HN (Tue–Thu AM ET) + 10 builder notes Henry ticks. Slack / portal keys stay roadmap.
| When | Move | Success | Kill if |
|---|---|---|---|
| D30 | 20 task-tested, Desk <30s, 1 EGF-attributed thread | Agents can finish a group-info job without a human | Still leading with 125 junk |
| D60 | Pelikan initialize 200 or still labeled DOWN; 10 EGF threads | Own rail is honest; WA seat used | Fake fares or second auto-quote |
| D90 | 50 tested · 500 sessions · 20 first-party jobs · 1 paid experiment | Keep marketplace | <20 tested AND <500 sessions AND €0 — fold to EGF GEO |
Henry — 10 activities only you can do
Vision drafts and ships the factory. These ten are gated. Do them in this order. Skip anything above a line you have not unlocked.
| # | You do | When | Unlocks | Skip until |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| H1 | Taste-bar Desk + this GTM page. Ship or kill copy, not architecture. | Today | Public narrative | — |
| H2 | One real EGF group thread (human-gated). Reuse the existing quote — do not file a second. | This week | Proof M1 works | — |
| H3 | Pelikan host/TLS with their IT so mcp.pelikan.sk initializes. Drop-in server is already in-repo. | Hackathon 12–13 Sep | Own CEE rail | Their apex 301 is dead |
| H4 | gh auth (or say “not this month”). Official Registry + awesome-mcp PR. | After H2 | Agent discovery | Empty Desk |
| H5 | Paste Show HN (pack below). Tue–Thu AM ET. | After H2+H4 | Developers | No live job |
| H6 | One X / LinkedIn post from the pack. Social Scaler does not auto-publish. | Same day as HN | Human reach | H5 |
| H7 | Tick the 10 builder DMs (or kill the wave). Vision will not send. | After H5 | Quality supply | DNS if you want brand URL in the DM |
| H8 | WhatsApp Cloud API (paid seat) when compose-only is not enough. Number already converts: +421 947 797 797. | Month 2 | SKU C | Compose works |
| H9 | Stripe Payment Link when sessions exist. Not at launch. | After ~50 Desk sessions | M2 seats | €0 experiments needed |
| H10 | Brand DNS travelbots.org → Pages — not this weekend. Day-90 keep/fold. | You say | Canonical GEO | You locked Cloudflare-only |
Top 20 program activities
The operating backlog. Vision/SOA own most rows. Your gates are in the last column. Priority: factory (01–05) before distro (14–18).
| # | Action | Owner | When | Success | Gate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Ship typed tools on /desk: group_quote_info, pelikan_search (live/TLS), advise_disruption, recommend_for_job + keep free-text | Son of Anton + Vision | Week 1 | First useful call <30s; EGF not filed | None |
| 02 | Curate public catalogue 125 → 15 live & installable | Vision | Week 1 | Trust: 0 mistags in top 15 | Henry review |
| 03 | Own rail vs ranked aisle: dead Pelikan DOWN label, not rank #6 | Vision | Week 1 | No usefulness 0 in Top 15 | None |
| 04 | EGF pack: Grokbot template + WhatsApp compose (human-gated quote) | Vision | Week 1 | 10 installs or 3 real quote threads | Henry post |
| 05 | Pelikan flights/deals probe — honest DOWN until TLS live | Pelikan / Vision | Week 1 | initialize 200 or stay DOWN | Pelikan host |
| 06 | HotelHop split-stay: wire inventory or unpublish chips | HotelHop | Week 2 | Stub off homepage until real | HotelHop API |
| 07 | SOS Ec261: keep advise-only; partner filer later | SOS | Week 2 | Advise page stays, filer roadmap | Legal |
| 08 | Install kit: one-click Cursor/VS Code + copy Claude/Hermes (no hosted runtime) | Son of Anton | Week 2 | Install success >80% | None |
| 09 | Desk 12s timeout + channels fallback badge | Vision | Week 2 | No 16s hangs; fallback shown | None |
| 10 | Quiet Drift evals public: /data/desk-evals.json 38/38 | Vision | Week 2 | Accuracy 1.0, usefulness 4.08 | None |
| 11 | LLMs.txt desk-first + llms-full.txt + server.json schema-true | Vision | Week 2-3 | llms.txt points to /desk | None |
| 12 | GEO magnets: /group-airfare-for-ai-agents + /for-llms + /complete-list + FAQ JSON-LD | Superkeyword | Week 3 | LLM cites group page, not mcp.so | None |
| 13 | Sitemap + robots Allow /desk + index,follow (was noindex) | Vision | Week 3 | Google indexes /desk in 7 days | None |
| 14 | Registry: Official MCP Registry + awesome-mcp PR (gh auth) | Henry | Week 3 | 2 listings live | Henry GH auth |
| 15 | Drop-ins: /data/mcp.json, cursor-mcp.json, vscode-mcp.json + agent.json | Vision | Week 3 | One-file install per IDE | None |
| 16 | Handoff ref: WA wa.me + Pelikan deep link with signed ref | Vision | Week 3-4 | Every quote carries ref | Pelikan accepts ref |
| 17 | Travel Stamps receipts: desk-run / group-path / builder (no token) | Vision | Week 4 | Stamps saved locally | Henry redeem |
| 18 | Builder wave 1 — 10 notes drafted, held until DNS | Vision | Week 4 | 0 sent, Henry ticks | Henry tick |
| 19 | Slack agent (B) + portal keys = ROADMAP, not Week 6 | Vision | Month 2 | Backlog issue, not shipped | Client demand |
| 20 | Day-90 gate: 20 task-tested + 500 sessions or fold to EGF GEO | Gluon | Day 90 | Keep/fold decision | Henry |
Where to list (four surfaces)
2026 practice: four registries plus one curated PR. Money site in every field. Default spend $0. mcp.so premium (~$39 claimed dofollow) only with your OK.
| Surface | Why it matters | How | Owner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Official MCP Registry | Canonical metadata agents trust | mcp-publisher + /server.json · name com.travelbots/desk | Henry GH |
| Glama | Largest index; claimed tier | Often auto from GitHub — then claim, set website to Desk | Henry login |
| PulseMCP | Freshness / weekly human scan | Form / login | Henry |
| Smithery | Where devs look for one-click | Publish metadata only — we do not host | Henry |
| awesome-mcp-servers | The curated PR that still converts | PR into Travel section — EGF + Desk | Henry PR |
| mcpservers.org / MCPCMD | Free forms, no GH | Use if GH is delayed; money URL in description | Vision draft |
Paste packs — Henry posts, Vision does not
Ready to paste. Do not auto-post. Brand DNS still NXDOMAIN — preview URL is honest.
Show HN
Show HN: travelbots.org — every travel MCP, task-tested, ranked for agents We audited 120+ travel MCP servers. Almost none are a group-airfare desk. One that is: EasyGroupFlights (10+ pax, names later). travelbots.org is not another directory. It is a ranked shelf: - Job (group quote ≠ flight search) - Usefulness 0–5 from schema-true live calls - Install one-liner for Claude / Cursor / Hermes - llms.txt + JSON so agents can pick a tool without a human We do not sell rank. We do not host your runtime. First-party desks (Pelikan, EGF) sit on top because they finish the job — Pelikan is labeled DOWN until TLS is live. Live: https://henry-travelbots.pages.dev/ Agents: https://henry-travelbots.pages.dev/llms.txt Devs: https://henry-travelbots.pages.dev/developers.html
X / LinkedIn (one post)
120+ travel MCPs. Rank is job-completion, not stars. Group airfare still has ~1 live specialist MCP. Catalogue + evals + install: henry-travelbots.pages.dev — brand DNS next.
Builder DM
Saw your {server}. Listed it on travelbots.org under {job}. Live test scored {n}/5 because {reason}. Want a free listing + eval history? Reply with the production HTTP URL. Rank is not for sale.
Farcaster / on-chain communities (if you post)
Travel job receipts, not a coin. Non-transferable stamps on desk runs — redeem via WhatsApp. No ticker, no DEX. https://henry-travelbots.pages.dev/loyalty.html
What we will not do in launch
- No auto request_group_quote — human gates the group desk.
- No invented Pelikan fares — honest DOWN.
- No second 16s EGF hang — 12s client abort + fallback.
- No HotelHop / SOS theater chips until they transact.
- No sold rank, hosted runtime, Google-Flights wrapper, or x402 theater.
- No token, no memecoin, no gold-crypto UI. Stamps are receipts.
Open Travel Desk Install For agents Business model GEO magnet