cheap-eyes MCP server

cheap-eyes

Cheap eyes for an expensive agent.

An AI agent's context is expensive. When it reads a big log, a long doc, a web page or a whole code tree, it burns that context on lines it mostly doesn't need. cheap-eyes is an MCP server that hands the reading to a cheap model. It then checks every line of that model's answer against the source, so the agent gets back a short answer it can trust.

What it looks like

A real header from the server (trimmed), with a stubbed model answer. The agent asked for every ERROR line after 08:10 in an app log, plus the traceback that follows it:

eyes_run result: 2026-09-26_152246-extract-889090
model: alias fast -> qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b (used: qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b)
tokens in 412 / out 96; cost $0.000080; 2 ms
check (extract): refs ok 4 / bad 1 — ok 4, ok~ 0, partial 0, not-in-input 0
  L9 [bad] text differs from the source line
--- untrusted model output ---
L3| 2026-09-20 08:14:09.031 ERROR [sync] upload failed: timeout after 30 s
L4| 2026-09-20 08:14:09.032 Traceback (most recent call last):
L6| TimeoutError: timed out
L8| 2026-09-20 08:15:31.550 ERROR [sync] upload failed: HTTP 503 from api.example.com
L9| 2026-09-20 08:16:00.000 ERROR [sync] retry 2/3 failed
--- end ---

The model quoted five lines. In the real log, line 9 says INFO [sync] retry 2/3 ok, so the model made up an error. The check compared each quote with the source line and flagged L9 as bad. The agent sees that before it relies on the answer.

Why you can trust the answer

only the numbered lines cheap-eyes chose to send.

• The model has no tools. It can't open files, browse or call anything. It sees

keys become [token], [key] and so on, in the files and in the task.

• Secrets are masked before anything leaves your machine. Passwords, tokens and

prompts. cheap-eyes talks only to OpenRouter and asks for them on every call.

• Only Zero Data Retention providers. Those are providers that don't store your

were sent. Wrong values and uncited claims are flagged.

• Every quote and line reference is checked mechanically against the lines that

proves what was quoted is real, not that nothing was missed.

• What the check does not prove: that the answer is complete or relevant. It

Requirements

Installation

Claude Code / Claude Desktop (npx)

%APPDATA%\cheap-eyes\config.json on Windows (see Configuration).

1. Write a config file at ~/.config/cheap-eyes/config.json, or

1. Check it (no network, no secrets printed): npx -y cheap-eyes check-config
2. Add the server to Claude Code:

claude mcp add --env CHEAP_EYES_OPENROUTER_KEY=<OPENROUTER_KEY> --transport stdio cheap-eyes -- npx -y cheap-eyes

line it's on."*

1. Try it: "Use eyesrun to list every TODO in /home/me/notes/\\/\*.md, with the

Claude Desktop, .mcp.json and a global install: installation.

Home Assistant app

Home Assistant renamed add-ons to apps in 2026.2; on older versions the same menus say Add-ons and Add-on Store.

1. Add this repository:

Shortened. The full README is on GitHub.