What is distil?
distil is a MCP server by dshakes that reversibly compress large tool outputs into recoverable handles, expand them on demand and track token and cost savings locally. It is listed under Knowledge & memory and has 20 GitHub stars.
| Type | Mcp server |
|---|---|
| Author | dshakes |
| Repository | dshakes/distil |
| Popularity | 20 GitHub stars |
| Category | Knowledge & memory |
| Security | Low risk (92/100) |
| Rank | #1,313 of 4,418 MCP servers; #137 in Knowledge & memory |
| Last commit | 2026-10-17 |
| Stars this week | +1 |
| Runs | Locally |
| Language | Python |
Is distil safe to install?
distil scores 92/100 on the MCPMods security check: Low risk. No checks raised a concern. It passed 4 of 6 checks.
MCP server results come from listing signals: who publishes it, where your data goes and what it can do. The code itself is not scanned yet.
| Check | Result |
|---|---|
| Community-built server | Note |
| Runs on your machine only | Pass |
| Needs an API key or account login | Note |
| Read-only by description | Pass |
| No code execution | Pass |
| Source on GitHub | Pass |
How do I install distil?
- Find the launch command. The README says how the server starts (npx, uvx, docker or a remote URL) and which API keys it needs.
https://github.com/dshakes/distil
- Add it to Claude Code. Replace the part after -- with the command from the README. Remote servers use --transport http with a URL.
claude mcp add distil -- <command from README> claude mcp add --transport http distil <server-url>
- Check it connected. This lists your MCP servers and their status.
claude mcp list
Or ask Claude to set it up
Paste this into Claude Code and it installs distil for you:
Add the "distil" MCP server from https://github.com/dshakes/distil to Claude Code. Read its README for the launch command and any API keys I need, run claude mcp add, then check that it connects.