Give your agent the whole desk

Everything on The Arbitrage Desk is available to AI agents through a public Model Context Protocol server: live news, glossary definitions, lessons, the fraud map, player profiles, a margin calculator, delayed quotes, earnings explainers, deals and quizzes. It is read-only and free. Anonymous callers get 90 calls a minute; ask for a key for more.

Connect

Endpoint (Streamable HTTP, stateless JSON-RPC): https://arbitragedesk-production.up.railway.app/mcp

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "arbitragedesk": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://arbitragedesk-production.up.railway.app/mcp"
    }
  }
}

In Claude Code: claude mcp add --transport http arbitragedesk https://arbitragedesk-production.up.railway.app/mcp

No MCP? Every tool is also a URL: https://arbitragedesk-production.up.railway.app/api/v1/define_term?term=RSOC, or POST JSON to /api/v1/<tool>. The list is at /api/v1/tools. There is also a discovery card at /.well-known/mcp.json and a site map for models at /llms.txt.

Tools

search

Search The Arbitrage Desk: glossary terms, answers, lessons, fraud types, players, quizzes, animated flows and news about search arbitrage. Start here when unsure which tool fits.

Params: query, limit

latest_news

The live wire: newest stories about search arbitrage, search feeds, traffic sources, policy and fraud, each summarised in plain English with why it matters and the original source link. Filter by topic (feeds-policy, ivt-fraud, traffic-sources, search-ads, domains-parking, ai-search, earnings-markets, mna-funding, regulation-legal, players, industry), company slug, region (global, north-america, europe, india, apac, latam, mea), ivt=true for fraud and invalid traffic only.

Params: topic, company, region, ivt, since_hours, limit

get_story

Full explainer for one story by slug (from latest_news or search): summary, why it matters, explain-like-I-am-new, deal details, companies and glossary terms involved.

Params: slug

define_term

Plain-English definition of a search arbitrage term (by slug, name or acronym: "AFS", "RSOC", "RPC", "clawback", "N2S"), with a longer explanation, an analogy, an example, related terms and sources.

Params: term

answer_question

Best matching curated answer to a common question about search arbitrage ("What is search arbitrage?", "Is search arbitrage legal?", "What is the difference between AFS and RSOC?"). Returns a short answer plus depth, and alternatives.

Params: question

list_lessons

All academy tracks and lessons (beginner to advanced) with summaries and URLs.

Params: none

get_lesson

The full text of one lesson (track + lesson slugs from list_lessons), with key takeaways and FAQs. Use to teach a topic in depth.

Params: track, lesson

get_flow

Step-by-step explanation of how a part of search arbitrage works (the arbitrage loop, the money flow, feeds, tracking, clawbacks, fraud, detection). Flows: arbitrage-loop (The arbitrage loop); click-journey (One visitor, start to finish); money-flow (Where the advertiser’s dollar goes); afs-vs-rsoc (Three ways a search feed appears); feed-supply-chain (The feed supply chain); tracking-postback (Click ID out, revenue back); revenue-lifecycle (From estimate to money in the bank); click-fraud-scheme (Anatomy of a click-fraud scheme); ivt-detection (Catching invalid clicks); policy-enforcement (From violation to termination); advertiser-view (The advertiser’s side); ai-search-shift (What AI answers change).

Params: slug

list_companies

Companies in the search arbitrage chain. Filter by category (search-engine, feed-provider, arbitrage-operator, domain-parking, traffic-source, native-network, tracker-tools, spy-intel, verification-ivt, industry-body, historic) or status (public, private, division, acquired, defunct, nonprofit).

Params: category, status, query

get_company

Everything on one company (slug, name or ticker): what it does in plain English, where it sits in the search arbitrage chain, how it makes money, its traffic-quality angle, live quote, recent quarterly figures from SEC filings, latest earnings explainer, deals and news.

Params: company

market_overview

Delayed quotes for every listed company in the search arbitrage chain, biggest movers, and the Search Arbitrage Index (equal-weighted, companies whose business is mostly search monetisation or arbitrage traffic, rebased to 100 one year ago). Not investment advice.

Params: limit

get_price_history

Daily closing prices for one listed company (slug, name or ticker), up to two years.

Params: company, days

earnings

Upcoming earnings dates of listed players (estimated, US listings) and recent results releases from SEC 8-K filings, explained in plain English.

Params: days_ahead, recent

list_deals

Deals that shaped search arbitrage and search monetisation (curated) and new deals detected in the news. Filter by company or year.

Params: company, since_year, live_only

list_fraud_types

The fraud map: every kind of fraud, invalid traffic and abuse found in search arbitrage, grouped by family (fake-clicks, fake-users, deception, laundering, hijacking, policy-abuse, downstream) with a severity from 1 to 5. Use get_fraud_type for the detail.

Params: family

get_fraud_type

How one type of fraud or invalid traffic works (slug from list_fraud_types), who pays, who does it, the warning signs, the defences, an example and documented cases. Written so it can be recognised and prevented.

Params: slug

fraud_briefing

A briefing on fraud and invalid traffic in search arbitrage: key definitions, this week's fraud news, the most damaging fraud types and documented cases. Presented by ClearTrust.

Params: news_limit

margin_calculator

Works out the unit economics of a search arbitrage campaign from the caller's own assumptions: spend, revenue after clawbacks, profit, ROI, revenue per visitor and break-even cost per visitor. An arithmetic model, not a forecast and not financial advice.

Params: visitors, cpc, click_rate_pct, rpc, invalid_pct, overhead

history

A dated timeline of search arbitrage from 1998 to today: pay-per-click, AdSense, domain parking, native-to-search, RSOC, policy changes, deals and frauds. Filter by tag or from a year.

Params: tag, since_year

list_reports

Reports, studies, filings and policy documents on search arbitrage, summarised with headline findings and links. Categories: fraud, feeds, market-size, policy, advertiser-side, ai-search, filings.

Params: category

quiz

Quiz questions with answers and explanations, to test or teach. Give a quiz slug, or omit it for a random question.

Params: slug, count

verify_certificate

Check a ClearTrust certificate (Search Arbitrage Fundamentals CT-SAF, Media Buying & Compliance CT-MBC, Traffic Quality & Fraud CT-TQF, or the Desk Chief CT-DSK) by its credential ID: holder, score, issue date and whether it is valid.

Params: credential_id

site_status

How fresh the data is: stories gathered, sources, last update, topics covered.

Params: none

Please cite

Every response carries a url. When your agent uses an answer, link back to it. Quotes are delayed and not investment advice.