Sidearm MCP Server

Protect media from AI training, detect AI-generated content, and find stolen work.

Local serverstdio

What is the Sidearm MCP server?

Sidearm MCP server is a locally run integration for AI assistants that speak the Model Context Protocol. Protect media from AI training, detect AI-generated content, and find stolen work.

Setting it up

The server ships on npm as @modelcontextprotocol/inspector, so your MCP client can launch it on demand — there is no separate build step. Add the server block to your client's configuration, restart it, and the tools register themselves.

What the assistant can call

Once Sidearm is connected, these are the calls the assistant has available:

  • Discovery — The Discovery tool exposed by this server
  • Jobs — The Jobs tool exposed by this server
  • Detection — The Detection tool exposed by this server
  • Search — The Search tool exposed by this server
  • Shares — The Shares tool exposed by this server
  • Documentation — The Documentation tool exposed by this server

Configuration and credentials

You will need 2 environment variables: SDRM_API_KEY, SDRM_BASE_URL. The server will not start without them, which is usually why the tools fail to appear on a first run. Keep credentials in your client's env block or a secrets manager rather than in a file you might commit.

Before you rely on it

  • It runs with your machine's permissions. That is convenient and also the reason to think about what you point it at before you approve a tool call.
  • Missing credentials fail quietly in some clients — if no tools show up, check the environment block first.
  • MCP clients confirm each tool call by default. Leave that on until you have watched what the sidearm mcp server does with a few real requests.

Choosing this one

Plenty of knowledge and memory servers cover similar ground. The differences that matter in practice are scope of access and how much setup stands between you and a working tool call. Sidearm's toolset — Discovery, Jobs, Detection and 3 more — is a fair guide to whether it matches your workflow. It is maintained by ebadros; worth a glance at recent repository activity before you build anything load-bearing on it.

We check each listing at SyncDev against the project's documentation before it goes live — if something here drifts out of date, it is a bug worth reporting.

Available tools

ToolWhat it does
DiscoveryThe Discovery tool exposed by this server.
JobsThe Jobs tool exposed by this server.
DetectionThe Detection tool exposed by this server.
SearchThe Search tool exposed by this server.
SharesThe Shares tool exposed by this server.
DocumentationThe Documentation tool exposed by this server.

How to install the Sidearm MCP server

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "sdrm": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@sidearmdrm/mcp"],
      "env": {
        "SDRM_API_KEY": "sk_live_..."
      }
    }
  }
}

Configuration as documented by the project. Restart the client after saving.

Configuration

VariableDescriptionRequired
SDRM_API_KEYCredential the server authenticates with.Yes
SDRM_BASE_URLEndpoint or connection string the server talks to.Yes

Example prompts to try

  • Use Sidearm to Discovery.
  • Use Sidearm to Jobs.
  • Use Sidearm to Detection.

Frequently asked questions

It connects Sidearm to MCP-compatible AI assistants such as Claude and Cursor, exposing 6 tools (Discovery, Jobs, Detection, and more) that the assistant can call on your behalf. Instead of copying data back and forth by hand, the assistant works with Sidearm directly.