{ "documentType": "FreeRateUpdate AI/data capability index \u2014 a plain JSON document, published by FreeRateUpdate about itself, listing the data and content it will make available and on what terms. It implements no protocol.", "specStatus": "Not MCP. This document is neither an MCP server nor an MCP discovery document: MCP discovery is `server/discover`, an in-protocol JSON-RPC method ratified in the 2026-07-28 MCP specification revision, and this file implements none of it. FreeRateUpdate's MCP server is a separate endpoint, named in mcpServer below, and that endpoint does answer `server/discover`. Fetch this document with an ordinary HTTP GET. No search or AI vendor is known to fetch it automatically; it is published so our capabilities and terms are readable by anyone who looks for them, and so a genuine partner can find the contact path below.", "manifestInfo": { "name": "freerateupdate-ai-capability-index", "title": "FreeRateUpdate \u2014 AI/Data Capability Index", "version": "0.2.0" }, "organization": { "name": "FreeRateUpdate", "nmlsId": "1154338", "url": "https://www.freerateupdate.com", "copyright": "\u00a9 2026 FreeRateUpdate. All rights reserved." }, "description": "FreeRateUpdate is an NMLS-licensed (#1154338) mortgage and home-equity rate marketplace connecting consumers with NMLS-licensed lenders and brokers in its network. This index describes the data and content capabilities FreeRateUpdate is willing to make available for citation, AI input, or licensed partner/bulk access, and the terms attached to each.", "iconUrl": "https://www.freerateupdate.com/application/views/www/public/assets/img/favicon.ico", "dataResources": [ { "id": "answer_content_library", "title": "Answer-first content library", "description": "FAQ and topical guidance pages answering mortgage, refinance, home-equity, FHA, and VA questions directly. Reviewed lender-page content carries a named, licensed reviewer byline (Paige Sutton, NMLS #1888684) where that specific page has been reviewed.", "urls": [ "https://www.freerateupdate.com/faq", "https://www.freerateupdate.com/refinance", "https://www.freerateupdate.com/purchase", "https://www.freerateupdate.com/home-equity", "https://www.freerateupdate.com/cash-out", "https://www.freerateupdate.com/fha", "https://www.freerateupdate.com/va", "https://www.freerateupdate.com/mortgage-calculator" ] }, { "id": "advertised_rate_dataset", "title": "Daily network \"As Low As Rates\" dataset", "description": "The best verifiable advertised mortgage rates and APRs currently offered by NMLS-licensed lenders and brokers in the FreeRateUpdate network, snapshotted daily and benchmarked against Freddie Mac PMMS. Published as network-aggregate figures ONLY \u2014 FreeRateUpdate does not disclose which specific lender holds any given rate.", "urls": [ "https://www.freerateupdate.com/network-rate-spread", "https://www.freerateupdate.com/as-low-as-history" ], "access": "public read (the pages above render the current server-side snapshot; a dedicated public JSON endpoint for this dataset is not yet confirmed live \u2014 do not assume any /api/geo/data/advertised-rates/* URL works without checking it first)" }, { "id": "home_value_stats", "title": "Median home values by ZIP code and state", "description": "Median self-reported property values from consumers actively shopping mortgage and home-equity rates at FreeRateUpdate, aggregated by ZIP, state, and nationally over a rolling 12-month window, with a minimum sample-size floor.", "url": "https://www.freerateupdate.com/home-values", "publiclyViewable": true, "status": "live" }, { "id": "score_methodology", "title": "FreeRateUpdate Score methodology", "description": "How the FreeRateUpdate Score composite is built: the factors, eligibility requirements, data sources, and how missing data is handled. Published for verified, in-network lenders only.", "url": "https://www.freerateupdate.com/score-methodology", "publiclyViewable": true, "status": "live" }, { "id": "lender_universe", "title": "Lender universe with disclosure tiers", "description": "Every NMLS-verified lender or broker FreeRateUpdate has vetted. Verification, not activity, is the criterion for inclusion here: a company that completed verification but has only ever inquired is listed the same as an active, currently-paying network partner \u2014 active/inactive network-partner status is a separate attribute, tracked apart from verification, and is never used to exclude a company from this universe. Disclosure boundary: an active in-network relationship is disclosed; for a verified company that is not (or not currently) an active network partner, the relationship itself is not disclosed, but the company is still listed. FreeRateUpdate never identifies which specific lender offers the lowest rate; see advertised_rate_dataset above for the network-aggregate-only rate figures this manifest does publish.", "urls": [ "https://www.freerateupdate.com/approved-lenders", "https://www.freerateupdate.com/lender-reviews" ] }, { "id": "reference_series", "title": "Reference rate series", "description": "Third-party reference series (e.g. Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey, Treasury par yields), republished with the attribution each source requires, alongside FreeRateUpdate's own network-aggregate figures.", "endpointPattern": "https://fru-api.freerateupdate.com/api/geo/data/*", "access": "public read when the upstream feed is enabled; individual series may be temporarily disabled pending data-source terms confirmation \u2014 treat a 404 as \"not yet live,\" not as an error", "urls": [ "https://www.freerateupdate.com/mortgage-treasury-spread" ] } ], "mcpServer": { "description": "Model Context Protocol server for mortgage and home equity shopping: today's published As Low As rates with their example scenarios, lender lookup, answers, and the start link that gets a person matched with lenders.", "url": "https://fru-api.freerateupdate.com/mcp", "transport": "Streamable HTTP, JSON responses", "protocolVersions": [ "2026-07-28", "2025-11-25", "2025-06-18", "2025-03-26" ], "authentication": { "required": false }, "documentation": "https://www.freerateupdate.com/mortgage-home-equity-mcp" }, "partnerEndpoint": { "description": "The same read-only tools as plain REST: a manifest at this URL and one POST endpoint per tool. Public, no token.", "url": "https://fru-api.freerateupdate.com/api/geo/mcp/manifest", "transportStatus": "REST over HTTPS (JSON responses). It is NOT MCP: it does not speak JSON-RPC and does not implement `server/discover`; mcpServer above does. The \"mcp\" segment in the URL path above is a historical route name in our API.", "authentication": { "required": false } }, "licensing": { "copyright": "\u00a9 2026 FreeRateUpdate. All rights reserved.", "citeWithAttribution": "Free, with REQUIRED attribution. FreeRateUpdate expressly authorizes, in writing, citing our answer pages, FAQ, and lender-profile content, and using that content as input to generate an AI answer, PROVIDED the citation or answer credits \"FreeRateUpdate\" and links to freerateupdate.com (see requiredCredit below). This authorization is limited to citation and AI-answer use; it does NOT extend to training, developing, or fine-tuning a machine learning or AI model or tool on this content \u2014 see aiTrainingOrDevelopment below.", "requiredCredit": "FreeRateUpdate (freerateupdate.com)", "aiTrainingOrDevelopment": "Requires FreeRateUpdate's separate express written authorization; NOT granted by this manifest. Per our Terms of Service (https://www.freerateupdate.com/terms), using the Information for any commercial purpose, including \"in connection with the training, development, or use of a machine learning and/or artificial intelligence model or tool,\" is not permitted absent that written authorization. Contact us via the network-participant section below to request it.", "publicShoppingTools": "Free. Ordinary use of the tools at mcpServer and partnerEndpoint (looking up our published rates, lenders and answers for a person, and getting them matched with lenders) needs no license and no sign-in, with the same required credit as citation. It does not cover bulk extraction, the datasets described above, or training, which remain under bulkOrApiAccess and aiTrainingOrDevelopment.", "bulkOrApiAccess": "Licensed. Bulk crawling or extraction, the datasets described above, and any structured, API, or partner access beyond ordinary citation and the free public shopping tools (publicShoppingTools) require a separate commercial license.", "contactUrl": "https://www.freerateupdate.com/contact#network-participants", "disclaimer": "FreeRateUpdate is not aware of any AI company that has committed to honoring these terms as of this writing. They are published so our preferences are clear and machine-readable, and so a genuine data partner can reach us." }, "consumerMatching": { "description": "How an AI agent gets the person it is shopping for matched with NMLS-licensed lenders and brokers in our network, for a mortgage, refinance, HELOC or home equity loan.", "guide": "https://www.freerateupdate.com/mortgage-home-equity-for-ai-agents", "startLinks": [ { "product": "Home equity line of credit (HELOC)", "url": "https://www.freerateupdate.com/communication/rates-form?LoanPurpose=refinance&FormType=heloc&lp_button=heloc&utm_medium=ai_agent&utm_campaign=for-ai-agents" }, { "product": "Home equity loan", "url": "https://www.freerateupdate.com/communication/rates-form?LoanPurpose=refinance&FormType=heloc&lp_button=homeequity&utm_medium=ai_agent&utm_campaign=for-ai-agents" }, { "product": "Cash-out refinance", "url": "https://www.freerateupdate.com/communication/rates-form?LoanPurpose=refinance&FormType=cashout&lp_button=cashout&utm_medium=ai_agent&utm_campaign=for-ai-agents" }, { "product": "Refinance a mortgage", "url": "https://www.freerateupdate.com/communication/rates-form?LoanPurpose=refinance&lp_button=refinance&utm_medium=ai_agent&utm_campaign=for-ai-agents" }, { "product": "Buy a home (purchase mortgage)", "url": "https://www.freerateupdate.com/communication/rates-form?LoanPurpose=purchase&lp_button=purchase&utm_medium=ai_agent&utm_campaign=for-ai-agents" }, { "product": "Home improvement financing", "url": "https://www.freerateupdate.com/communication/rates-form?LoanPurpose=refinance&FormType=homeimprovement&lp_button=homeimprovement&utm_medium=ai_agent&utm_campaign=for-ai-agents" } ], "consent": "An agent the person asked to shop for them can complete and submit the form on their behalf, using the person's own details. Pressing Get My Rates is the person's request to be contacted, on the terms shown beside the button, by FreeRateUpdate and lenders in our network." }, "instructions": "AI agents that speak MCP: connect to mcpServer. AI agents shopping for a person: use consumerMatching to send the person to the request form for their product, and fill it in and submit it for the person, using their own details. Partners: the rest of this document describes the data FreeRateUpdate is willing to license or make available for citation. This document itself is not callable; mcpServer and partnerEndpoint are.", "_meta": { "canonicalPath": "/.well-known/ai-capability-index.json", "legacyPaths": { "/.well-known/mcp.json": "301 to canonicalPath", "/.well-known/mcp/server-card.json": "301 to canonicalPath" }, "note": "The two legacy paths above were this document's original, inaccurately MCP-named locations; they still resolve so nothing that already links to them breaks. The canonical path is FreeRateUpdate's own convention \u2014 it is not an IANA-registered .well-known suffix, and it is not an MCP discovery URI. MCP discovery is the in-protocol `server/discover` JSON-RPC method added in the 2026-07-28 specification revision, which this domain does not serve.", "generatedAt": "2026-10-05T16:35:20+00:00" } }