Askance is an MCP server that gives AI coding agents a way to ask a human. When an agent hits a question only a person can answer, it writes the question up with context and a recommended option, sends it to the experts on that topic, and carries on with other work. The answer is collected when it arrives and kept as a permanent, searchable record.

Which AI agents does Askance work with?

Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, and any MCP-capable agent. Askance is a standard MCP server, so connecting it is a single entry in your MCP client configuration.

Does asking a question block the agent?

No. Asking is non-blocking. The agent returns to other tasks immediately and collects the answer later, which may be hours or days.

How much does Askance cost?

Askance is free for individual developers, with no card required.

Works with Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, and any MCP agent

When your AI agent doesn't know, let it ask a human.

Askance plugs into Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, or any MCP-capable agent so it can escalate the questions only a person can answer — straight to the right expert, answered in a tap, without ever pausing your build.

See how it works

Free for individual developers — no card required.

.mcp.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "askance": {
      "url": "https://mcp.askance.app/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer $ASKANCE_KEY"
      }
    }
  }
}

That's the whole integration. Your key comes from Settings once you've signed in.

Questions carry real code and real internal detail, so they're encrypted in transit and at rest, visible only to the members of that project, and never written to our logs.

Who it's for

Three people, one awkward gap

The question an agent can't answer is rarely hard. It's just held by someone who isn't in the room.

If you build with an agent

Don't lose an afternoon to one question

You're four prompts deep and your agent needs to know whether the discount stacks with loyalty points. That answer isn't in the codebase — it's in someone's head. Ask them without leaving the session, keep building, and pick the answer up when it lands.

If you're building your own internal tools

Loop in the colleague who actually knows

The rule you need lives with one person in finance, not in a ticket queue or a sprint plan. Invite them by email, ask the question, get the answer from the source — no project-management process for what is genuinely a two-minute question.

If you're the one being asked

Answer in one tap, ignore the rest

You only get pinged on the topics you've said you know. Most answers are one tap on a recommended option, from your phone, in the queue at the café. No new tool to live in, no channel to watch, no standup.

For the developer

Your build doesn't wait for an answer

The question goes out with its context and the option your agent recommends — then your agent moves on to the next task. When the answer lands, an hour later or tomorrow, it picks up exactly where it left off.

A developer sitting back from their desk mid-thought, hands away from the keyboard, not blocked while a question is out with an expert.

How it works

Four steps, none of which block your build

Give your agent a new ability: asking.

Askance is an MCP server. One line of config connects it to your agent, and from then on 'ask a human' is just another tool it can reach for — like reading a file or running a test.

It checks what's already been answered.

Before it interrupts anyone, your agent searches every answer your project has ever given. Often the question has already been asked, and it just carries on.

It asks properly, then gets back to work.

If the question is new, your agent writes it up with the context, the options it can see, and the one it recommends — then returns to other tasks. Nothing blocks. Nothing waits on a human being awake.

A human answers; the answer sticks.

The experts on that topic get a notification, open a link, and confirm the recommended option — or write more, if it matters. Your agent picks the answer up and continues. The exchange is kept forever, searchable by every person and every agent on the project.

For the expert

One tap, from wherever you are

You're only asked about the topics you've said you know. The question arrives already written up, with a recommended answer to confirm — so most replies take a single tap, on your phone, between other things.

A subject-matter expert standing in an office, confirming an answer on her phone with a single tap.

Backlog

And your backlog lives here too

Your agent maintains the feature backlog through the same connection; you steer it with votes and comments. One fewer tool that only exists to hold a list.

Give your agent someone to ask.

Connect it once, invite the people who hold the answers, and stop losing afternoons to questions that take someone else two minutes.

Free for individual developers. No card required.