When a client can't answer an MCP server's mid-call elicitation question, the
documented fallback is to proceed on a default. Elicitation Bridge takes the
question out-of-band instead: the server hands the bridge an
elicitation/create (form schema or URL), the bridge renders it to
the operator (hosted page / email; SMS optional), enforces accept/decline/cancel
and expiry, binds the answer to the session + requestState, and
returns it in the session's protocol-era shape — bare ElicitResult
for the 2025 eras (2025-03 / 2025-11), MRTR inputResponses +
requestState for 2026-07. Unsupported-ask error codes: -32601
(2025 eras), -32021 (2026-07).
Decline and cancel are first-class, never converted to a default.
Expiry (default TTL 300 s, stated here per the packet) resolves to cancel,
uncharged, and does not consume your one free ask. An answer at exactly
expires_at is live; past it, the ask is cancelled and late content
is dropped.
Form mode refuses secret-named fields at create (passwords, API keys, access tokens, payment credentials belong in URL mode). URL mode completes only via the opaque completion callback; the secret flows operator → target directly and never enters the bridge, its logs, the client, or the model result. The audit trail records URL origin only (no query string) and never form content values.
Form-mode bridged ask $0.25/ask · URL-mode (secrets) ask $0.50/ask · Server plan $9.99/mo per server including 100 form-mode asks per month, then $0.25/ask (URL-mode asks always $0.50/ask, including on the plan). First bridged ask free, once per operator account, ever. No unlimited tier is sold.
1) POST /register {"name": "your-operator-name", "email":
optional, "wallet": optional} — self-serve, returns your account token once.
2) POST /asks with Authorization: Bearer <token>,
a session_id, an era, and elicitation params. Trial and plan-included asks
need no payment; other asks return a 402 x402 challenge — pay it and retry
with the X-PAYMENT header. Payment is verified before work and
settled only when an answer is delivered; an expired ask is never charged.
3) The operator answers on the hosted page /answer/<ask_id>
(link carries the answer token) or via POST /asks/<id>/answer;
the server polls GET /asks/<id> with the ask token.
The exposed subset of MCP servers (those whose tools need one human answer mid-call) is unmeasured. The lab build rendered through an in-process inbox double at $0; production renders on this hosted page plus email notification, with notification/rendering cost inside the packet's $0.01–$0.05/ask memo band. Era shapes are grounded in the vendored corpus schemas/examples (2025-11-25 + 2026-07-28, including the MRTR input_required example); the era regression suite is re-run on any new protocol era before that era is served. Support: support@textforagents.com.