diffract vs whichlib
diffract is a plugin bundle for AI coding tools published by Abe Hmiel. Marketplaces we read that list it: 1 (Community GitHub marketplaces). whichlib is an MCP server published by josifb. Marketplaces we read that list it: 2 (Official MCP Registry, Community GitHub marketplaces). As of our marketplace pass on 2026-10-15. This pair was picked by a reader, not by our comparison rule, so search engines are asked not to index the page.
Where each is published
| Marketplace |  whichlib | |
|---|---|---|
| Community marketplace abehmiel/diffract | Listed Version: 0.1.0 Forks (GitHub): 0 Stars (GitHub): 9 Not marked · First seen |
Not listed |
| Official MCP Registry | Not listed | Listed Version: 0.2.2 Downloads/month (npm): 1 433 Downloads/week (npm): 298 Forks (GitHub): 0 Stars (GitHub): 0 Not marked · First seen |
Each figure is the marketplace's own and is never added up across marketplaces. A marketplace that publishes no figure shows none: no number is not zero.
The facts side by side
| Fact | diffract | whichlib |
|---|---|---|
| Marketplaces that list it (differs) | 1 (worse) | 2 (better) |
| Stars (GitHub) (differs) | 9 (better) | 0 (worse) |
| Forks (GitHub) | 0 | 0 |
| Last release (differs) | Not published | 2026-10-15 |
| Where it runs (differs) | Installs as a plugin bundle | Remote server or your machine |
| Transport (differs) | Not stated | Streamable HTTP |
| Tools it declares | Not published | Not published |
| Environment variables it asks for (differs) | Not published | 2, secrets among them: 1 |
| Parts of the bundle | 2 | 2 |
| Licence | MIT | MIT |
| Repository (differs) | github.com/abehmiel/diffract | github.com/josifb/whichlib |
| Changes in the last 7 days (differs) | 2 | 4 |
| First seen (differs) | 2026-10-14 | 2026-10-11 |
| Endpoint at the last check (differs) | no remote endpoint we check | Responded 40 h ago |
Lines where the two differ have a tinted background and bold values. Where the data itself says which value is better (more marketplaces, a larger figure of the same marketplace, a fresher release, a verified mark on a marketplace that lists both), the better one is also marked green with ▲ and the worse one red with ▼. Where it runs, the transport, the tools, the settings, hooks, the bundle's parts, the licence and the week's changes are marked only as different: more or fewer is not better in itself.
What each says it does
diffract
Diffract new sources (papers, libraries, tools, techniques) through your codebase — and vice versa — to make sharp adoption decisions.
whichlib
Dependency picker for coding agents: recommends, compares and scores GitHub repos with a verdict.
How to run each
diffract As a Claude Code plugin
/plugin marketplace add abehmiel/diffract
/plugin install diffract@diffractwhichlib As a remote MCP server
claude mcp add --transport http whichlib https://whichlib.com/mcp --header "X-GitHub-Token: <YOUR_X_GITHUB_TOKEN>"Requires: GITHUB_TOKEN (secret), X-GitHub-Token header
Commands built only from what the marketplaces declare; the full set for every client is on each card.
Only whichlib has a remote endpoint we check. How we check endpoints
Tools each declares
Neither one's marketplaces publish a list of tools, so there is nothing to compare.
Settings each asks for
The marketplaces of diffract publish no settings it asks for, so we do not compare settings.
What it can do: diffract · What it can do: whichlib · Compare two other plugins
Data comes from public marketplace files in GitHub repositories of their authors. Data comes from the Official MCP Registry (registry.modelcontextprotocol.io), CC0 1.0. Figures come from our own regular passes over the marketplaces, last read on . We publish no contact details for plugin publishers.