Brine

Brine — connector documentation

• MCP endpoint: https://brine.connectorbay.com/mcp
• REST API: POST https://brine.connectorbay.com/v1/tools/{tool_name}, described by the OpenAPI 3.1 spec at https://brine.connectorbay.com/openapi.json
• Transport: Streamable HTTP, stateless, MCP specification 2025-06-18 or later
• Authentication: none required. An optional Authorization: Bearer <key> raises rate limits.
• Health: https://brine.connectorbay.com/health · Tool schemas: https://brine.connectorbay.com/tools.json
• Publisher: Unify Dynamics LLC · connectorbay.com/brine · agent@connectorbay.com

What Brine is for

Home fermentation and pickling questions are usually either math ("what percent brine is this?") or judgment calls ("does this look okay?") — and the second kind is exactly where good general reference matters most. How much salt do I need for a 3% brine? How long should sauerkraut ferment, and at what temperature? Is that white film on top mold, or is it fine? Is fermenting vegetables in a jar as risky as canning them without a pressure canner? Brine answers the fermentation-math and fermentation-safety questions directly, with real computed numbers and hand-curated, widely-published reference guidance.

What it does

brine_percentage_calculator takes a brine's water volume and either a salt weight (to compute the resulting salt percentage) or a target percentage (to solve for the salt needed) — genuine computed math either direction. fermentation_time_guide gives typical duration and temperature for common ferments (sauerkraut, kimchi, dill pickles, fermented carrots, giardiniera). safety_guide covers signs of a healthy ferment versus signs of spoilage, and clearly distinguishes lacto-fermentation safety from low-acid canning safety — a common point of confusion. vegetable_prep_guide gives cutting-size and submersion-weight notes for the same common ferments. ph_safety_reference explains the commonly-cited pH 4.6 high-acid/low-acid boundary used in food-preservation safety. equipment_glossary defines ~12 fermentation terms (airlock, weight/follower, kahm yeast, SCOBY, and more). troubleshooting_guide covers common problems (mold, mushy texture, too salty, no bubbling, off smell) with likely cause and fix. recipe_ratio_guide gives typical salt-to-vegetable or salt-to-water percentage ranges by ferment type. starter_maintenance_guide covers sourdough starter feeding basics and kombucha SCOBY care.

What it is not

Not a recipe database, and not a substitute for one — Brine has no step-by-step recipes and no photos. It doesn't look anything up from the internet; every number is either computed on the spot or drawn from a small, hand-curated reference table bundled with the server. Most importantly: Brine is a general food-science and technique reference, not a substitute for a tested, published recipe or your national/regional extension service's guidance — that distinction matters most for actual home canning, where an untested process can carry a real botulism risk. For fermentation specifically, the rule of thumb is simple: when in doubt, discard a batch rather than taste-test something that looks or smells wrong.

Tools

Calculator

brine_percentage_calculator — Brine-percentage math: give water_ml and salt_grams to compute the resulting salt percentage by weight, or water_ml and desired_percent to solve for the salt_grams needed to hit that percentage. Exactly one of salt_grams/desired_percent must be given. Use for "what percent brine is 30g salt in 1 liter of water", "how much salt do I need for a 3% brine with 2 liters of water". Args: water_ml, salt_grams, desired_percent.

Technique

fermentation_time_guide — Typical fermentation duration and temperature range for a common vegetable ferment (sauerkraut, kimchi, dill pickles, fermented carrots, giardiniera), or the full list. Use for "how long does sauerkraut take to ferment", "what temperature should I ferment kimchi at". Args: vegetable.

vegetable_prep_guide — Prep notes for a common vegetable ferment — cutting size and whether a submersion weight is typically used — or the full list. Use for "how should I cut cabbage for sauerkraut", "do I need a weight for fermented pickles". Args: vegetable.

recipe_ratio_guide — Typical salt-to-vegetable or salt-to-water weight-percentage ranges commonly used for a given vegetable ferment type, or the full list. Use for "how much salt for fermented pickles", "what salt percentage for sauerkraut". Args: ferment_type.

Safety

safety_guide — Signs of a healthy ferment (bubbling, pleasant sour smell, cloudy brine — often normal) vs. signs of spoilage (colored mold, foul smell), plus a clear distinction between lacto-fermentation safety and low-acid canning safety, since the two are easy to conflate but carry very different risks. Use for "is white film on my ferment safe", "is fermenting vegetables as risky as canning them without a pressure canner".

ph_safety_reference — General food-preservation pH-safety reference: the commonly-cited pH 4.6 boundary between high-acid and low-acid foods for canning-safety purposes, and how lacto-fermentation's own acidification relates to it. General reference only, not a substitute for a tested/approved canning recipe. Use for "what pH is safe for canning", "why does canning guidance care about acidity".

Reference

equipment_glossary — Definitions of common fermentation equipment and vocabulary terms (airlock, weight/follower, brine, kahm yeast, SCOBY, starter culture, headspace, lactic acid bacteria, and more). Use for "what's kahm yeast", "what does headspace mean". Args: term.

troubleshooting_guide — Likely cause and fix for a common fermentation problem (mold, mushy texture, too salty, no bubbling/no activity, off smell), or the full list. Use for "my ferment isn't bubbling, what's wrong", "why is my kraut mushy". Args: issue.

starter_maintenance_guide — Maintenance basics for a live starter culture: sourdough starter feeding schedules and health signs, or kombucha SCOBY care and brewing-cycle timing. Use for "how often do I feed my sourdough starter", "how do I store my kombucha SCOBY between batches". Args: type.

Conventions

• Read-only. Every tool reads public data or computes; nothing is written anywhere and nothing about the user is stored.
• Result envelope. ok: true with data, or ok: false with a structured error (bad_input, not_found, upstream_error). degraded lists optional sources that were unreachable.
• Rate limits. Free tier 60 tool calls/minute and 300/day per user (keyed on the user identifier supplied by the host agent, else client IP); Pro keys raise this. Over-limit calls return HTTP 429 with Retry-After. initialize and tools/list are never counted.

Support

agent@connectorbay.com · connectorbay.com/brine/support

Brine — Privacy Policy

Effective 24 September 2026. Unify Dynamics LLC ("we", "us"), Menlo Park, California.

What Brine is. Brine is a connector (an MCP server and REST API) that AI assistants and personal agents call on your behalf for fermentation and pickling reference and calculations: brine-percentage math, fermentation time/temperature guides, a safety guide (including the lacto-fermentation vs. low-acid canning distinction), a pH-safety reference, vegetable prep notes, an equipment glossary, troubleshooting guidance, salt ratio guidance, and starter (sourdough/kombucha) maintenance basics. You interact with your assistant; the assistant sends us only the arguments needed for that one calculation or lookup.

What we receive. The arguments of each tool call — a water volume, a salt weight or target percentage, a vegetable, term, issue, ferment type, or starter type being looked up — the technical headers needed to serve the request (an IP address or a client identifier supplied by the assistant, and a Pro API key if you have one), and standard server logs.

Everything is computed locally or answered from bundled, hand-curated reference files, and nothing is stored. No request is forwarded to any third party — there is no upstream call at all, live or otherwise — and no query is logged in request bodies, recorded, or used to train anything.

What we do not receive or store. We do not receive your conversation with the assistant or your name, and we do not build a profile from your queries: each request is answered independently and nothing carries over between requests. Rate-limit counters (a client identifier and timestamps) are held in memory for at most 24 hours. Hosting-provider access logs, which contain IP addresses and request paths but not request bodies, are retained for up to 30 days for security and abuse prevention.

Sub-processors. None — all computation happens locally and the entire reference dataset is bundled with the server. Hosting: Vercel (United States regions).

Legal bases and your rights. Our processing is necessary to provide the service you request through your assistant. Because we store no personal data beyond short-lived logs, requests to access, correct or delete personal data are usually satisfied automatically; you can still contact agent@connectorbay.com and we will respond within 30 days. We do not sell or share personal information and do not use your data to train models.

Children. Brine is a general-audience service operated by the adult using the assistant.

Changes. We will post changes here with a new effective date.

Brine — Terms of Service

Effective 24 September 2026. These terms govern use of the Brine connector ("the Service") operated by Unify Dynamics LLC ("we", "us").

1. The Service. Brine returns fermentation and pickling reference data and calculations — brine-percentage math, fermentation time/temperature guides, a safety guide, a pH-safety reference, vegetable prep notes, an equipment glossary, troubleshooting guidance, salt ratio guidance, and starter maintenance basics — computed locally or drawn from hand-curated reference data. It is accessed through an AI assistant or directly over MCP or HTTP.
2. Educational reference, not safety certification. Brine is a general food-science and technique reference, hand-curated against widely published home food-preservation guidance. It is not a substitute for a tested, published recipe or your national or regional extension service's canning and preservation guidance. Home fermentation and food-preservation safety depends on details Brine cannot see or verify — your specific ingredients, equipment, technique, and environment. When in doubt, discard a batch rather than taste-test something that looks or smells wrong. Nothing in the Service is professional food-safety certification, medical, or dietary advice.
3. Acceptable use. Automated use within the published rate limits is welcome.
4. Availability. The Service is provided "as is" without warranty. We may change, limit or discontinue it at any time.
5. Data. Our Privacy Policy describes what we process. In short: your query is computed locally or answered from a bundled reference file, and nothing is stored.
6. Pro keys. Optional Pro API keys are issued at our discretion, are personal to the holder and may be revoked for abuse.
7. Liability. To the fullest extent permitted by law, Unify Dynamics LLC is not liable for any loss arising from use of or reliance on the Service, including any fermentation, pickling, or food-safety outcome. Our total liability is limited to US $100.
8. Governing law. California law; venue in San Mateo County, California.
9. Contact. Unify Dynamics LLC · agent@connectorbay.com · https://connectorbay.com/brine

Brine support

Email agent@connectorbay.com. We answer within two business days.

• MCP endpoint: https://brine.connectorbay.com/mcp
• REST API: https://brine.connectorbay.com/openapi.json
• Live status: https://brine.connectorbay.com/health

When you report a problem, include the question you asked your agent, roughly when, and which agent you used (for example Claude, ChatGPT or Gemini). Never send us passwords, account numbers or ID numbers. Brine never asks for them.