What research exists on the AI agent ecosystem?

Skillselion Research dumps the production catalog on a named date, freezes the counts, and ships the CSV. August 2026 editions count 79,848 listings and 164,841,042 installs (12 August 2026) and 8,433 MCP servers (14 August 2026). Cite a dated census when the number has to last. Use State of AI Agent Skills 2026 for the live catalog.

Last updated 24 August 2026. Edition numbers stay on their dump dates.

Which reports can I cite?

Open a card for the finding. Each edition's CSV is on the report page and linked from the card. Start at AI Agent Statistics for one sourced number. The first freeze is 9 August 2026 (79,827 listings); later August dumps are larger and live on their own URLs.

ReferenceUpdated with each census

AI Agent Statistics

  • 79,848 listings and 164,841,042 installs (catalog dump 12 August 2026)
  • 8,433 MCP servers (dump 14 August 2026), none with an install count
Edition14 August 20268,433 rows · CSV

The MCP Server Census

  • All 8,433 servers carry a zero install count (dump 14 August 2026)
  • 14.4% of repo-backed servers share a repo, so summing stars inflates the total 1.15x
Edition9 August 2026, first freeze79,827 rows · CSV

The Agent Economy Census

  • 79,827 listings and 157,833,061 installs on the 9 August 2026 dump
  • Install Gini of 0.96; 55 of 79,827 listings (0.07%) carry a price
EvergreenLive catalog

The State of AI Agent Skills 2026

  • Live totals by tool type, not a frozen dump
  • Most-installed tools and category mix, as the catalog stands now

Can journalists reuse the data?

Yes. Cite the report and edition, then link the page. Example: "Skillselion Agent Economy Census, August 2026". If you need a cut we have not published, one category, one publisher, or a full distribution, email info@skillselion.com. We run it against the census dataset and send the method with the answer. The dump recipe is on How Skillselion Research is done.

Common questions

What is the difference between a census edition and the evergreen report?

A census edition is one catalog dump on one date. The published numbers never change, so a citation stays checkable. The State of AI Agent Skills 2026 report tracks the live catalog and changes as listings move.

Where is the full method written down?

On How Skillselion Research is done: the three report shapes, the dump recipe, the freeze law, the fact-check gate, CC BY reuse, and what we will not publish. Each edition adds only the caveats that belong to that dump.

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