U.S. Government Open Data MCP Server

What this does

U.S. Government Open Data exposes a set of tools to Claude over the Model Context Protocol. After you add it to claude_desktop_config.json (snippet above) and restart Claude Desktop, those tools become callable inside any conversation.

Requirements

This server needs the following environment variables to be set before it can run:

DATA_GOV_API_KEY
FRED_API_KEY
CENSUS_API_KEY
BLS_API_KEY
BEA_API_KEY
EIA_API_KEY
NOAA_API_KEY
USDA_NASS_API_KEY
HUD_USER_TOKEN
DOL_API_KEY
USPTO_API_KEY
LDA_API_KEY
AQS_API_KEY
AQS_EMAIL
SEC_CONTACT_EMAIL
NWS_USER_AGENT
MODULES
DOMAINS
HIDE_UNCONFIGURED
TOOL_MODE
MAX_RESPONSE_BYTES

Set these via the env object in your MCP config (see claude_desktop_config.json snippet above).

How do I install U.S. Government Open Data?

Run the Claude Code command in the install section to add U.S. Government Open Data to Claude Code, or copy the ready-made config for your client from the install section on this page. Restart your client afterwards and the tools appear in your next conversation.

Which clients work with U.S. Government Open Data?

This page carries setup and config for Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Cursor and VS Code. Any other MCP client that accepts a standard server config can connect to U.S. Government Open Data as well.

Does U.S. Government Open Data need an API key?

Yes. Before it can run, set these environment variables: DATA_GOV_API_KEY, FRED_API_KEY, CENSUS_API_KEY, BLS_API_KEY, BEA_API_KEY, EIA_API_KEY, NOAA_API_KEY, USDA_NASS_API_KEY, HUD_USER_TOKEN, DOL_API_KEY, USPTO_API_KEY, LDA_API_KEY, AQS_API_KEY, AQS_EMAIL, SEC_CONTACT_EMAIL, NWS_USER_AGENT, MODULES, DOMAINS, HIDE_UNCONFIGURED, TOOL_MODE, MAX_RESPONSE_BYTES. They go in the env block of your MCP config.