FRED
Open-source FRED MCP Server (Federal Reserve Economic Data)
What is FRED?
FRED is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that allows AI assistants like Claude, Cursor, and VS Code to open-source fred mcp server (federal reserve economic data)
Open-source FRED MCP Server (Federal Reserve Economic Data)
This server falls under the Finance & Fintech and Analytics categories on MCPgee, the world's largest MCP server directory with 33,000+ servers.
Features
- RRPONTSYD
Use Cases
Maintainer
Works with
Installation
NPM
npx -y fred-mcp-serverManual Installation
npx -y fred-mcp-serverConfiguration
Configuration Details
claude_desktop_config.json
Performance
Response Metrics
Resource Usage
How to Set Up and Use FRED
The FRED MCP Server connects AI assistants to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis's FRED database, which contains over 800,000 economic time series including GDP, unemployment, inflation, interest rates, and monetary aggregates. It exposes three focused tools — browse, search, and get-series — that let users explore FRED's category hierarchy, search by keywords or tags, and retrieve time series data with optional transformations such as percent change or logarithmic scaling. Financial analysts, economists, and developers building data pipelines can query authoritative macroeconomic data through natural language without writing API client code.
Prerequisites
- Node.js runtime installed
- A free FRED API key from https://fred.stlouisfed.org/docs/api/api_key.html
- An MCP client such as Claude Desktop, VS Code, or Cursor
Obtain a FRED API key
Register for a free account at fred.stlouisfed.org and request an API key from the API documentation page. The key is typically issued immediately via email.
Install the FRED MCP Server
The server is published on npm as fred-mcp-server. Install it globally or let npx pull it on first use.
# Run directly with npx (no global install needed)
npx -y fred-mcp-server
# Or install globally
npm install -g fred-mcp-serverConfigure your MCP client
Add the FRED server to your MCP client configuration, passing your API key as the FRED_API_KEY environment variable.
{
"mcpServers": {
"fred": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "fred-mcp-server"],
"env": {
"FRED_API_KEY": "your_fred_api_key_here"
}
}
}
}Restart your MCP client
Fully quit and relaunch your MCP client so it registers the new FRED server configuration.
Test with a series lookup
Ask your AI assistant to retrieve a well-known FRED series such as GDP or the federal funds rate to confirm end-to-end connectivity.
FRED Examples
Client configuration
Claude Desktop config for the FRED MCP Server with a FRED API key.
{
"mcpServers": {
"fred": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "fred-mcp-server"],
"env": {
"FRED_API_KEY": "your_fred_api_key_here"
}
}
}
}Prompts to try
Sample economic data queries you can ask once the FRED MCP Server is connected.
- "Get the US GDP data for the last 10 years and show the percent change year-over-year."
- "Search FRED for all series related to unemployment rate in the United States."
- "What was the federal funds effective rate (FEDFUNDS) in January 2022?"
- "Browse the FRED categories under 'Prices' and list available inflation indicators."
- "Retrieve the 10-year Treasury constant maturity rate (GS10) from 2020 to present."Troubleshooting FRED
API calls return 400 or 403 errors
Verify your FRED_API_KEY is set correctly in the MCP client env block. Keys are case-sensitive. Log in to fred.stlouisfed.org and confirm your key is active under My Account > API Keys.
No data returned for a series ID
FRED series IDs are case-sensitive (e.g., 'GDP' not 'gdp'). Use the fred_search tool to find the exact series ID before calling fred_get_series. Also check that your requested date range overlaps with the series observation window.
'npx -y fred-mcp-server' is slow to start
npx downloads the package on first run. After the first launch, the package is cached locally and subsequent starts are fast. For zero-latency startup, install globally with 'npm install -g fred-mcp-server' and change the command in config to 'fred-mcp-server'.
Frequently Asked Questions about FRED
What is FRED?
FRED is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that open-source fred mcp server (federal reserve economic data) It connects AI assistants to external tools and data sources through a standardized interface.
How do I install FRED?
Install via npm with the command: npx -y fred-mcp-server. Then add the server configuration to your AI client's JSON config file (e.g., claude_desktop_config.json or .cursor/mcp.json).
Which AI clients work with FRED?
FRED works with all major MCP-compatible AI clients including Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code (GitHub Copilot), Windsurf, and Cline.
Is FRED free to use?
Yes, FRED is open source and available under the AGPL-3.0 license. You can use it freely in both personal and commercial projects.
FRED Alternatives — Similar Finance & Fintech Servers
Looking for alternatives to FRED? Here are other popular finance & fintech servers you can use with Claude, Cursor, and VS Code.
ValueCell
★ 10.7kValueCell is a community-driven, multi-agent platform for financial applications.
Vibe Trading
★ 8.1k'Vibe-Trading: Your Personal Trading Agent'
Quantdinger
★ 6.2kAI quantitative trading platform for crypto, stocks, and forex with backtesting, live trading, market data, and multi-agent research.vibe-trading ,trading-agents,ai-trader,ai-trading
TradingView
★ 2.8kReal-time crypto & stock screening, advanced technical indicators, Bollinger Bands intelligence, candlestick patterns + native Claude Desktop integration. Multi-exchange (Binance, KuCoin, Bybit+). Open-source AI trading infrastructure.
Financial Datasets
★ 2.1kProvides access to comprehensive financial data including income statements, balance sheets, cash flow statements, stock prices, company news, SEC filings, and cryptocurrency information with built-in financial ratio analysis.
Stripe
★ 1.6kThe Stripe Model Context Protocol server allows you to integrate with Stripe APIs through function calling. This protocol supports various tools to interact with different Stripe services.
Browse More Finance & Fintech MCP Servers
Explore all finance & fintech servers available in the MCPgee directory. Each server includes setup guides for Claude, Cursor, and VS Code.
Set Up FRED in Your Editor
Choose your AI client for step-by-step setup instructions.
Quick Config Preview
Add this to your claude_desktop_config.json or .cursor/mcp.json
Ready to use FRED?
Browse our complete directory of 33,000+ MCP servers, read setup guides for your editor, and start building with the Model Context Protocol.