US Government Open Data
MCP server + TypeScript SDK for 40+ U.S. government data APIs — 250+ tools. Treasury, FRED, Congress, FDA, CDC, FEC, lobbying, and many more. Works with VS Code Copilot, Claude Desktop, Cursor.
What is US Government Open Data?
US Government Open Data is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that allows AI assistants like Claude, Cursor, and VS Code to mcp server + typescript sdk for 40+ u.s. government data apis — 250+ tools. treasury, fred, congress, fda, cdc, fec, lobbying, and many more. works with vs code copilot, claude desktop, cursor.
MCP server + TypeScript SDK for 40+ U.S. government data APIs — 250+ tools. Treasury, FRED, Congress, FDA, CDC, FEC, lobbying, and many more. Works with VS Code Copilot, Claude Desktop, Cursor.
This server falls under the Search & Data Extraction category on MCPgee, the world's largest MCP server directory with 33,000+ servers.
Features
- MCP server + TypeScript SDK for 40+ U.S. government data API
Use Cases
Maintainer
Works with
Installation
NPM
npx -y us-gov-open-data-mcpManual Installation
npx -y us-gov-open-data-mcpConfiguration
Configuration Details
claude_desktop_config.json
Performance
Response Metrics
Resource Usage
How to Set Up and Use US Government Open Data
The US Government Open Data MCP server provides AI assistants with access to over 300 tools spanning 40+ U.S. federal agency APIs, all in a single package. It covers economic data from the Federal Reserve (FRED), Treasury, BLS, and BEA; legislative records from Congress.gov; health and safety data from the FDA, CDC, and CMS; campaign finance from the FEC; environmental data from the EPA and NOAA; and much more. Many APIs require no key at all, and WASM-sandboxed JavaScript execution dramatically reduces context window consumption when processing large government datasets.
Prerequisites
- Node.js 18 or higher installed
- Free FRED API key from https://fred.stlouisfed.org/docs/api/api_key.html (for Federal Reserve data)
- Free data.gov API key from https://api.data.gov/signup/ (for many other agency APIs)
- An MCP-compatible client: Claude Desktop, VS Code Copilot, or Cursor
Obtain free API keys
Register for a free FRED API key at https://fred.stlouisfed.org/docs/api/api_key.html and a data.gov API key at https://api.data.gov/signup/. Both are free and instant. Over 20 APIs in the server require no key at all.
Test the server with npx
Run the server from the command line to verify it starts correctly and your keys are recognized.
FRED_API_KEY=your_fred_key DATA_GOV_API_KEY=your_datagov_key npx -y us-gov-open-data-mcpAdd to Claude Desktop configuration
Open your claude_desktop_config.json and add the server entry with your API keys in the env block.
{
"mcpServers": {
"us-gov-open-data": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "us-gov-open-data-mcp"],
"env": {
"FRED_API_KEY": "your_fred_key",
"DATA_GOV_API_KEY": "your_datagov_key"
}
}
}
}Add to VS Code Copilot or Cursor
For VS Code, add the same configuration to .vscode/mcp.json in your workspace. For Cursor, add it to the Cursor MCP settings.
{
"servers": {
"us-gov-open-data": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "us-gov-open-data-mcp"],
"env": {
"FRED_API_KEY": "your_fred_key",
"DATA_GOV_API_KEY": "your_datagov_key"
}
}
}
}Restart your client and explore 300+ tools
Restart your MCP client. Ask the AI assistant to list available tools or describe what government data sources are accessible to explore the full breadth of the 300+ tools.
US Government Open Data Examples
Client configuration
Add this to claude_desktop_config.json. Both API keys are free. APIs that require no key at all (20+) will work even with empty strings.
{
"mcpServers": {
"us-gov-open-data": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "us-gov-open-data-mcp"],
"env": {
"FRED_API_KEY": "your_fred_api_key",
"DATA_GOV_API_KEY": "your_datagov_api_key"
}
}
}
}Prompts to try
These prompts illustrate the breadth of available data across federal agencies.
- "What is the current US GDP and how has it changed over the past 5 years?"
- "Show me the latest FDA drug recall notices from the past 30 days."
- "Who are the top campaign donors to Senate candidates in the last election cycle?"
- "What bills related to artificial intelligence have been introduced in the current Congress?"
- "Compare CO2 emissions data from the EPA for California vs Texas."
- "What is the current federal funds rate from FRED?"Troubleshooting US Government Open Data
FRED API calls return 400 Bad Request or 'API key required'
Register for a free FRED API key at https://fred.stlouisfed.org/docs/api/api_key.html and set it as FRED_API_KEY in the env block of your config. The key is issued instantly via email.
Some tools work but others return errors about missing API keys
Different agencies require different keys. Check the server documentation on GitHub for the full list of environment variables. Most agencies that need a key use the DATA_GOV_API_KEY, but some (like SEC EDGAR) have no key requirement at all.
The server returns very large responses that truncate in the client
The server uses WASM-sandboxed JavaScript to pre-process results, reducing context window usage by 98-100% in most cases. If responses are still large, ask the AI to request a smaller date range or fewer records in the prompt.
Frequently Asked Questions about US Government Open Data
What is US Government Open Data?
US Government Open Data is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that mcp server + typescript sdk for 40+ u.s. government data apis — 250+ tools. treasury, fred, congress, fda, cdc, fec, lobbying, and many more. works with vs code copilot, claude desktop, cursor. It connects AI assistants to external tools and data sources through a standardized interface.
How do I install US Government Open Data?
Install via npm with the command: npx -y us-gov-open-data-mcp. 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 US Government Open Data?
US Government Open Data works with all major MCP-compatible AI clients including Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code (GitHub Copilot), Windsurf, and Cline.
Is US Government Open Data free to use?
Yes, US Government Open Data is open source and available under the MIT License license. You can use it freely in both personal and commercial projects.
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