U.S. Government Open Data MCP Server
by lzingaio.github.lzinga/us-gov-open-data-mcpv2026.10.8
Open data from 40+ U.S. government APIs: economy, spending, Congress, health, energy, disasters
context tax
queued
security
queued
cold start
queued
freshness
Active2d ago
Install U.S. Government Open Data MCP server
Install in Claude Code
claude mcp add us-gov-open-data -e DATA_GOV_API_KEY='<data-gov-api-key>' -e FRED_API_KEY='<fred-api-key>' -e CENSUS_API_KEY='<census-api-key>' -e BLS_API_KEY='<bls-api-key>' -e BEA_API_KEY='<bea-api-key>' -e EIA_API_KEY='<eia-api-key>' -e NOAA_API_KEY='<noaa-api-key>' -e USDA_NASS_API_KEY='<usda-nass-api-key>' -e HUD_USER_TOKEN='<hud-user-token>' -e DOL_API_KEY='<dol-api-key>' -e USPTO_API_KEY='<uspto-api-key>' -e LDA_API_KEY='<lda-api-key>' -e AQS_API_KEY='<aqs-api-key>' -- npx -y us-gov-open-data-mcpInstall in Cursor
{
"mcpServers": {
"us-gov-open-data": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"us-gov-open-data-mcp"
],
"env": {
"DATA_GOV_API_KEY": "<data-gov-api-key>",
"FRED_API_KEY": "<fred-api-key>",
"CENSUS_API_KEY": "<census-api-key>",
"BLS_API_KEY": "<bls-api-key>",
"BEA_API_KEY": "<bea-api-key>",
"EIA_API_KEY": "<eia-api-key>",
"NOAA_API_KEY": "<noaa-api-key>",
"USDA_NASS_API_KEY": "<usda-nass-api-key>",
"HUD_USER_TOKEN": "<hud-user-token>",
"DOL_API_KEY": "<dol-api-key>",
"USPTO_API_KEY": "<uspto-api-key>",
"LDA_API_KEY": "<lda-api-key>",
"AQS_API_KEY": "<aqs-api-key>"
}
}
}
}Add to ~/.cursor/mcp.json (global) or .cursor/mcp.json (project).
Install in Claude Desktop
{
"mcpServers": {
"us-gov-open-data": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"us-gov-open-data-mcp"
],
"env": {
"DATA_GOV_API_KEY": "<data-gov-api-key>",
"FRED_API_KEY": "<fred-api-key>",
"CENSUS_API_KEY": "<census-api-key>",
"BLS_API_KEY": "<bls-api-key>",
"BEA_API_KEY": "<bea-api-key>",
"EIA_API_KEY": "<eia-api-key>",
"NOAA_API_KEY": "<noaa-api-key>",
"USDA_NASS_API_KEY": "<usda-nass-api-key>",
"HUD_USER_TOKEN": "<hud-user-token>",
"DOL_API_KEY": "<dol-api-key>",
"USPTO_API_KEY": "<uspto-api-key>",
"LDA_API_KEY": "<lda-api-key>",
"AQS_API_KEY": "<aqs-api-key>"
}
}
}
}Settings → Developer → Edit Config (claude_desktop_config.json), then restart.
Install in VS Code
{
"servers": {
"us-gov-open-data": {
"type": "stdio",
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"us-gov-open-data-mcp"
],
"env": {
"DATA_GOV_API_KEY": "<data-gov-api-key>",
"FRED_API_KEY": "<fred-api-key>",
"CENSUS_API_KEY": "<census-api-key>",
"BLS_API_KEY": "<bls-api-key>",
"BEA_API_KEY": "<bea-api-key>",
"EIA_API_KEY": "<eia-api-key>",
"NOAA_API_KEY": "<noaa-api-key>",
"USDA_NASS_API_KEY": "<usda-nass-api-key>",
"HUD_USER_TOKEN": "<hud-user-token>",
"DOL_API_KEY": "<dol-api-key>",
"USPTO_API_KEY": "<uspto-api-key>",
"LDA_API_KEY": "<lda-api-key>",
"AQS_API_KEY": "<aqs-api-key>"
}
}
}
}Add to .vscode/mcp.json in your workspace.
Install in Windsurf
{
"mcpServers": {
"us-gov-open-data": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"us-gov-open-data-mcp"
],
"env": {
"DATA_GOV_API_KEY": "<data-gov-api-key>",
"FRED_API_KEY": "<fred-api-key>",
"CENSUS_API_KEY": "<census-api-key>",
"BLS_API_KEY": "<bls-api-key>",
"BEA_API_KEY": "<bea-api-key>",
"EIA_API_KEY": "<eia-api-key>",
"NOAA_API_KEY": "<noaa-api-key>",
"USDA_NASS_API_KEY": "<usda-nass-api-key>",
"HUD_USER_TOKEN": "<hud-user-token>",
"DOL_API_KEY": "<dol-api-key>",
"USPTO_API_KEY": "<uspto-api-key>",
"LDA_API_KEY": "<lda-api-key>",
"AQS_API_KEY": "<aqs-api-key>"
}
}
}
}Add to ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json.
Configuration
| Variable | Required | Secret | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| DATA_GOV_API_KEY | — | yes | api.data.gov key, shared by Congress, FEC, GovInfo, FBI, NREL, Regulations.gov, College Scorecard, USDA FoodData, openFDA and USGS Water |
| FRED_API_KEY | — | yes | FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data) API key |
| CENSUS_API_KEY | — | yes | Census Bureau API key |
| BLS_API_KEY | — | yes | Bureau of Labor Statistics API key (optional; raises rate limits) |
| BEA_API_KEY | — | yes | Bureau of Economic Analysis API key |
| EIA_API_KEY | — | yes | Energy Information Administration API key |
| NOAA_API_KEY | — | yes | NOAA Climate Data Online token (station climate data works without it) |
| USDA_NASS_API_KEY | — | yes | USDA NASS Quick Stats API key |
| HUD_USER_TOKEN | — | yes | HUD User API token |
| DOL_API_KEY | — | yes | Department of Labor API key |
| USPTO_API_KEY | — | yes | USPTO Open Data Portal API key |
| LDA_API_KEY | — | yes | Senate Lobbying Disclosure (lda.gov) API key (optional; raises rate limits) |
| AQS_API_KEY | — | yes | EPA Air Quality System API key (used with AQS_EMAIL) |
| AQS_EMAIL | — | — | Email address registered for the EPA AQS API key |
| SEC_CONTACT_EMAIL | — | — | Your email for the SEC User-Agent; SEC asks automated tools for a contact and may block requests without one |
| NWS_USER_AGENT | — | — | User-Agent for the National Weather Service API, with your contact details (a default is sent otherwise) |
| MODULES | — | — | Comma-separated modules to load (default: all), e.g. 'fred,bls,treasury' |
| DOMAINS | — | — | Comma-separated domains to load, e.g. 'economy,health' (added to MODULES) |
| HIDE_UNCONFIGURED | — | — | Set to 1 to skip modules whose required API key is not set |
| TOOL_MODE | — | — | 'full' (every tool) or 'discovery' (find_tools and call_tool only) |
| MAX_RESPONSE_BYTES | — | — | Largest tool result in bytes before rows are trimmed (default 150000) |
Freshness
Active — last maintenance signal 2d ago. The newest of the signals below sets the band.
Last commit (default branch)
2026-10-08 · 2d ago · GitHub
Latest release
2026-10-08 · 2d ago · GitHub · v2026.10.8
Package published
no data · npm/PyPI
Registry entry updated
2026-10-08 · 2d ago · official registry · v2026.10.8
FAQ
›How do I install the U.S. Government Open Data MCP server in Claude Code?
Run: claude mcp add us-gov-open-data -e DATA_GOV_API_KEY='<data-gov-api-key>' -e FRED_API_KEY='<fred-api-key>' -e CENSUS_API_KEY='<census-api-key>' -e BLS_API_KEY='<bls-api-key>' -e BEA_API_KEY='<bea-api-key>' -e EIA_API_KEY='<eia-api-key>' -e NOAA_API_KEY='<noaa-api-key>' -e USDA_NASS_API_KEY='<usda-nass-api-key>' -e HUD_USER_TOKEN='<hud-user-token>' -e DOL_API_KEY='<dol-api-key>' -e USPTO_API_KEY='<uspto-api-key>' -e LDA_API_KEY='<lda-api-key>' -e AQS_API_KEY='<aqs-api-key>' -- npx -y us-gov-open-data-mcp. For Cursor, VS Code, Claude Desktop and Windsurf, use the install tabs above.
›Does U.S. Government Open Data require an API key?
Yes. It expects 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, of which 13 are secrets.
›Can I use U.S. Government Open Data as a remote (hosted) MCP server?
No hosted endpoint is published; it runs locally over stdio.
›Is U.S. Government Open Data in the official MCP registry?
Yes, as io.github.lzinga/us-gov-open-data-mcp.
Alternatives to U.S. Government Open Data
Other science & research MCP servers.
WigoloActiveLocal web search, fetching, crawling, extraction and research, with multi-engine search, local ML reranking, a SQLite cache and JavaScript rendering.
ZoteroActiveSearch, read, annotate, and add to your Zotero research library, local or web.
ExaActiveConnect AI agents to Exa for web search, content fetching, and multi-step research.
PostgresMaintainedPostgres development and operations: performance analysis, tuning and health checks.
ArxivActiveSearch arXiv papers, read original LaTeX sections, get BibTeX from arXiv metadata and set topic watches, with papers stored locally.
Perplexity API PlatformActiveReal-time web search, reasoning, and research through Perplexity's API