# U.S. Government Open Data (MCP server)

> U.S. Government Open Data is an MCP server that adds finance tools to AI assistants such as Claude Desktop, Claude Code and Cursor. Open data from 40+ U.S. government APIs: economy, spending, Congress, health, energy, disasters. It has 113 GitHub stars, is released under the MIT license and runs locally with npx -y us-gov-open-data-mcp.

MCP Server + TypeScript SDK for 40+ U.S. Government APIs 300+ tools covering economic, fiscal, health, education, energy, environment, lobbying, housing, patents, safety, banking, consumer protection, workplace safety, transportation, seismic, clinical trials, pharma payments, research funding, procurement, and legislative data.

## Key facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Repository | https://github.com/lzinga/us-gov-open-data-mcp |
| GitHub stars | 113 |
| License | MIT |
| Language | TypeScript |
| Transport | stdio |
| Packages | npm: us-gov-open-data-mcp |
| Remote URL | none |
| Needs API key | yes |
| Official | no |
| Works with | Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code |
| Category | Finance |
| Latest release | v2026.10.8 (Oct 8, 2026) |
| Last commit | Oct 8, 2026 |
| MCP registry name | io.github.lzinga/us-gov-open-data-mcp |

## Install

### Claude Desktop (claude_desktop_config.json)

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "u-s-government-open-data": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "us-gov-open-data-mcp"
      ],
      "env": {
        "DATA_GOV_API_KEY": "your-value",
        "FRED_API_KEY": "your-value",
        "CENSUS_API_KEY": "your-value",
        "BLS_API_KEY": "your-value",
        "BEA_API_KEY": "your-value",
        "EIA_API_KEY": "your-value"
      }
    }
  }
}
```

Settings > Developer > Edit Config. macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/, Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\. Restart Claude Desktop afterwards.

### Claude Code

```sh
claude mcp add --env DATA_GOV_API_KEY=your-value --env FRED_API_KEY=your-value --env CENSUS_API_KEY=your-value --env BLS_API_KEY=your-value --env BEA_API_KEY=your-value --env EIA_API_KEY=your-value --transport stdio u-s-government-open-data -- npx -y us-gov-open-data-mcp
```

### Cursor (.cursor/mcp.json)

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "u-s-government-open-data": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "us-gov-open-data-mcp"
      ],
      "env": {
        "DATA_GOV_API_KEY": "your-value",
        "FRED_API_KEY": "your-value",
        "CENSUS_API_KEY": "your-value",
        "BLS_API_KEY": "your-value",
        "BEA_API_KEY": "your-value",
        "EIA_API_KEY": "your-value"
      }
    }
  }
}
```

Project file; use ~/.cursor/mcp.json to enable it in every project.

### VS Code (.vscode/mcp.json)

```json
{
  "inputs": [
    {
      "type": "promptString",
      "id": "data_gov_api_key",
      "description": "DATA_GOV_API_KEY",
      "password": true
    },
    {
      "type": "promptString",
      "id": "fred_api_key",
      "description": "FRED_API_KEY",
      "password": true
    },
    {
      "type": "promptString",
      "id": "census_api_key",
      "description": "CENSUS_API_KEY",
      "password": true
    },
    {
      "type": "promptString",
      "id": "bls_api_key",
      "description": "BLS_API_KEY",
      "password": true
    },
    {
      "type": "promptString",
      "id": "bea_api_key",
      "description": "BEA_API_KEY",
      "password": true
    },
    {
      "type": "promptString",
      "id": "eia_api_key",
      "description": "EIA_API_KEY",
      "password": true
    }
  ],
  "servers": {
    "u-s-government-open-data": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "us-gov-open-data-mcp"
      ],
      "env": {
        "DATA_GOV_API_KEY": "${input:data_gov_api_key}",
        "FRED_API_KEY": "${input:fred_api_key}",
        "CENSUS_API_KEY": "${input:census_api_key}",
        "BLS_API_KEY": "${input:bls_api_key}",
        "BEA_API_KEY": "${input:bea_api_key}",
        "EIA_API_KEY": "${input:eia_api_key}"
      }
    }
  }
}
```

Config formats checked against the official docs on 2026-10-07.

## Environment variables

- `DATA_GOV_API_KEY` (secret): api.data.gov key, shared by Congress, FEC, GovInfo, FBI, NREL, Regulations.gov, College Scorecard, USDA FoodData, openFDA and USGS Water
- `FRED_API_KEY` (secret): FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data) API key
- `CENSUS_API_KEY` (secret): Census Bureau API key
- `BLS_API_KEY` (secret): Bureau of Labor Statistics API key (optional; raises rate limits)
- `BEA_API_KEY` (secret): Bureau of Economic Analysis API key
- `EIA_API_KEY` (secret): Energy Information Administration API key
- `NOAA_API_KEY` (secret): NOAA Climate Data Online token (station climate data works without it)
- `USDA_NASS_API_KEY` (secret): USDA NASS Quick Stats API key
- `HUD_USER_TOKEN` (secret): HUD User API token
- `DOL_API_KEY` (secret): Department of Labor API key
- `USPTO_API_KEY` (secret): USPTO Open Data Portal API key
- `LDA_API_KEY` (secret): Senate Lobbying Disclosure (lda.gov) API key (optional; raises rate limits)
- `AQS_API_KEY` (secret): 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' (findtools and calltool only)

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