data-gov MCP Server

This crate provides a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server exposing the high-level helpers from the data-gov crate and the lower-level CKAN bindings from data-gov-ckan. The server operates strictly as a thin proxy: it does not modify either library and forwards requests directly to the underlying implementations.

Features

• Search data.gov datasets with the ergonomic DataGovClient
• Retrieve dataset details and organization metadata
• Access raw CKAN endpoints such as package_search, package_show, and organization_list
• Works over standard MCP JSON-RPC framing on STDIN/STDOUT

Prod Readiness

This software is brand new, and has not been thoroughly tested or hardened. Use at your own risk.

Usage

cargo run -p data-gov-mcp-server

The process reads JSON-RPC 2.0 messages (one per line) from standard input and writes responses to standard output. On startup it emits a ready message that advertises the available methods.

Available Tools

The MCP server exposes the following tools (methods):

High-level Data.gov tools

• data_gov.search: Search datasets on data.gov with optional filters
• data_gov.dataset: Fetch detailed metadata for a dataset by name or ID
• data_gov.autocompleteDatasets: Autocomplete dataset names based on a partial query
• data_gov.listOrganizations: List publishing organizations (agencies) on data.gov
• data_gov.downloadResources: Download one or more dataset resources to the local filesystem

Low-level CKAN tools

• ckan.packageSearch: Perform a low-level CKAN package_search request
• ckan.packageShow: Retrieve detailed metadata for a dataset using CKAN
• ckan.organizationList: List CKAN organizations with optional sorting and pagination

MCP protocol tools

• tools/list: List all available tools and their schemas
• tools/call: Call a tool by name with arguments
• initialize, initialized, shutdown: MCP protocol lifecycle

Each request is expected to follow the shape:

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 1,
  "method": "data_gov.search",
  "params": {
    "query": "climate",
    "limit": 5
  }
}

Responses mirror the JSON-RPC 2.0 schema and either contain a result payload or an error object.

Solr query syntax

The data_gov.search tool accepts a query string that supports Solr-style syntax (wildcards, phrase matching, boolean operators). For advanced fielded filters, use the ckan.packageSearch tool and provide an filter/fq string in Solr syntax (for example: organization:nasa-gov AND res_format:CSV). The MCP server forwards q and fq directly to the underlying CKAN client.

VSCode Integration

To use the MCP server in VSCode, add the following to your workspace .vscode/mcp.json. Adjust the command path accordingly to the location of the MCP server.

For more information on configuring VSCode to use MCP servers:

https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/copilot/customization/mcp-servers#_add-an-mcp-server

{
  "servers": {
    "data-gov": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "target/debug/data-gov-mcp-server",
      "args": []
    }
  },
  "inputs": []
}

This will configure VSCode to launch the MCP server and connect to it for tool-based workflows.

Configuration

Environment variables allow the server to reuse API configuration without altering the upstream crates:

• DATA_GOV_API_KEY – CKAN API key for higher rate limits
• DATA_GOV_BASE_URL – Override the default CKAN base path
• DATA_GOV_USER_AGENT – Custom user agent applied to both clients

These settings are optional; when omitted the defaults from the existing libraries are used.

Development

The crate lives under tools/mcp/data-gov-mcp-server and is part of the main Cargo workspace. Tests and formatting can be run from the repository root:

cargo fmt
cargo test -p data-gov-mcp-server

Disclaimer & license

This is an independent project and is not affiliated with data.gov or any government agency. For authoritative information, refer to the official data.gov portal.

Licensed under the Apache License 2.0.