Data.gov MCP server

This MCP server enables developers to access and interact with data from Data.gov, providing tools for searching and retrieving government datasets through a standardized interface.

Installation

Install the package globally

Install the MCP server using npm:

npm install -g @melaodoidao/datagov-mcp-server

Configure the MCP Server

Add the following entry to your MCP settings file:

• For VS Code users, edit your cline_mcp_settings.json file (typically located at ~/Library/Application Support/Code/User/globalStorage/saoudrizwan.claude-dev/settings/ on macOS):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "datagov": {
      "command": "datagov-mcp-server",
      "args": [],
      "env": {}
    }
  }
}

• For Claude Desktop app users, add the entry to ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json instead.

Usage

The Data.gov MCP server provides several tools for interacting with the Data.gov API:

Available Tools

• package_search: Search for datasets on Data.gov
• package_show: Get detailed information about a specific dataset
• group_list: Retrieve a list of all groups on Data.gov
• tag_list: Get a list of all tags used on Data.gov

Resource Template

The server also provides a resource template for accessing Data.gov resources directly:

datagov://resource/{url}

Where {url} is the URL of the specific Data.gov resource you want to access.

Using with Claude

When using Claude with Cline or the Claude Desktop app, you can reference these tools by specifying the server name datagov-mcp-server followed by the tool or resource name you wish to use.

How to install this MCP server

For Claude Code

To add this MCP server to Claude Code, run this command in your terminal:

claude mcp add-json "datagov" '{"command":"datagov-mcp-server","args":[],"env":[]}'

See the official Claude Code MCP documentation for more details.

For Cursor

There are two ways to add an MCP server to Cursor. The most common way is to add the server globally in the ~/.cursor/mcp.json file so that it is available in all of your projects.

If you only need the server in a single project, you can add it to the project instead by creating or adding it to the .cursor/mcp.json file.

Adding an MCP server to Cursor globally

To add a global MCP server go to Cursor Settings > Tools & Integrations and click "New MCP Server".

When you click that button the ~/.cursor/mcp.json file will be opened and you can add your server like this:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "datagov": {
            "command": "datagov-mcp-server",
            "args": [],
            "env": []
        }
    }
}

Adding an MCP server to a project

To add an MCP server to a project you can create a new .cursor/mcp.json file or add it to the existing one. This will look exactly the same as the global MCP server example above.

How to use the MCP server

Once the server is installed, you might need to head back to Settings > MCP and click the refresh button.

The Cursor agent will then be able to see the available tools the added MCP server has available and will call them when it needs to.

You can also explicitly ask the agent to use the tool by mentioning the tool name and describing what the function does.

For Claude Desktop

To add this MCP server to Claude Desktop:

1. Find your configuration file:

• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
• Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
• Linux: ~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

2. Add this to your configuration file:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "datagov": {
            "command": "datagov-mcp-server",
            "args": [],
            "env": []
        }
    }
}

3. Restart Claude Desktop for the changes to take effect