NASA CMR (Common Metadata Repository) MCP server

The Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for NASA Earthdata Search enables AI assistants to access and search NASA's Common Metadata Repository (CMR) directly. With this integration, you can use natural language to query NASA's vast catalog of Earth science datasets through AI interfaces like Claude or ChatGPT.

Prerequisites

Before installation, ensure you have:

• An LLM client such as Claude Desktop or ChatGPT Desktop
• Internet connection to download dependencies

Installation

Step 1: Clone the Repository

Clone the repository to the same environment where your LLM client is running:

git clone https://github.com/podaac/cmr-mcp.git
cd cmr-mcp

Step 2: Install UV Package Manager

UV is a Rust-based Python package manager required for this installation:

curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh

Step 3: Create and Activate Virtual Environment

Set up a Python virtual environment:

uv venv
source .venv/bin/activate

Step 4: Install Required Packages

Install all dependencies:

uv sync

Configuration

Integrating with Claude Desktop

To connect the MCP server with Claude Desktop:

1. Locate your Claude Desktop configuration file:

   • On macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
   • Create the file if it doesn't exist

2. Add the CMR MCP server configuration:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "cmr": {
            "command": "/path/to/your/uv",
            "args": [
                "--directory",
                "/path/to/cmr-mcp/installation",
                "run",
                "cmr-search.py"
            ]
        }
    }
}

Replace the following:

• /path/to/your/uv: The output of which uv command
• /path/to/cmr-mcp/installation: Your current working directory where you cloned the repository

Usage

Once configured, you can use natural language queries to search NASA's dataset catalog. Simply start your prompts with "search cmr for..." followed by your search criteria.

Example Queries

• "Search CMR for datasets from 2024 to 2025"
• "Search CMR for PO.DAAC datasets from 2020 to 2024 with keyword Climate"
• "Search CMR for ocean temperature data in the Pacific"
• "Search CMR for satellite imagery of California wildfires"

The MCP server will translate your natural language request into appropriate CMR API calls and return relevant dataset information directly in your AI assistant's interface.

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 "cmr" '{"command":"$UV_LIB$","args":["--directory","$CMR_MCP_INSTALL$","run","cmr-search.py"]}'

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": {
        "cmr": {
            "command": "$UV_LIB$",
            "args": [
                "--directory",
                "$CMR_MCP_INSTALL$",
                "run",
                "cmr-search.py"
            ]
        }
    }
}

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": {
        "cmr": {
            "command": "$UV_LIB$",
            "args": [
                "--directory",
                "$CMR_MCP_INSTALL$",
                "run",
                "cmr-search.py"
            ]
        }
    }
}

3. Restart Claude Desktop for the changes to take effect