Used for managing environment variables like FRED API keys required for accessing the Federal Reserve Economic Data service.
Used for version control and distribution of the MCP server code.
Integrated for numerical analysis of economic data retrieved from FRED.
Used for data manipulation and analysis of economic time series data retrieved from FRED.
Used as the implementation language for the MCP server that provides FRED economic data access.
FRED Macroeconomic Data MCP Server
A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that provides access to Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED) through Claude and other LLM clients. This server exposes FRED economic data series, search capabilities, and data retrieval tools.
Features
Access to common FRED economic indicators (GDP, Employment, Inflation, etc.)
Search functionality for FRED data series
Real-time data fetching from FRED API
Standardized data format for LLM consumption
Built using the MCP Python SDK for seamless integration
Prerequisites
Python 3.11 or higher
uv - Modern Python package installer
Claude Desktop for local usage
FRED API Key (get one from FRED API)
Installation
Clone the repository:
Create and activate a virtual environment using uv:
Install dependencies using uv:
Set up environment variables:
Edit .env
and add your FRED API key:
Installing in Claude Desktop
Make sure Claude Desktop is installed and running
Open Claude Desktop settings:
Go to Settings > Developer > Edit Config
Add the following configuration to your
claude_desktop_config.json
:
Replace /path/to/your/
with your actual paths. You can find uv's path by running which uv
in terminal.
Usage in Claude
First, search online for "using MCP resource in Claude Desktop Client" to understand how to include MCP resources in your conversations.
Once you've added the resource, you can interact with FRED data. Example prompt:
Available Resources
file://series/available
- List all available FRED series and their details
Available Tools
fetch_series_data
- Fetch data for any FRED seriessearch_series
- Search for FRED series by description
Development
For development and testing:
Run the MCP Inspector to test the server:
This allows you to inspect resources, test tools, and verify server functionality.
For direct server execution (to check for issues):
Note: The server uses stdio transport for communication with Claude Desktop. Use the MCP Inspector during development to catch and fix any issues before deploying to Claude Desktop.
Troubleshooting
If you get API key errors:
Verify your FRED API key is correctly set in
.env
Check that the
.env
file is in the correct directory
If the server doesn't appear in Claude Desktop:
Double-check your
claude_desktop_config.json
pathsEnsure uv and all dependencies are installed correctly
Try restarting Claude Desktop
Acknowledgments
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis for providing the FRED API
Model Context Protocol team for the MCP SDK
Anthropic for Claude and the Claude Desktop client
This server cannot be installed
hybrid server
The server is able to function both locally and remotely, depending on the configuration or use case.
Provides access to Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED) through Claude and other LLM clients, enabling users to search for, retrieve, and visualize economic indicators like GDP, employment, and inflation data.
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