NASA-MCP

Instructions

Implementation Reference

• src/nasa_mcp/server.py:438-493 (handler)

  The handler function implementing the get_solar_flare tool. It fetches solar flare data from NASA's DONKI/FLR API using the shared make_nasa_request helper, processes the JSON list response, and formats key details like ID, times, class, location, and linked events for up to 10 flares.
  async def get_solar_flare(start_date: str = None, end_date: str = None) -> str: """Get solar flare (FLR) data. Args: start_date: Start date in YYYY-MM-DD format. Defaults to 30 days before current date. end_date: End date in YYYY-MM-DD format. Defaults to current date. """ params = {} if start_date: params["startDate"] = start_date if end_date: params["endDate"] = end_date url = f"{NASA_API_BASE}/DONKI/FLR" data = await make_nasa_request(url, params) if not data: return "Could not retrieve FLR data due to a connection error." # Check for error response (must be a dictionary) if isinstance(data, dict) and "error" in data: return f"API Error: {data.get('error')} - Details: {data.get('details', 'N/A')}" if isinstance(data, dict) and data.get("binary_content"): return f"Received unexpected binary content from FLR API. URL: {data.get('url')}" try: # Ensure data is a list if not isinstance(data, list): logger.error(f"Unexpected non-list response from FLR API: {data}") return "Received unexpected data format from FLR API." # Add specific FLR fields to the formatter if needed, or format here if not data: return "No solar flare data for the specified period." result = [f"Solar Flares found: {len(data)}"] display_limit = 10 count = 0 for flare in data: if count >= display_limit: result.append(f"n... and {len(data) - display_limit} more entries.") break result.append(f"nID: {flare.get('flrID', 'Unknown')}") result.append(f"Begin Time: {flare.get('beginTime', 'Unknown')}") result.append(f"Peak Time: {flare.get('peakTime', 'Unknown')}") result.append(f"End Time: {flare.get('endTime', 'Unknown')}") result.append(f"Class: {flare.get('classType', 'Unknown')}") result.append(f"Source Location: {flare.get('sourceLocation', 'Unknown')}") linked_events = flare.get('linkedEvents', []) if linked_events: result.append(" Related event IDs (first 5):") result.append(" " + ", ".join([le.get('activityID', 'N/A') for le in linked_events[:5]])) result.append("-" * 40) count += 1 return "n".join(result) except Exception as e: logger.error(f"Error processing FLR data: {str(e)}") return f"Error processing solar flare data: {str(e)}"
• src/nasa_mcp/server.py:28-82 (helper)

  Shared helper function used by get_solar_flare (and other tools) to make HTTP requests to NASA APIs, handle JSON/binary responses, errors, and API key injection.
  async def make_nasa_request(url: str, params: dict = None) -> Union[dict[str, Any], List[Any], None]: """Make a request to the NASA API with proper error handling. Handles both JSON and binary (image) responses. """ logger.info(f"Making request to: {url} with params: {params}") if params is None: params = {} # Ensure API key is included in parameters if "api_key" not in params: params["api_key"] = API_KEY async with httpx.AsyncClient() as client: try: response = await client.get(url, params=params, timeout=30.0, follow_redirects=True) response.raise_for_status() # Raise an exception for bad status codes (4xx or 5xx) content_type = response.headers.get("Content-Type", "").lower() if "application/json" in content_type: try: return response.json() except json.JSONDecodeError as json_err: logger.error(f"JSON decode error for URL {response.url}: {json_err}") logger.error(f"Response text: {response.text[:500]}") # Log beginning of text return {"error": "Failed to decode JSON response", "details": str(json_err)} elif content_type.startswith("image/"): logger.info(f"Received binary image content ({content_type}) from {response.url}") # Return a dictionary indicating binary content was received return { "binary_content": True, "content_type": content_type, "url": str(response.url) # Return the final URL after redirects } else: # Handle other unexpected content types logger.warning(f"Unexpected content type '{content_type}' received from {response.url}") return {"error": f"Unexpected content type: {content_type}", "content": response.text[:500]} except httpx.HTTPStatusError as http_err: logger.error(f"HTTP error occurred: {http_err} - {http_err.response.status_code} for URL {http_err.request.url}") try: # Try to get more details from response body if possible error_details = http_err.response.json() except Exception: error_details = http_err.response.text[:500] return {"error": f"HTTP error: {http_err.response.status_code}", "details": error_details} except httpx.RequestError as req_err: logger.error(f"Request error occurred: {req_err} for URL {req_err.request.url}") return {"error": "Request failed", "details": str(req_err)} except Exception as e: logger.error(f"An unexpected error occurred: {str(e)}") return {"error": "An unexpected error occurred", "details": str(e)}