How do I use Congress[.]gov MCP Server?

1. Click on "Install Server". 2. Wait a few minutes for the server to deploy. Once ready, it will show a "Started" state. 3. In the chat, type @ followed by the MCP server name and your instructions, e.g., "@Congress\[.]gov MCP Server show me recent bills about healthcare" That's it! The server will respond to your query, and you can continue using it as needed. Here is a step-by-step guide with screenshots.

Congress.gov MCP server

Ever wonder what our (US) Congress is up to? Tired of reading the news to find out? Ask the US Congress API yourself.

Unofficial MCP server for the Congress.gov API

Installation

Installing via Smithery

To install congress_gov_mcp for Claude Desktop automatically via Smithery:

npx -y @smithery/cli install @AshwinSundar/congress_gov_mcp --client claude

Manual Installation

Prerequisites

Install uv. The easiest way on macOS and Linux is:
curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh
Get a Congress.gov API key.
Install Claude Desktop, Claude Code, or another client that supports MCP Integrations

Initial Setup

Complete Prerequisites
Clone this repository, and cd in:
git clone http://github.com/AshwinSundar/congress_gov_mcp
cd congress_gov_mcp
Install dependencies:
uv sync
Create a .env file from the template:
cp .env.template .env
Add your Congress.gov API key to the .env file:

congress_gov_mcp/.env
CONGRESS_GOV_API_KEY="your-api-key-here"

Client Configuration

Claude Desktop

Complete Prerequisites
Copy the absolute path to your uv installation:

which uv

Add the following to your Claude Desktop configuration file, inside the mcpServers block:
macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

{ "mcpServers": { "congress_gov_mcp": { "command": "/absolute_path/to/uv", "args": [ "run", "/absolute_path_to/congress_gov_mcp/server.py" ] } } }

Claude Code

Complete Prerequisites
Add the following to .mcp.json in the directory you are running Claude Code in, inside the mcpServers block:

{ "mcpServers": { "congress_gov_mcp": { "command": "uv", "args": [ "run", "/absolute_path_to/congress_gov_mcp/server.py" ] } } }

Related MCP server: opengov-mcp-server

Roadmap

api.congress.gov
- /bill
  - /{congress}
  - /{congress}/{billType}
  - /{congress}/{billType}/{billNumber}
    - /actions
    - /amendments
    - /committees
    - /cosponsors
    - /relatedbills
    - /subjects
    - /summaries
    - /text
    - /titles
- /amendment
  - /{congress}
  - /{congress}/{amendmentType}
  - /{congress}/{amendmentType}/{amendmentNumber}
    - /actions
    - /cosponsors
    - /amendments
    - /text
- /summaries
  - /{congress}
  - /{congress}/{billType}
- /congress
  - /{congress}
  - /current
- /member
  - /{bioguideId}
    - /sponsored-legislation
    - /cosponsored-legislation
- /committee
  - /{systemCode}
    - /bills
    - /reports
    - /nominations
    - /meetings
    - /hearings
    - /house-communication
    - /senate-communication
- /committee-report
  - /{congress}
  - /{congress}/{reportType}
  - /{congress}/{reportType}/{reportNumber}
    - /text
- /committee-print
  - /{congress}
  - /{congress}/{printType}
  - /{congress}/{printType}/{printNumber}
    - /text
- /committee-meeting
  - /{congress}
  - /{congress}/{chamber}
    - /meetings
- /hearing
  - /{congress}
  - /{congress}/{chamber}
  - /{congress}/{chamber}/{hearingNumber}
- /house-vote
  - /{congress}
  - /{congress}/{session}
  - /{congress}/{session}/{rollCallNumber}
- /congressional-record
  - /{volume}
  - /{volume}/{pagePrefix}
  - /{volume}/{pagePrefix}/{pageNumber}
- /daily-congressional-record
  - /{volume}
  - /{volume}/{issue}
- /bound-congressional-record
  - /{year}
  - /{year}/{month}
  - /{year}/{month}/{day}
- /house-communication
  - /{congress}
  - /{congress}/{communicationType}
  - /{congress}/{communicationType}/{communicationNumber}
- /house-requirement
  - /{congress}
  - /{congress}/{requirementNumber}
- /senate-communication
  - /{congress}
  - /{congress}/{communicationType}
  - /{congress}/{communicationType}/{communicationNumber}
- /nomination
  - /{congress}
  - /{congress}/{nominationNumber}
    - /actions
    - /hearings
- /crsreport
  - /{productCode}
- /treaty
  - /{congress}
  - /{congress}/{treatyNumber}
    - /actions
    - /committees