LocalTides MCP Server

🌊 NOAA Tides & Currents MCP Server

🚀 Lightning-fast access to NOAA's oceanic and atmospheric data through MCP

Your one-stop solution for tides, currents, weather, astronomy, and climate data

📦 Quick Start • 🛠️ Tools • 📖 Examples • 🏗️ Advanced

✨ What Makes This Awesome

🌊 25+ Specialized Tools - From basic tide data to advanced climate projections
⚡ Lightning Fast - Built on FastMCP for optimal performance
🎯 Zero Config - Works out of the box with Claude Desktop
🌍 Comprehensive Data - Water levels, currents, weather, moon phases, sun data
📊 Climate Research Ready - Sea level trends, flooding projections, extreme events
🚀 NPX Ready - Install and run with a single command

🚀 Quick Start

⚡ NPX Installation (Recommended)

# Install and run immediately - no setup required!
npx @ryancardin/noaa-tides-currents-mcp-server

# Or use the shorter alias
npx noaa-mcp

🔌 Transport Modes

STDIO Mode (Default - MCP Protocol)

# Standard MCP server for Claude Desktop integration
npx @ryancardin/noaa-tides-currents-mcp-server

# Or use the shorter alias
npx noaa-mcp

HTTP Streamable Mode (Web Integration)

# Start HTTP server on default port 3000
npx @ryancardin/noaa-tides-currents-mcp-server --http

# Specify custom port
npx @ryancardin/noaa-tides-currents-mcp-server --http --port 8080

# Using shorter alias
npx noaa-mcp --http --port 8080

# Access via Server-Sent Events
curl http://localhost:3000/sse

🎯 Claude Desktop Integration

Install directly to Claude Desktop via Smithery:

npx -y @smithery/cli install @RyanCardin15/tidesandcurrents --client claude

🔧 Manual Development Setup

# Clone and build
git clone https://github.com/RyanCardin15/NOAA-Tides-And-Currents-MCP.git
cd NOAA-Tides-And-Currents-MCP
npm install && npm run build

# Start the server
npm start

# Test with FastMCP
npx fastmcp dev dist/index.js

🛠️ Available Tools

Water Levels & Tides

get_water_levels - Real-time and historical water level data
get_tide_predictions - High/low tide predictions and continuous data
get_currents - Real-time and historical current measurements
get_current_predictions - Current speed and direction forecasts
get_meteorological_data - Wind, air temp, water temp, pressure, etc.

Station Information

get_stations - Search and list monitoring stations
get_station_details - Detailed station metadata and capabilities

Sea Level Analysis

get_sea_level_trends - Long-term sea level rise trends and rates
get_extreme_water_levels - Statistical analysis of extreme events

High Tide Flooding Analysis

get_high_tide_flooding_daily - Daily flood event counts
get_high_tide_flooding_monthly - Monthly flooding patterns
get_high_tide_flooding_seasonal - Seasonal flood analysis
get_high_tide_flooding_annual - Yearly flooding trends
get_high_tide_flooding_projections - Future flood risk scenarios
get_high_tide_flooding_likelihoods - Daily flood probability

Historical Extremes

get_top_ten_water_levels - Highest/lowest water levels on record

Moon Phase Calculations

get_moon_phase - Current moon phase and illumination
get_moon_phases_range - Moon phases over date ranges
get_next_moon_phase - Find next new/full/quarter moons

Solar Calculations

get_sun_times - Sunrise, sunset, dawn, dusk times
get_sun_times_range - Solar times over date ranges
get_sun_position - Real-time sun azimuth and elevation
get_next_sun_event - Next sunrise, sunset, or solar noon

API Parameters

get_parameter_definitions - Valid values for all API parameters

📖 Usage Examples

🌊 Get Current Tide Conditions

# Get latest water levels for Boston Harbor
get_water_levels station="8443970" date="latest"

# Get today's tide predictions for Miami
get_tide_predictions station="8723214" begin_date="today" end_date="today" interval="hilo"

🌀 Hurricane Preparedness

# Get extreme water level statistics for storm planning
get_extreme_water_levels station="8518750" units="english"

# Check flooding likelihood for tomorrow
get_high_tide_flooding_likelihoods station="8518750" date="2024-12-16" threshold="minor"

🔬 Climate Research

# Analyze 30-year sea level trends
get_sea_level_trends station="8518750" affiliation="US"

# Get high tide flooding projections for 2050s under intermediate sea level rise
get_high_tide_flooding_projections station="8518750" scenario="intermediate" decade="2050s"

# Get tonight's moon phase for navigation
get_moon_phase date="2024-12-15" latitude="42.3601" longitude="-71.0589"

# Calculate sunrise/sunset for sailing
get_sun_times date="2024-12-15" latitude="25.7617" longitude="-80.1918" timezone="America/New_York"

🎣 Fishing & Recreation

# Best fishing times with current predictions
get_current_predictions station="ACT0446" date="today" interval="MAX_SLACK"

# Wind and weather conditions
get_meteorological_data station="8443970" product="wind" date="today"

🏗️ Advanced Usage

🔧 Development & Testing

# Run in development mode (stdio)
npm run dev

# Development with HTTP transport
npm run dev:http

# Production builds with different transports
npm start                    # STDIO mode (default)
npm run start:http          # HTTP on port 3000
npm run start:http:3001     # HTTP on port 3001
npm run start:http:8080     # HTTP on port 8080

# Inspect server capabilities
npx fastmcp inspect dist/index.js

🌐 HTTP Stream Integration

When running in HTTP mode, the server provides Server-Sent Events (SSE) at /sse:

# Start HTTP server
npx @ryancardin/noaa-tides-currents-mcp-server --http --port 3000

# Test the endpoint
curl -N http://localhost:3000/sse

# Or integrate with web applications
fetch('http://localhost:3000/sse')
  .then(response => response.body.getReader())
  .then(reader => {
    // Handle streaming MCP responses
  });

Use Cases for HTTP Mode:

🌐 Web Applications - Integrate with React, Vue, Angular apps
📱 Mobile Apps - REST-like access from mobile applications
🔗 API Gateways - Proxy through load balancers or API gateways
🧪 Testing - Easy curl-based testing and debugging

📊 Data Formats & Export

All tools support multiple output formats:

JSON (default) - Perfect for programmatic use
XML - Legacy system integration
CSV - Direct spreadsheet import

🌍 Global Station Coverage

13,000+ stations worldwide
Real-time data from NOAA's CO-OPS network
Historical records dating back decades
Global tide predictions and current forecasts

🚦 API Endpoints

This server integrates with three NOAA APIs:

API	Purpose	Base URL
Data API	Real-time observations & predictions	`api.tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/api/prod/`
Metadata API	Station information & capabilities	`api.tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/mdapi/prod/`
Derived Products API	Climate analysis & research data	`api.tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/dpapi/prod/`

🛠️ Technical Details

Architecture

🚀 FastMCP Framework - High-performance MCP server
📝 TypeScript - Full type safety and IntelliSense
🔧 Zod Validation - Runtime parameter validation
⚡ Axios HTTP Client - Reliable API communication
🌙 SunCalc Integration - Precise astronomical calculations

Transport Options

📡 STDIO Transport - Standard MCP protocol for desktop clients
🌐 HTTP Stream Transport - Server-Sent Events for web integration
🔄 Dual Mode Support - Switch between transports via command-line flags

System Requirements

Node.js 18+
NPM 8+
MCP Client (Claude Desktop, etc.)

Package Size

📦 Bundled: 43.9 KB
📂 Installed: 286.2 KB
⚡ Load Time: <100ms

🐛 Troubleshooting

Server Won't Start

# Check Node.js version
node --version  # Should be 18+

# Rebuild TypeScript
npm run build

API Errors

Invalid Station ID: Use get_stations to find valid stations
Date Format Issues: Use YYYYMMDD or MM/DD/YYYY formats
Rate Limiting: NOAA APIs have usage limits - space out requests

MCP Connection Issues

Ensure Claude Desktop MCP settings are configured correctly
Check that the server binary has execute permissions: chmod +x dist/index.js

📈 Roadmap

🌊 Real-time Alerts - Webhook support for tide/weather alerts
📱 Mobile SDK - React Native integration
🗺️ GIS Integration - Shapefile and KML export
🤖 AI Insights - Automated pattern recognition
⚡ GraphQL API - Modern query interface
🌐 Multi-language - I18n support

🤝 Contributing

We love contributions! Here's how to get started:

🍴 Fork the repository
🌿 Branch for your feature (git checkout -b amazing-feature)
💻 Code your improvements
✅ Test with npm test
📤 Submit a pull request

Development Commands

npm run build    # Build TypeScript
npm run dev      # Development mode  
npm run test     # Run test suite
npm run format   # Format with Prettier

📄 License

MIT License - see LICENSE file for details.

Built with ❤️ by Ryan Cardin

🔗 Links & Resources

📦 NPM Package: @ryancardin/noaa-tides-currents-mcp-server
🏪 Smithery: Auto-install for Claude Desktop
🌊 NOAA CO-OPS: Official NOAA Data Portal
🤖 MCP Protocol: Model Context Protocol Docs
⚡ FastMCP: FastMCP Framework

⭐ Star this repo if it helped you!

Made possible by NOAA's commitment to open oceanic data 🌊

Deploy Server

HTTP connection URL

security – no known vulnerabilities

license - permissive license

quality - confirmed to work

How are these scores calculated?

remote-capable server

The server can be hosted and run remotely because it primarily relies on remote services or has no dependency on the local environment.

Tools

View all tools

This server provides tools for interacting with the NOAA Tides and Currents API, enabling access to water level data, tide predictions, currents data, station information, and astronomical information like moon phases and sun times.

Related Resources

Reddit Discussion about this server

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