# RentCast MCP Server
Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for connecting Claude with the RentCast API. It provides tools for accessing property data, valuations, and market statistics through the RentCast API.
## Requirements
* Python 3.12 or higher
* Model Context Protocol (MCP) Python SDK
* httpx
* python-dotenv
## Setup
### 1. Install uv (recommended)
```bash
curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh
```
### 2. Clone this repository
```bash
git clone https://github.com/yourusername/rentcast-mcp-server.git
cd rentcast-mcp-server
```
### 3. Create and activate a virtual environment
```bash
# Create virtual environment
uv venv
# Activate virtual environment
# On macOS/Linux:
source .venv/bin/activate
# On Windows:
.venv\Scripts\activate
```
### 4. Install dependencies
```bash
# Option 1: Using uv (recommended)
uv sync
# Option 2: Using pip with requirements.txt
pip install -r requirements.txt
# Option 3: Install as editable package
uv pip install -e .
```
### 5. Set up environment variables
Create a `.env` file in the project root with your RentCast API key:
```bash
RENTCAST_API_KEY=your_api_key_here
```
## Usage
### 1. Configure Claude Desktop
First, install the MCP CLI globally:
```bash
uv tool install "mcp[cli]"
```
Then add this server to your Claude Desktop configuration file (`~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json` on macOS):
```json
{
"mcpServers": {
"RentCast": {
"command": "/Users/<USERNAME>/.local/share/uv/tools/mcp/bin/mcp",
"args": ["run", "/full/path/to/rentcast-mcp-server/src/rentcast_mcp_server/server.py"]
}
}
}
```
**Important**: Replace `/full/path/to/` with the actual absolute path to your `rentcast-mcp-server` directory.
Restart Claude Desktop after saving the configuration.
### 2. Use the MCP server with Claude
Once configured, Claude Desktop will have access to these RentCast tools:
* **`get_property_data`**: Get detailed property data for a specific property ID
* **`get_property_valuation`**: Get property value estimates
* **`get_rent_estimate`**: Get rent estimates for a property
* **`get_market_statistics`**: Get market statistics for a ZIP code area
* **`get_property_listings`**: Get active property listings in a ZIP code area
**Example queries to try with Claude:**
- "Get market statistics for ZIP code 90210"
- "Show property listings in ZIP code 10001"
- "What are the market trends in ZIP code 02101?"
## Development and testing
Install development dependencies and run the test suite with:
```bash
uv sync --all-extras
pytest -v tests
```
### Running the server locally
To start the server manually (useful when developing or testing), run:
```bash
rentcast-mcp
```
Alternatively, you can run it directly with:
```bash
uv run python src/rentcast_mcp_server/server.py
```
### Installing MCP CLI globally
If you want to use `mcp run` commands, install the MCP CLI globally:
```bash
uv tool install "mcp[cli]"
```
Then you can run:
```bash
mcp run src/rentcast_mcp_server/server.py
```
## License
MIT
