get-drug-by-ndc

Retrieve detailed drug information from the OpenFDA database by entering a National Drug Code (NDC) in any standard format.

Instructions

Get drug information by National Drug Code (NDC). Accepts both product NDC (XXXXX-XXXX) and package NDC (XXXXX-XXXX-XX) formats. Also accepts NDC codes without dashes.

Input Schema

TableJSON Schema

Name	Required	Description	Default
`ndcCode`	Yes	National Drug Code (NDC) - accepts formats: XXXXX-XXXX, XXXXX-XXXX-XX, or without dashes

Implementation Reference

src/index.ts:377-473 (handler)

The handler function that implements the core logic of the 'get-drug-by-ndc' tool. It normalizes the input NDC code, constructs an OpenFDA API query using product and/or package NDC, fetches the data, processes the results to extract relevant drug information and matching NDCs, and returns a formatted text response.

async ({ ndcCode }) => {
  const { productNDC, packageNDC, isValid } = normalizeNDC(ndcCode);
  
  if (!isValid) {
    return {
      content: [{
        type: "text",
        text: `Invalid NDC format: "${ndcCode}"\n\n✅ Accepted formats:\n• Product NDC: 12345-1234\n• Package NDC: 12345-1234-01\n• Without dashes: 123451234 or 12345123401`,
      }],
    };
  }

  console.log(`Searching for NDC: input="${ndcCode}", productNDC="${productNDC}", packageNDC="${packageNDC}"`);

  // Try searching by product NDC first (most flexible)
  let searchQuery = `openfda.product_ndc:"${productNDC}"`;
  
  // If a specific package was requested, also search package NDC
  if (packageNDC) {
    searchQuery += `+OR+openfda.package_ndc:"${packageNDC}"`;
  }

  const url = new OpenFDABuilder()
    .context("label")
    .search(searchQuery)
    .limit(10) // Get multiple results since product NDC might have multiple packages
    .build();

  const { data: drugData, error } = await makeOpenFDARequest<OpenFDAResponse>(url);
  
  if (error) {
    return {
      content: [{
        type: "text",
        text: `Failed to retrieve drug data for NDC "${ndcCode}": ${error.message}`,
      }],
    };
  }

  if (!drugData || !drugData.results || drugData.results.length === 0) {
    return {
      content: [{
        type: "text",
        text: `No drug found with NDC "${ndcCode}" (product: ${productNDC}).\n\n💡 Tips:\n• Verify the NDC format\n• Try without the package suffix (e.g., use 12345-1234 instead of 12345-1234-01)\n• Check if this is an FDA-approved product`,
      }],
    };
  }

  // Process results and group by product
  const results = drugData.results.map(drug => {
    const matchingProductNDCs = drug.openfda.product_ndc?.filter(ndc => 
      ndc === productNDC
    ) || [];
    
    const matchingPackageNDCs = drug.openfda.package_ndc?.filter(ndc => 
      packageNDC ? ndc === packageNDC : ndc.startsWith(productNDC)
    ) || [];

    return {
      // Basic drug information
      brand_name: drug.openfda.brand_name || [],
      generic_name: drug.openfda.generic_name || [],
      manufacturer_name: drug.openfda.manufacturer_name || [],
      product_type: drug.openfda.product_type || [],
      route: drug.openfda.route || [],
      substance_name: drug.openfda.substance_name || [],
      
      // NDC information
      matching_product_ndc: matchingProductNDCs,
      matching_package_ndc: matchingPackageNDCs,
      all_product_ndc: drug.openfda.product_ndc || [],
      all_package_ndc: drug.openfda.package_ndc || [],
      
      // Additional product details
      dosage_and_administration: drug.dosage_and_administration || [],
      package_label_principal_display_panel: drug.package_label_principal_display_panel || [],
      active_ingredient: drug.active_ingredient || [],
      purpose: drug.purpose || []
    };
  });

  // Summary information
  const totalPackages = results.reduce((sum, result) => 
    sum + result.matching_package_ndc.length, 0
  );

  const searchSummary = packageNDC 
    ? `Searched for specific package NDC: ${packageNDC}`
    : `Searched for product NDC: ${productNDC} (all packages)`;

  return {
    content: [{
      type: "text",
      text: `✅ Found ${results.length} drug(s) with ${totalPackages} package(s) for NDC "${ndcCode}"\n\n${searchSummary}\n\n${JSON.stringify(results, null, 2)}`,
    }],
  };
}

src/index.ts:374-376 (schema)

Zod input schema defining the 'ndcCode' parameter for the tool.

{
  ndcCode: z.string().describe("National Drug Code (NDC) - accepts formats: XXXXX-XXXX, XXXXX-XXXX-XX, or without dashes")
},

src/index.ts:371-474 (registration)

Registration of the 'get-drug-by-ndc' tool with McpServer using server.tool(), including name, description, input schema, and inline handler function.

server.tool(
  "get-drug-by-ndc",
  "Get drug information by National Drug Code (NDC). Accepts both product NDC (XXXXX-XXXX) and package NDC (XXXXX-XXXX-XX) formats. Also accepts NDC codes without dashes.",
  {
    ndcCode: z.string().describe("National Drug Code (NDC) - accepts formats: XXXXX-XXXX, XXXXX-XXXX-XX, or without dashes")
  },
  async ({ ndcCode }) => {
    const { productNDC, packageNDC, isValid } = normalizeNDC(ndcCode);
    
    if (!isValid) {
      return {
        content: [{
          type: "text",
          text: `Invalid NDC format: "${ndcCode}"\n\n✅ Accepted formats:\n• Product NDC: 12345-1234\n• Package NDC: 12345-1234-01\n• Without dashes: 123451234 or 12345123401`,
        }],
      };
    }

    console.log(`Searching for NDC: input="${ndcCode}", productNDC="${productNDC}", packageNDC="${packageNDC}"`);

    // Try searching by product NDC first (most flexible)
    let searchQuery = `openfda.product_ndc:"${productNDC}"`;
    
    // If a specific package was requested, also search package NDC
    if (packageNDC) {
      searchQuery += `+OR+openfda.package_ndc:"${packageNDC}"`;
    }

    const url = new OpenFDABuilder()
      .context("label")
      .search(searchQuery)
      .limit(10) // Get multiple results since product NDC might have multiple packages
      .build();

    const { data: drugData, error } = await makeOpenFDARequest<OpenFDAResponse>(url);
    
    if (error) {
      return {
        content: [{
          type: "text",
          text: `Failed to retrieve drug data for NDC "${ndcCode}": ${error.message}`,
        }],
      };
    }

    if (!drugData || !drugData.results || drugData.results.length === 0) {
      return {
        content: [{
          type: "text",
          text: `No drug found with NDC "${ndcCode}" (product: ${productNDC}).\n\n💡 Tips:\n• Verify the NDC format\n• Try without the package suffix (e.g., use 12345-1234 instead of 12345-1234-01)\n• Check if this is an FDA-approved product`,
        }],
      };
    }

    // Process results and group by product
    const results = drugData.results.map(drug => {
      const matchingProductNDCs = drug.openfda.product_ndc?.filter(ndc => 
        ndc === productNDC
      ) || [];
      
      const matchingPackageNDCs = drug.openfda.package_ndc?.filter(ndc => 
        packageNDC ? ndc === packageNDC : ndc.startsWith(productNDC)
      ) || [];

      return {
        // Basic drug information
        brand_name: drug.openfda.brand_name || [],
        generic_name: drug.openfda.generic_name || [],
        manufacturer_name: drug.openfda.manufacturer_name || [],
        product_type: drug.openfda.product_type || [],
        route: drug.openfda.route || [],
        substance_name: drug.openfda.substance_name || [],
        
        // NDC information
        matching_product_ndc: matchingProductNDCs,
        matching_package_ndc: matchingPackageNDCs,
        all_product_ndc: drug.openfda.product_ndc || [],
        all_package_ndc: drug.openfda.package_ndc || [],
        
        // Additional product details
        dosage_and_administration: drug.dosage_and_administration || [],
        package_label_principal_display_panel: drug.package_label_principal_display_panel || [],
        active_ingredient: drug.active_ingredient || [],
        purpose: drug.purpose || []
      };
    });

    // Summary information
    const totalPackages = results.reduce((sum, result) => 
      sum + result.matching_package_ndc.length, 0
    );

    const searchSummary = packageNDC 
      ? `Searched for specific package NDC: ${packageNDC}`
      : `Searched for product NDC: ${productNDC} (all packages)`;

    return {
      content: [{
        type: "text",
        text: `✅ Found ${results.length} drug(s) with ${totalPackages} package(s) for NDC "${ndcCode}"\n\n${searchSummary}\n\n${JSON.stringify(results, null, 2)}`,
      }],
    };
  }
);

src/index.ts:22-69 (helper)

Helper function to normalize various NDC input formats (with/without dashes, product/package) into standardized productNDC and optional packageNDC, with format validation. Used by the get-drug-by-ndc handler.

// Helper function to normalize and validate NDC format
function normalizeNDC(ndc: string): { productNDC: string; packageNDC: string | null; isValid: boolean } {
  // Remove spaces and convert to uppercase
  const cleanNDC = ndc.trim().toUpperCase();
  
  // Check for different NDC formats:
  // 1. XXXXX-XXXX (product NDC)
  // 2. XXXXX-XXXX-XX (package NDC) 
  // 3. XXXXXXXXXXX (11-digit without dashes)
  // 4. XXXXXXXXX (9-digit without dashes - product only)
  
  let productNDC: string;
  let packageNDC: string | null = null;
  
  if (cleanNDC.includes('-')) {
    const parts = cleanNDC.split('-');
    
    if (parts.length === 2) {
      // Format: XXXXX-XXXX (product NDC)
      productNDC = cleanNDC;
      packageNDC = null;
    } else if (parts.length === 3) {
      // Format: XXXXX-XXXX-XX (package NDC)
      productNDC = `${parts[0]}-${parts[1]}`;
      packageNDC = cleanNDC;
    } else {
      return { productNDC: cleanNDC, packageNDC: null, isValid: false };
    }
  } else {
    // No dashes - need to format based on length
    if (cleanNDC.length === 11) {
      // 11-digit package NDC: XXXXXYYYYZZ -> XXXXX-YYYY-ZZ
      productNDC = `${cleanNDC.substring(0, 5)}-${cleanNDC.substring(5, 9)}`;
      packageNDC = `${cleanNDC.substring(0, 5)}-${cleanNDC.substring(5, 9)}-${cleanNDC.substring(9, 11)}`;
    } else if (cleanNDC.length === 9) {
      // 9-digit product NDC: XXXXXXXXX -> XXXXX-XXXX
      productNDC = `${cleanNDC.substring(0, 5)}-${cleanNDC.substring(5, 9)}`;
      packageNDC = null;
    } else {
      return { productNDC: cleanNDC, packageNDC: null, isValid: false };
    }
  }
  
  // Basic validation
  const isValid = /^\d{5}-\d{4}$/.test(productNDC);
  
  return { productNDC, packageNDC, isValid };
}

OpenFDA

get-drug-by-ndc

Instructions

Input Schema

Implementation Reference

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