Open Census MCP Server

Query statistical methodology guidance by topic.

Call this FIRST for every query to ground your orientation.

Topics include:

• small_area: Population thresholds, estimate availability

• temporal_comparison: Comparing across years, overlapping periods

• margin_of_error: Reliability, coefficient of variation, precision

• dollar_values: Inflation adjustment for income/rent/value comparisons

• geography: Boundary changes, jurisdiction types, PUMA/tract availability

• period_estimate: ACS period vs point-in-time interpretation

• suppression: Data availability and reliability-based suppression

• comparison: Rules for comparing estimates across products or geographies

• population_threshold: Minimum population for data product availability

When in doubt, request more topics rather than fewer.

Retrieve Census data with statistical methodology guidance.

Returns estimates, margins of error, and pragmatic context about fitness-for-use, reliability, and interpretation caveats.

Use this after grounding with get_methodology_guidance. Always review the pragmatics field before interpreting results.

Discover Census variables by concept or keyword.

Use when the user describes what they want in plain language and you need to identify the correct variable codes.

Returns matching variables with descriptions and table context.

NOTE: Variable search is a known weak spot. This provides basic keyword matching. Results may be incomplete.