fcc-broadband-mcp-server

Public Hosted Server: https://fcc-broadband.caseyjhand.com/mcp

Overview

FCC broadband data from Form 477 (June 2015 – June 2021) and the Broadband Data Collection (June 2022 onward). Geocode coordinates to census blocks, look up the ISPs and advertised speeds at a block, and summarize, compare, or rank geographies by unserved population for BEAD and equity research.

Tools

Resources

Resource data is also reachable through tools: fcc_get_coverage_summary for geographies, fcc_search_providers for holding companies.

Prompts

Skill

fcc-broadband-guide covers geography and holding-company identifier chains, comparable population scopes, and sampling limits. It ships with plugin installs, npm, Docker, and the desktop bundle, and is available over MCP at skill://fcc-broadband-guide/SKILL.md.

Related MCP server: OpenUSPublicDataMCP

Capability reference

fcc_geocode_block tool

• latitude and longitude in decimal degrees, resolved against 2010 census boundaries through the FCC Geo API

• Returns blockFips (15 digits, ready for fcc_search_availability), censusVintage, countyFips, countyName, stateFips, stateCode, and stateName; coordinates over water or outside US coverage fail as block_not_found. Structured FCC backend faults fail as geo_backend_unavailable with guidance to retry the same coordinates later

fcc_search_availability tool

• block_fips (15 digits, 2010 vintage) is required; tech_filter (Form 477 technology codes), min_speed_down (Mbps), and consumer (true consumer, false business) narrow the rows

• One row per offering with hoconum, techCode / techLabel, maxDownloadMbps, maxUploadMbps, consumer, and business, plus totalProviders counting distinct holding companies; an unfiltered block with no providers fails as block_not_found, while a filtered query that matches nothing returns an empty list with a notice

fcc_search_geographies tool

• Required nonblank name matches a case-insensitive literal substring; optional geography_type is state, county, cd, place, cbsa, or tribal, limit defaults to 20 (max 100), and offset starts at 0

• Returns distinct { geography_type, geography_id, name } matches in stable name/type/GEOID order, plus count, offset, and nextOffset only when more matches remain. Empty and past-end pages carry guidance; no total count is computed

• Uses the live FCC lookup with year='2021' even when the mirror is enabled. Include a location qualifier in name to narrow matches; CBSA codes do not establish state membership. Pass the selected type and GEOID to fcc_get_coverage_summary

fcc_get_coverage_summary tool

• geography_type is one of nation, state, county, cd, place, cbsa, tribal; geography_id is required for every type but nation; urban_rural_filter (all / R / U) and tribal_filter (all / T / N) narrow the population

• Returns population by provider count (noCoverage, oneProvider, twoProviders, threeOrMore, total), coveragePct, unservedPct, competitivePct, and a per-segment breakdown. An empty demographic selection returns zero totals and a notice after confirming geography rows exist; a missing geography still fails as geography_not_found

• Required reads share a 48-second deadline (coverage_timeout); invalid geography inputs fail as invalid_geography_combo or invalid_geography_id_shape

• National coverage is named United States locally and retains geography.id: "0"; it needs no geography-name lookup

fcc_compare_areas tool

• geography_ids of one geography_type (every type but nation), or compare_all_states: true for the 50 states plus DC; the first 300 distinct IDs are compared, with duplicates and excluded IDs disclosed. sort_by is unserved_pct (default), unserved_pop, coverage_pct, or competitive_pct

• Every sort ranks worst first, so rank 1 is the area most in need; rows carry id, name when resolved, the provider-count populations, and all three percentages. Fails as missing_geography_ids, invalid_all_states_combo, invalid_geography_id_shape, or no_data_found

• unmatchedIds identifies queried IDs without coverage rows, separately from IDs excluded by the comparison cap. Reads run in batches of at most 50; ranking happens once across all returned statistics

fcc_find_underserved tool

• state (USPS state or territory code) scopes the search, otherwise it runs nationwide; geography_type is county (default), cd, place, or cbsa; urban_rural_filter defaults to R, min_unserved_pop to 1, and limit to 20 (max 100). Start offset at 0 and follow nextOffset

• Areas are ranked globally by noCoverage, with GEOID tie-breaking, before paging; rows carry rank, id, name, oneProvider, total, unservedPct, and coveragePct. totalFound counts matches before paging. An unrecognized state fails as unknown_state; notices distinguish no matching areas from an exhausted page

fcc_search_providers tool

• name_search (case-insensitive partial name), state, and tech_filter are all optional and must hold on the same filing; limit defaults to 50 (max 200). Start offset at 0 and follow nextOffset; unknown USPS state or territory codes fail as unknown_state before querying

• Deduplicated holding companies with hoconum, holdingCompanyName, and national statesServed / techCodes that the filters never narrow. No match returns an empty list with a notice; a live search over its 30-second budget fails as live_search_timeout

• A full-corpus mirror (FCC_MIRROR_ENABLED=true) pages the complete matching company set in hoconum order and reports totalCount. Against the live API, scanTruncated: true marks a sample and withholds totalCount; continuation covers only the sampled set, which can change between calls

fcc_get_provider tool

• hoconum (digits only) from fcc_search_providers or the providers directory resource

• Returns techCodes / techLabels and speedTierPopulation, which counts each person once and omits empty tiers; business-only carriers come back with both lists empty. Fails as provider_not_found, or live_provider_timeout past the 30-second budget

fcc_list_filing_periods tool

• Always returns the Form 477 periods; include_bdc: true adds BDC as-of dates when credentials are configured

• periods newest first, each with asOfDate and source (form477 or bdc), plus form477Count, bdcCount, and hasBdcCredentials; missing credentials leave bdcCount at 0 rather than raising an error

fcc_list_downloads tool

• as_of_date (YYYY-MM-DD) is required; filter by data_type (availability default, or challenge), category (Summary, State, Provider), technology_type (Fixed Broadband, Mobile Broadband, Mobile Voice), state, and provider_name; limit defaults to 50 (max 200), paged with offset

• Returns file metadata and a downloadUrl per file, not file contents; totalFiles counts every match and nextOffset is omitted on the last page. Fails as invalid_as_of_date for an unsupported date

• Available to MCP clients only when both BDC credentials are configured at startup. Otherwise the HTTP landing page retains its disabled card and setup guidance

fcc-broadband://geography/{type}/{id}/summary resource

• type takes the seven fcc_get_coverage_summary geography types; id is a FIPS GEOID checked for digit count, 0 for nation

• Fixed at 25/3 Mbps and satellite-inclusive acfosw; returns population, the three percentages, and segments as application/json. Use fcc_get_coverage_summary for the terrestrial default or other thresholds and filters

fcc-broadband://providers/list/{offset} resource

• offset pages the directory 25 entries at a time in hoconum order; start at 0 and follow nextOffset

• Entries carry hoconum and, when resolved, holdingCompanyName; each page reports total and count. To find one company by name, use fcc_search_providers

broadband_equity_analysis prompt

• Arguments: region (free text) and focus (underserved, rural, tribal, or all), both required

• Returns one user message laying out a five-step analysis: baseline coverage, focus area, demographic cross-reference, provider landscape, and historical screening context

Features

Built on @cyanheads/mcp-ts-core: stdio and Streamable HTTP transports, pluggable auth (none / jwt / oauth), swappable storage (in-memory, filesystem, Supabase, Cloudflare KV/R2/D1), structured logging with optional OpenTelemetry tracing.

FCC-specific:

• Three FCC sources, all US government public-domain data: Form 477 on FCC Open Data (Socrata), the BDC Public Data API, and the FCC Geo API

• Every Form 477 tool and resource works without credentials and reads the June 2021 filing, the last one; BDC data is exposed only as bulk-file manifests. fcc_list_downloads is advertised to MCP clients only when both FCC_BDC_USERNAME and FCC_BDC_HASH_VALUE are configured

• The area tools accept every nonempty alphabetical combination of a DSL, c cable, f fiber, o other, s satellite, and w fixed wireless. The default acfow excludes satellite; explicit acfosw includes it. Deployment tools use numeric technology codes instead

• Area speed keys select download/upload pairs in Mbps: 0.2 → 0.2/0.2, 4 → 4/1, 10 → 10/1, 25 → 25/3 (default), 100 → 100/10, 250 → 250/25, and 1000 → 1000/100. Historical population aggregates cannot establish current BEAD eligibility or address service; the 100/10 tier does not establish 100/20 availability

• Coverage analysis reads the pre-aggregated Area Table (xvwq-qtaj), not the block-level deployment table, so state- and county-scale queries stay fast

• Optional local Form 477 mirror (FCC_MIRROR_ENABLED=true) serves queries from SQLite, falling back to the live API for anything not ingested

Agent-friendly output:

• Filter echo: search, summary, and ranking tools return appliedFilters, and every Form 477 result carries dataVintage

• Partial results say so: scanTruncated and scanRowCap flag a result drawn from a capped upstream scan (fcc_search_providers, fcc_find_underserved), and an empty match returns a notice instead of an error

• Typed failures: reasons such as block_not_found, invalid_geography_id_shape, and credentials_required, each with a recovery hint

Getting started

Public Hosted Instance

A public instance is available at https://fcc-broadband.caseyjhand.com/mcp — no installation required. Point any MCP client at it via Streamable HTTP:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "fcc-broadband-mcp-server": {
      "type": "streamable-http",
      "url": "https://fcc-broadband.caseyjhand.com/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Self-Hosted / Local

Add the following to your MCP client configuration file.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "fcc-broadband-mcp-server": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "bunx",
      "args": ["@cyanheads/fcc-broadband-mcp-server@latest"],
      "env": {
        "MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE": "stdio",
        "MCP_LOG_LEVEL": "info"
      }
    }
  }
}

Or with npx (no Bun required):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "fcc-broadband-mcp-server": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@cyanheads/fcc-broadband-mcp-server@latest"],
      "env": {
        "MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE": "stdio",
        "MCP_LOG_LEVEL": "info"
      }
    }
  }
}

For Streamable HTTP, set the transport and start the server:

MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE=http MCP_HTTP_PORT=3010 bun run start:http
# Server listens at http://localhost:3010/mcp

Prerequisites

• Bun v1.4.0 or higher (or Node.js v24+).

• Optional: FCC BDC credentials for fcc_list_downloads and BDC filing periods. Generate a token at broadbandmap.fcc.gov under "Manage API Access".

• Optional: a Socrata app token (FCC_OPENDATA_APP_TOKEN) for higher Form 477 rate limits.

Installation

1. Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/cyanheads/fcc-broadband-mcp-server.git

2. Navigate into the directory:

cd fcc-broadband-mcp-server

3. Install dependencies:

bun install

4. Configure environment:

cp .env.example .env
# edit .env and set FCC_BDC_USERNAME, FCC_BDC_HASH_VALUE, and FCC_OPENDATA_APP_TOKEN as needed

Configuration

See .env.example for the full list of optional overrides.

BDC credentials can come from the process environment or .env; process values take precedence. Empty, whitespace-only, and unsubstituted placeholder values count as absent. Restart after configuring both credentials to enable fcc_list_downloads; Form 477 filing periods remain available without them.

Running the server

Local development

• Build and run:

  # One-time build
  bun run rebuild
  
  # Run the built server
  bun run start:stdio
  # or
  bun run start:http

• Run checks and tests:

  bun run devcheck   # Lint, format, typecheck, security
  bun run test       # Vitest test suite
  bun run lint:mcp   # Validate MCP definitions against spec

Docker

docker build -t fcc-broadband-mcp-server .
docker run --rm -p 3010:3010 fcc-broadband-mcp-server

The Dockerfile defaults to HTTP transport and stateless session mode, logging to /var/log/fcc-broadband-mcp-server. OpenTelemetry peer dependencies are installed by default — build with --build-arg OTEL_ENABLED=false to omit them. The image also ships the mirror scripts and a writable data/ directory.

Local Form 477 mirror

Form 477 is frozen at the June 2021 filing, so it can be ingested once into a local SQLite index. The mirror is off by default, and the full corpus is about 9 GB of source data and takes hours to ingest, so the bootstrap can be scoped to the states you query:

bun run mirror:init -- --states 11,53   # specific states by 2-digit FIPS (11 = DC, 53 = WA)
bun run mirror:init -- --full           # the whole corpus
bun run mirror:verify                   # coverage, row counts, SQLite integrity

Then set FCC_MIRROR_ENABLED=true. In Docker, run the same scripts with docker exec <container> bun run mirror:init -- --states 11,53. Run them from a source checkout or the image: the scripts import through the @/ path alias, which an npm install does not map.

• Block and geography lookups serve from the mirror once the queried state is fully ingested; anything else falls back to the live API.

• Geography discovery and name resolution always use the live 2021 lookup: the mirror does not retain its year column. Missing names do not discard coverage statistics.

• fcc_search_providers, fcc_get_provider, and geographies with no state in their GEOID (cbsa, tribal, nation) serve from the mirror only after a --full ingest.

• Mirror name search matches word prefixes (comc finds "Comcast") where the live API matches any substring (mcast), so a mid-word fragment can return fewer results.

• The ingest is idempotent and resumes an interrupted run from its saved cursor. Set FCC_OPENDATA_APP_TOKEN first for a full ingest. Bun uses the built-in bun:sqlite; Node.js needs the optional better-sqlite3 peer dependency.

Project structure

Development guide

See CLAUDE.md for development guidelines and architectural rules. The short version:

• Handlers throw, framework catches — no try/catch in tool logic

• Use ctx.log for request-scoped logging, ctx.state for tenant-scoped storage

• Register new tools and resources via the barrels in src/mcp-server/*/definitions/index.ts

• Wrap external API calls: validate raw → normalize to domain type → return output schema; never fabricate missing fields

• Socrata returns every field as a string, so parse counts and speeds (has_0–has_3more, maxaddown, maxadup) explicitly

Contributing

Issues are welcome. Run checks and tests before submitting:

bun run devcheck
bun run test

License

Apache-2.0 — see LICENSE for details.