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MBTA MCP

Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that exposes live MBTA V3 transit data over Streamable HTTP.

Public production endpoint (after Cloud Run deploy):

https://mbta.metaverseprofessional.tech/mcp

Architecture

MCP Client
  → Streamable HTTP (/mcp)
  → Python MCP server (MCP Python SDK v2)
  → MBTA V3 API (https://api-v3.mbta.com)

Related MCP server: marta-mcp

Tools

Tool

When to use

get_routes

List routes; optional route_type filter (0–4)

get_stops_for_route

Stops for a known route_id (e.g. Red, Green-B, 1)

find_stop

Resolve a station/stop name to stop IDs (client-side name match)

get_next_arrivals

Predicted arrivals at a stop_id

get_alerts

Service alerts; optional route/stop filters

get_vehicles

Live vehicle positions; optional route_id

Also exposes GET /health for load balancers and Cloud Run probes.

Requirements

Quick start (local)

cd MBTA-MCP
py -3.12 -m venv .venv
.\.venv\Scripts\Activate.ps1
python -m pip install --upgrade pip
pip install -e ".[dev]"

copy .env.example .env
# Edit .env and set MBTA_API_KEY=...

python -m mbta_mcp

Server listens on:

  • MCP: http://127.0.0.1:8080/mcp

  • Health: http://127.0.0.1:8080/health

Or with uvicorn:

uvicorn mbta_mcp.server:create_app --factory --host 0.0.0.0 --port 8080

Configuration

All secrets come from the environment (never hardcode keys).

Variable

Required

Default

Description

MBTA_API_KEY

recommended

MBTA V3 API key (optional for light anonymous testing)

HOST

no

0.0.0.0

Bind address

PORT

no

8080

Bind port (Cloud Run sets this)

MBTA_BASE_URL

no

https://api-v3.mbta.com

API base URL

LOG_LEVEL

no

INFO

Logging level

MCP_ALLOWED_HOSTS

no

localhost + production host

Streamable HTTP Host allowlist

See .env.example.

Tests

pytest
pytest -m integration   # live MBTA calls when MBTA_API_KEY is set

Smoke-test tools against a running server:

python scripts/smoke_tools.py --url http://127.0.0.1:8080/mcp

Docker

docker build -t mbta-mcp .
docker run --rm -p 8080:8080 -e MBTA_API_KEY=your_key mbta-mcp

Then:

curl http://127.0.0.1:8080/health
python scripts/smoke_tools.py --url http://127.0.0.1:8080/mcp

Connect an MCP client

Point a Streamable HTTP MCP client at:

  • Local: http://127.0.0.1:8080/mcp

  • Production: https://mbta.metaverseprofessional.tech/mcp

Cloud Run (later — do not deploy until local + Docker work)

  1. Store the key in Secret Manager as MBTA_API_KEY.

  2. Build/push the image to Artifact Registry.

  3. Deploy to Cloud Run with:

    • secret mapped to env var MBTA_API_KEY

    • container port 8080

    • health check path /health

  4. Map custom domain mbta.metaverseprofessional.tech.

  5. Ensure MCP_ALLOWED_HOSTS includes mbta.metaverseprofessional.tech and mbta.metaverseprofessional.tech:*.

App code only reads MBTA_API_KEY from the environment; Secret Manager wiring is a Cloud Run concern.

Project layout

src/mbta_mcp/
  server.py          # MCPServer, tools, /health
  config.py          # env settings
  mbta/client.py     # MBTA V3 httpx client
  tools/             # tool handlers
tests/
Dockerfile

License

Use at your own risk. MBTA data is subject to MBTA API terms of use.

F
license - not found
-
quality - not tested
C
maintenance

Maintenance

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Release cycle
Releases (12mo)
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Related MCP Connectors

  • MBTA MCP — Boston real-time transit via the MBTA v3 API (api-v3.mbta.com)

  • SEPTA MCP — Philadelphia SEPTA real-time transit (www3.septa.org/api, keyless)

  • MCP server for live, sourced Brazilian public data from the official IBGE APIs.

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