PBS Chat MCP Server

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for querying the Australian Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) API. This server allows AI assistants like Claude to access real-time PBS data including medicine pricing, prescriber information, schedules, and more.

Features

• Query PBS items (medicines, pricing, forms, brands)

• Search prescribers and prescribers by PBS code, type, schedule

• Get item overviews with detailed pricing

• Access schedules, ATC codes, organisations, restrictions, criteria

• Get copayment, fee, markup band, program information

• View summary of changes

Related MCP server: mcp-aemps

Quick Start

1. Get a PBS API Subscription Key

1. Visit PBS Data API Portal

2. Sign up for an account

3. Subscribe to "PBS Public API v3"

4. Get your subscription key from the developer portal

2. Local Development

# Clone and install
git clone https://github.com/rakeshnirzari1/pbs-chat-mcp.git
cd pbs-chat-mcp
npm install

# Configure environment
cp .env.example .env
# Edit .env and add your PBS_API_SUBSCRIPTION_KEY

# Build and run HTTP/SSE server (for Railway/Render remote hosting)
npm run build
npm start

On Windows PowerShell, use:

Copy-Item .env.example .env
npm run build
npm start

3. Using with Claude Desktop (Local)

Add to your claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "pbs-chat": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["C:/path/to/pbs-chat-mcp/dist/index.js"],
      "env": {
        "PBS_API_SUBSCRIPTION_KEY": "your-subscription-key-here"
      }
    }
  }
}

Important:

• This local config is only needed if you run the server on your own machine.

• For hosted Railway/Render usage, use mcp-remote config shown below.

Remote Deployment (Render)

1. Push to GitHub

git init
git add .
git commit -m "Initial commit"
git branch -M main
git remote add origin https://github.com/rakeshnirzari1/pbs-chat-mcp.git
git push -u origin main

2. Deploy on Render

1. Go to Render Dashboard

2. Click "New" → "Web Service"

3. Connect your GitHub repo rakeshnirzari1/pbs-chat-mcp

4. Configure:

   • Name: pbs-chat-mcp

   • Build Command: npm install && npm run build

• Start Command: npm run start:http

• Instance Type: Free (or Starter for better reliability)

5. Add Environment Variable:

   • Key: PBS_API_SUBSCRIPTION_KEY

   • Value: your-pbs-subscription-key

6. Deploy!

3. Use as Remote MCP in Claude

Once deployed, you'll get a URL like https://pbs-chat-mcp.onrender.com

In Claude Desktop config:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "pbs-chat": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "mcp-remote@latest", "https://pbs-chat-mcp.onrender.com/mcp", "--transport", "http-only"],
      "env": {
        "PBS_API_SUBSCRIPTION_KEY": "your-subscription-key-here"
      }
    }
  }
}

Note: For remote MCP, you'll need the mcp-remote package. The hosted server now supports modern Streamable HTTP on /mcp and legacy SSE on /sse.

Troubleshooting Claude Desktop Connection

• If Claude shows "failed to connect", confirm the command points to dist/index.js.

• For hosted remote servers, prefer https://<host>/mcp with --transport http-only.

• Use https://<host>/sse with --transport sse-only only as a fallback.

• Verify your key is set in Claude config env or in .env.

• Check Claude Desktop logs for startup errors (missing Node, bad path, JSON syntax issues).

Available Tools

pbs_api

Query any PBS API endpoint.

Parameters:

• endpoint (required): PBS API endpoint name

• method: HTTP method (GET/POST, default: GET)

• params: Query parameters object

• subscriptionKey: Override default API key

• timeout: Request timeout in ms (default: 30000)

Available Endpoints:

• items - Medicine items with pricing, brands, forms

• prescribers - Prescriber information

• item-overview - Detailed item information

• schedules - PBS schedules

• atc-codes - Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical codes

• organisations - Pharmaceutical organisations

• restrictions - Prescribing restrictions

• parameters - API parameters

• criteria - Prescribing criteria

• copayments - Patient copayment information

• fees - Dispensing fees

• markup-bands - Wholesale markup bands

• programs - PBS programs

• summary-of-changes - Schedule changes

Example Queries

// Search for metformin items
{
  "endpoint": "items",
  "params": {
    "drug_name": "metformin",
    "get_latest_schedule_only": "true",
    "limit": "20"
  }
}

// Get prescribers for a specific PBS code
{
  "endpoint": "prescribers",
  "params": {
    "pbs_code": "10001J",
    "get_latest_schedule_only": "true",
    "limit": "10"
  }
}

// Get item overview with pricing
{
  "endpoint": "item-overview",
  "params": {
    "get_latest_schedule_only": "true",
    "limit": "5"
  }
}

API Rate Limits

The PBS Public API has rate limits:

• Public API: 1 request per 20 seconds (shared across all users)

• Private API: Higher limits (requires special access)

Project Structure

pbs-chat-mcp/
├── src/
│   ├── index.ts           # MCP server entry point
│   ├── schemas.ts         # Zod schemas for validation
│   └── tools/
│       └── pbsApi.ts      # PBS API client & handler
├── dist/                  # Compiled output
├── package.json
├── tsconfig.json
├── .env.example
├── .gitignore
└── README.md

License

MIT License - see LICENSE file for details.

Author

Rakesh Nirzari - GitHub