How do I use FRED MCP Server?

1. Click on "Install Server". 2. Wait a few minutes for the server to deploy. Once ready, it will show a "Started" state. 3. In the chat, type @ followed by the MCP server name and your instructions, e.g., "@FRED MCP Server show me the current unemployment rate for California" That's it! The server will respond to your query, and you can continue using it as needed. Here is a step-by-step guide with screenshots.

FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data) MCP Server

Access economic data from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis - one of the most comprehensive economic databases with 800,000+ time series.

Data Available

Interest Rates - Federal funds rate, Treasury yields, mortgage rates
GDP & Growth - Real/nominal GDP, growth rates
Employment - Unemployment rates, payrolls, labor force
Inflation - CPI, PCE, inflation expectations
Housing - Home prices, housing starts, mortgage rates
Financial Markets - Stock indices, exchange rates, money supply
State/Regional - State-level unemployment, income, GDP

Setup

Get a free API key at: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/docs/api/api_key.html
Add to your MCP config:

{
  "fred": {
    "command": "node",
    "args": ["/path/to/fred/dist/index.js"],
    "env": {
      "FRED_API_KEY": "your-api-key"
    }
  }
}

Tools

`get_series`

Get time series data for a FRED series ID.

Parameter	Required	Description
seriesId	Yes	FRED series ID (e.g., "GDP", "UNRATE")
startDate	No	Start date YYYY-MM-DD
endDate	No	End date YYYY-MM-DD
limit	No	Max observations (default 100)
sort	No	"asc" or "desc" (default: desc - most recent first)

Example: Get recent GDP data

seriesId: "GDP"
limit: 20

`search_series`

Search for FRED series by keywords.

Parameter	Required	Description
query	Yes	Search keywords (e.g., "unemployment california")
limit	No	Max results (default 20)

Example: Find retail sales series

query: "retail sales"
limit: 10

`get_series_info`

Get metadata about a series (title, units, frequency, notes).

Parameter	Required	Description
seriesId	Yes	FRED series ID

`list_popular`

List commonly used FRED series IDs with descriptions.

Returns: Popular series for GDP, unemployment, interest rates, inflation, etc.

`get_category_series`

Get all series in a FRED category.

Parameter	Required	Description
categoryId	Yes	Category ID (e.g., 32991 for GDP)
limit	No	Max results (default 50)

`get_releases`

Get recent data releases (useful for finding fresh data).

Parameter	Required	Description
limit	No	Max results (default 20)

`get_state_data`

Shortcut for common state-level economic data.

Parameter	Required	Description
stateAbbr	Yes	State abbreviation (e.g., "CA", "TX")
metric	Yes	"unemployment", "income", "population", "gdp"

Example: Get California unemployment

stateAbbr: "CA"
metric: "unemployment"

Popular Series IDs

Series ID	Description
GDP	Gross Domestic Product
GDPC1	Real GDP
UNRATE	Unemployment Rate
CPIAUCSL	Consumer Price Index
FEDFUNDS	Federal Funds Rate
DGS10	10-Year Treasury Rate
MORTGAGE30US	30-Year Mortgage Rate
SP500	S&P 500 Index
DEXUSEU	USD/EUR Exchange Rate
HOUST	Housing Starts
RSXFS	Retail Sales
PAYEMS	Total Nonfarm Payrolls