LADU MCP Server

Real ADU data for Los Angeles County, available to any MCP-compatible AI assistant.

Endpoint: https://www.ladu.co/mcp
Protocol: MCP JSON-RPC 2.0 (HTTP transport)
Auth: None — free, public, read-only
Docs: ladu.co/mcp-server

Quick start

Add to your MCP client config (Claude Desktop, Cursor, Cline, etc.):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ladu": {
      "url": "https://www.ladu.co/mcp"
    }
  }
}

No API key. No signup. Restart your client and the tools are available.

Tools

Tool	What it does
`check_buildability`	Buildability verdict for any LA County address — zoning, overlays (hillside, coastal, fire, flood, historic, fault), ADU rules, nearby permit count
`lookup_parcel_rules`	Full regulatory detail for a parcel: zoning, lot size, all applicable overlays, governing jurisdiction's ADU rules
`get_adu_rules`	Structured ADU rules for any of 51 supported cities: setbacks, max size, height, parking, permit fees, timeline
`compare_jurisdictions`	Side-by-side rule comparison for two cities
`estimate_adu_cost`	Cost range + timeline for a given city, square footage, ADU type, and finish level
`get_adu_permit_counts`	Total permits, most-recent-year count, YoY change, and median valuation for a city
`get_adu_permit_trends`	Year-by-year permit counts and median valuations (2018–present) for a city
`get_adu_permit_valuations`	25th/50th/75th percentile of declared permit valuations by city and optional year
`find_nearby_adus`	Permitted ADUs near an address within a radius (default 2 miles)
`list_cities`	All 51 supported LA-area cities with slugs, display names, and governing municipality

Example questions

Once connected, ask your AI assistant:

"Can I build an ADU at 1234 Main St, Los Angeles?"
"What are the ADU rules in Santa Monica vs. Pasadena?"
"How much would a 600 sq ft detached ADU cost in Culver City?"
"How many ADUs were permitted in LA County in 2024, and what's the trend?"
"Are people building ADUs near 456 Oak Ave, Pasadena?"

Data

Permit records: 19,000+ LA County ADU permits from public LA County Assessor and LA City/County Building & Safety records, deduplicated by case number, covering 2018–present
Parcel data: ~2.4M LA County parcels with zoning, overlays, and regulatory facts
City rules: Structured regulations for 51 LA-area jurisdictions

Methodology: stats.ladu.co/methodology

Privacy

The server returns property characteristics, zoning, regulations, and aggregate permit statistics. It never returns owner names, contact information, financial details, or mortgage data. It runs against a least-privilege read-only database role — private information is not reachable at the database level.

Rate limiting

Tool calls are rate-limited per client. The server returns HTTP 429 with a Retry-After header and a JSON-RPC -32000 error when the limit is reached.

Built by LADU — Los Angeles ADU specialists.