Birding Planner

MCP server + daily / on-demand email briefing for migration monitoring. Defaults to Cincinnati, configurable for any region.

Full specification: SPEC.md. Tests: TESTING.md. Email rendering rules: routine-prompt.md.

MCP Server Tools

All 11 tools, used interactively from Claude Desktop:

Per-tool details (inputs/outputs, edge cases) are in SPEC §3.5; each tool lives in src/handlers/<name>.js.

Related MCP server: MCP Weather Free

Setup

1. API keys

• eBird API key (required): https://ebird.org/api/keygen — free

• BirdCast API key (required): contact https://birdcast.info

• Resend API key (for email): https://resend.com — 3,000 emails/month free

• Anthropic API key (for on-demand briefing only): console.anthropic.com

2. Environment

cp .env.example .env   # then fill in keys

Every env var is documented in SPEC §6.2.

3. Install dependencies

npm install

ajv is required for schema validation; sanitize-html for email delivery. Both ship in package.json dependencies — no extra steps.

4. Claude Desktop integration

Add to ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ebird-birding-planner": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/absolute/path/to/ebird-birding-planner/src/index.js"],
      "env": {
        "EBIRD_API_KEY": "your_key_here",
        "BIRDCAST_API_KEY": "your_key_here",
        "EBIRD_LIFE_LIST_CSV": "/path/to/MyEBirdData.csv"
      }
    }
  }
}

Daily briefing (Anthropic Routine)

Cloud-hosted scheduled agent — no machine needs to be on.

1. Routine runs at 09:00 UTC daily

2. scripts/triage.js outputs a JSON decision (FULL_BRIEFING / QUIET_PERIOD / SILENT_SKIP)

3. scripts/aggregate.js runs comprehensive data aggregation → single JSON blob (conforms to schemas/aggregate-output.schema.json)

4. Agent reads the JSON, writes the email body as HTML, saves to ./briefing-draft.json

5. scripts/send.js delivers via Resend (SendGrid + disk fallbacks)

See routine-prompt.md for the exact prompt to paste into the Routine. Required secrets: SPEC §6.2.

On-demand reports (mobile)

Trigger an ad-hoc report from your iPhone via the home-screen web app (bird-report.html). The page POSTs workflow_dispatch to .github/workflows/report-on-demand.yml, which runs the same triage → aggregate → generate-email → send pipeline with claude-sonnet-4-5 (Anthropic SDK, tool-use mode) writing the HTML.

The PAT stored in localStorage must be a fine-grained PAT scoped to this repo only, Actions Read+Write. Classic PATs are not supported (see SPEC §5.2). Workflow rate-capped at 20 dispatches per 24h.

Local testing

npm run test:unit                                  # 171 unit tests, no keys
node scripts/test-regressions.js                   # ~30 security/contract tests
BRIEFING_TEST_FIXTURE=full_lifer npm run aggregate # offline fixture run
node scripts/aggregate.js | npm run validate:schema -- /dev/stdin
node scripts/triage.js                             # live triage (keys required)

Fixture scenarios: full_lifer, full_rain, full_fallout, quiet_period, silent_skip. See TESTING.md.

Architecture (post Wave 2C decomp)

src/
  index.js              entry: loadConfig + clients + startServer
  server.js             MCP stdio dispatch
  config.js             frozen env-var config object
  lifelist.js           JSON-cache-first life list loader
  migration-scoring.js  unified rateNight() + threshold loader
  utils.js              Cache, fetchWithRetry, resolveLocation, …
  handlers/             one file per MCP tool
    _shared.js          createContext(), InputError, helpers
    index.js            HANDLERS[] + TOOL_HANDLERS Map
    <tool>.js           { tool, handle } per tool
  *-client.js           6 external API wrappers (retry + timeout + redaction)

scripts/
  triage.js             fast decision (~10s)
  aggregate.js          comprehensive data (~25s, schema-validated)
  generate-email.js     on-demand: Anthropic tool-use → draft
  send.js               sanitize → Resend → SendGrid → disk; idempotency
  validate-schema.js    Ajv against schemas/aggregate-output.schema.json
  test-unit.js          171 tests
  test-regressions.js   ~30 security + contract invariants
  fixtures/             pre-baked triage / aggregate JSON

schemas/aggregate-output.schema.json   data contract (CI-gated)
.github/workflows/report-on-demand.yml on-demand pipeline
routine-prompt.md                       daily briefing prompt + design system

See SPEC.md for the full specification.