govbr-apis-mcp
# govbr-apis-mcp
[](https://github.com/thalisantunes/govbr-apis-mcp/actions/workflows/ci.yml)
<!-- mcp-name: io.github.thalisantunes/govbr-apis-mcp -->
MCP server that turns Brazilian government APIs into Claude-callable tools through a
**catalog-driven gateway**: instead of one tool per endpoint (hundreds — would blow up
client context), five generic tools operate over a local YAML catalog of 116 APIs.
Only the entries that declare an `openapi_url` have a spec to load: today the Câmara dos
Deputados and the Portal da Transparência, 2 of the 116. For those, `describe_api` loads
the OpenAPI spec on demand. Every other callable entry (see the "Callable today?" column
below) is reached through `call_api` alone, using the endpoints in its description and
`docs_url`.
## Catalog tiers
| Tier | File | Access model | Callable today? |
|------|------|--------------|-----------------|
| `public` | `src/govbr_apis_mcp/catalog_data/public.yaml` | Free — no auth or free API key (IBGE, Banco Central, Câmara, Senado, Portal da Transparência, DataJud, Ipeadata, dados.gov.br…) | Yes |
| `serpro` | `src/govbr_apis_mcp/catalog_data/serpro.yaml` | Serpro commercial (loja.serpro.gov.br) — OAuth2 client credentials per contracted API, paid per call | With a Serpro contract: set the `SERPRO_*` variables |
| `meia-entrada` | `src/govbr_apis_mcp/catalog_data/meia_entrada.yaml` | Eligibility sources for half-price tickets (student CIE, ID Jovem, PcD, e-MEC) — see [docs/meia-entrada.md](docs/meia-entrada.md) and the [POC](poc/README.md) | CIE yes (DNE and FESN); the rest is manual |
| `conecta` | `src/govbr_apis_mcp/catalog_data/conecta.yaml` | [Conecta gov.br](https://www.gov.br/conecta/catalogo/) — **restricted to public-sector entities**; 95 APIs indexed as stubs for discovery | Not yet (adhesion pending) |
The Conecta tier exists so the catalog reflects the whole landscape now, and becomes
callable later by filling in `base_url` + credentials — the OAuth2 client-credentials
flow is already implemented (Serpro uses the same one).
## Tools
- `search_catalog(query, category?)` — accent-insensitive keyword search; reports total
matches and whether the list was truncated.
- `list_apis(category?, status?, limit?)` — enumerate entries, callable ones first (by the
catalog's status, not by whether your credentials are set; filter it: ~95 Conecta stubs
otherwise dominate the output).
- `describe_api(api_id, path?, method?)` — catalog metadata + OpenAPI operation list;
with `path`, parameter/request/response schemas ($refs inlined, depth-limited). Reads
OpenAPI 3 and Swagger 2.0, as JSON or YAML.
- `call_api(api_id, path, method?, query?, body?, headers?)` — invoke an endpoint; base URL
and auth resolved from the catalog entry.
- `method` is GET, HEAD, POST, PUT, PATCH, DELETE or OPTIONS; anything else returns an
error with `allowed_methods`. A `body` is accepted only with POST, PUT and PATCH.
- `path` is relative to the `base_url`. `.` and `..` segments (after up to three rounds of
percent-decoding, with `\` read as `/` and `;` parameters removed) and any path that
leaves the `base_url` prefix are rejected. So is a `#` (a fragment is never sent; write a
literal one as `%23`) or a control character.
- A query string embedded in `path` is merged with `query`; a key in `query` replaces the
embedded one, and a list value repeats the key.
- Caller headers are matched case-insensitively, with `_` equal to `-`. `Authorization`,
`Proxy-Authorization`, `Host`, `Cookie` and `Accept-Encoding`, plus connection, proxy,
forwarding and method-override headers, are dropped and reported in `ignored_headers`
(the full list is in `server.py`). The managed credential is applied last and always wins.
A header with an invalid name or value is not ignored: it fails the call with an `error`.
- Method, body, headers and path are validated before any OAuth2 token is requested, and
invalid input comes back as `{"error": ...}`.
- A `3xx` is not followed: the response carries its `location` (redacted, resolved
against the requested URL). Response bodies are cut at 60,000 characters.
- `credentials_status(api_id?)` — which env vars each API needs and whether they're set,
plus `callable`: whether `call_api` would accept the entry right now (`available` and
`unstable` entries; `requires_contract` ones only once their env vars are set).
## POC: meia-entrada de estudante
Fluxo funcional ponta a ponta (código da CIE → decisão de elegibilidade), incluindo
modo demo sem credencial: [`poc/README.md`](poc/README.md).
## Install
```bash
python3 -m venv .venv
.venv/bin/pip install -e '.[dev]'
.venv/bin/pytest
```
Register in Claude Code (`.mcp.json` or `claude mcp add`):
```json
{
"mcpServers": {
"govbr-apis": {
"command": "/path/to/govbr-apis-mcp/.venv/bin/govbr-apis-mcp",
"env": {
"TRANSPARENCIA_API_KEY": "...",
"DATAJUD_API_KEY": "..."
}
}
}
}
```
From PyPI: `uvx govbr-apis-mcp` (set `"command": "uvx"` and `"args": ["govbr-apis-mcp"]`
in the entry above; no checkout needed). Each release is published to PyPI and to the MCP
Registry automatically (`publish.yml`).
Or run it in a container. The server speaks stdio, so keep `-i`:
```bash
docker build -t govbr-apis-mcp . && docker run -i --rm -e TRANSPARENCIA_API_KEY=... govbr-apis-mcp
```
## Credentials
All secrets come from env vars declared per entry in the catalog (`auth_config`).
Nothing is stored in the repo. `.env.example` lists the variables. Entries with a free key
carry a `signup_url`; Serpro credentials come with the contract, at loja.serpro.gov.br.
`credentials_status` reports readiness.
The server does not read `.env` files, and MCP clients start it with a minimal environment,
so an `export` in your shell may never reach it. Put the variables in the client's `env`
block (the example above, or `claude mcp add -e KEY=value`). For a container, copy
`.env.example` to a git-ignored file such as `.env.local`, fill in the copy and pass it
with `docker run --env-file .env.local`. Never put real values in `.env.example`: it is
versioned.
API keys (the value together with any prefix) are stripped of surrounding whitespace and
must be printable ASCII; otherwise the call fails with `credential in <VAR> contains
invalid characters`, without echoing the value. OAuth2 client ids and secrets are only
stripped: they travel base64-encoded, so any text works. The access token the endpoint
returns must be printable ASCII too. When the token endpoint fails, the call returns an
`error` and the `token_url`, with neither the response body nor any secret.
Auth profiles: `none`, `api_key` (static header, optional value prefix — e.g.
DataJud's `APIKey <key>`), `oauth2_client_credentials` (token endpoint + id/secret,
in-memory token cache; used by Serpro today, by Conecta after adhesion).
## Extending the catalog
Add an entry to a YAML file in `src/govbr_apis_mcp/catalog_data/`. The directory is package
data, so the wheel, `uvx` and the Docker image all carry the catalog. Minimum fields:
`id`, `name`, `provider`, `category`, `status`, `auth`. Add `openapi_url` when the API
publishes a spec — `describe_api` then works with zero code. Regenerate the Conecta
tier with `.venv/bin/python scripts/scrape_conecta.py`. It leaves the file alone when the
page yields no APIs, an id the catalog would reject, or fewer than half the current
entries (`--force` overrides only the last check).
Entries are validated on load: ids must be filename-safe, URLs must be `https` on an
allowlisted host (`*.gov.br`, `*.leg.br`, `*.jus.br` plus a few named hosts), and a hostname
may only contain `[a-z0-9.-]` (write internationalized names in punycode). This is a
security boundary, not style — the catalog decides where your credentials are sent. Add a
host with `GOVBR_EXTRA_ALLOWED_HOSTS` only if you trust it with them; the same hostname
rule applies to it.
To override entries without forking (e.g. filling in Conecta base URLs after adhesion),
point `GOVBR_EXTRA_CATALOG_DIR` at a directory of `.yaml` or `.yml` files whose same-id
entries win. A directory that does not exist or holds no entries is an error, and so is an
id repeated inside it; an empty value counts as unset. `GOVBR_CATALOG_DIR` replaces the
base catalog entirely and should be treated as trusted input.
## Development
```bash
python3 -m venv .venv
.venv/bin/pip install -e '.[dev]'
.venv/bin/ruff check .
.venv/bin/ruff format --check .
.venv/bin/pytest
```
CI runs ruff on Python 3.12 and the test suite on 3.11–3.14, then builds the wheel and
loads the catalog from a clean install.
## Security notes
- Responses are never written to disk. Only OpenAPI specs are cached, in
`$XDG_CACHE_HOME/govbr-apis-mcp/` (or `~/.cache/govbr-apis-mcp/`) for 24 hours, under a
file name derived from `sha256(api_id + "\n" + openapi_url)`: never the id itself, and a
changed `openapi_url` never serves the old spec. OAuth2 tokens live in memory only.
- `call_api` does not follow redirects — credentialed requests cannot be steered to
another host by a `3xx`; the response carries the (redacted) `location` instead. It always
sends `Accept-Encoding: identity`, so a server has no reason to compress. The
60,000-character cut counts decoded text, though: a server that compresses anyway can
still inflate a small chunk before the cut (an accepted risk; see the roadmap).
- Cookies an API sets are never stored or sent back, so one API cannot plant a cookie that
another would receive.
- Spec fetches follow redirects only by hand: at most 5 hops, and every URL (the first
and each `Location`) must be `https` on an allowlisted host before it is requested.
The body is capped at 5 MiB, JSON and YAML are accepted (YAML with aliases, including
merge keys that rely on them, is refused), and the document must carry `openapi` or
`swagger`. A compressed response is refused and the whole download has a 60-second
deadline; both come back as `spec_error`.
- The `httpx` and `httpcore` loggers stay at WARNING, so httpx logs no request URL (query
string included).
- Entries flagged `pii: true` return personal data (CPF, name, photo) into the client
transcript. Today: `meiaentrada-cie-validador`, `fesn-cie-validador` (callable without
any credential: whoever holds a use code gets the holder's data) and the three Serpro
entries.
## Roadmap
- [ ] Conecta adhesion as a public-sector entity → fill gateway base URLs + credentials
- [ ] Per-API OpenAPI URLs for Conecta entries (linked from each detail page)
- [ ] Serpro trial-mode toggle (call `-trial` base URLs with the published demo token)
- [ ] Per-call cost guard for paid Serpro APIs
- [ ] Bounded decompression for compressed upstream responses
- [ ] Pleito à SNJ para a API `conecta-id-jovem` (admite instituição privada)
- [ ] Fallback documental para CIE fora da base DNE (DCEs e entidades estaduais)
## License
MIT - see [LICENSE](LICENSE).
TDQS
Scored across 5 tools
search_catalog and list_apis both enumerate catalog entries and both accept category filters, so their boundary is somewhat blurry (keyword vs. filter is the only real differentiator), though the descriptions do explain the intent. describe_api, credentials_status and call_api each target a clearly distinct facet of the workflow.
Four of five tools follow a clean verb_noun pattern (search_catalog, list_apis, describe_api, call_api). credentials_status breaks it with a noun_noun form, and there is a minor singular/plural mismatch (list_apis vs. describe_api), but overall the naming reads predictably.
Five tools is exactly right for a catalog gateway: one search, one list, one schema lookup, one credential check, one invocation. Each earns its place with no redundancy or padding.
The surface covers the full discover→describe→verify-credentials→call lifecycle, and call_api handles methods, bodies, headers and error/redirect reporting. The only minor gaps are the absence of any way to configure credentials or page through large result sets, both of which an agent can work around.