wspr-mcp
This server gives AI assistants read-only access to ~2.7 billion live and historical WSPR beacon spots from wspr.live (2008–present) for HF propagation analysis, with no authentication needed.
Live spots — Query recent WSPR spots filtered by callsign, band, grid square, time window (1–72 h), SNR range, and minimum distance.
Band activity — See per-band spot counts, TX/RX station counts, distances, and average SNR to tell which bands are open right now.
Top beacons — Rank transmitters by most spots or farthest reach on a given band.
Top spotters — Rank receivers by most spots or farthest reception, to find sensitive monitoring stations.
Propagation paths — Check which bands are open between two endpoints (callsigns, grids, or a mix), searching both directions and auto-widening to field-level grids when exact matches are sparse.
Grid activity — Get all activity in or out of a 2- or 4-character Maidenhead grid square, with summary stats and recent spots.
Longest paths — Find the farthest WSPR paths in a time window (e.g., near-antipodal DX).
SNR trends — View hourly SNR buckets for a specific path to see when a band opens and closes.
Version info — Confirm service and upstream schema versions for fleet alignment.
Responsible operation — Rate limiting, circuit breaker with backoff, time-bounded queries, column selection, result caps, caching, request timeouts, and identifying User-Agent protect the volunteer-run upstream.
Allows GitHub Copilot to query WSPR propagation data such as recent spots, band activity, and propagation paths.
Click on "Deploy Server".
Wait a few minutes for the server to deploy. Once ready, it will show a "Started" state.
In the chat, type
@followed by the MCP server name and your instructions, e.g., "@wspr-mcp Show me recent WSPR spots on 20m"
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.
wspr-mcp
MCP server for WSPR (Weak Signal Propagation Reporter) beacon data—live spots, band activity, top beacons, propagation paths, SNR trends, and more through any MCP-compatible AI assistant.
Data from wspr.live (~2.7 billion spots, 2008-present). Part of the qso-graph project. No authentication required—all public data.
Install
uvx wspr-mcp # run it; nothing to installRelated MCP server: qrz-mcp
Tools
Tool | Description | Key Parameters |
| Recent WSPR spots with flexible filtering | callsign, band, hours, grid, min/max SNR, min distance |
| Per-band spot counts, station counts, distances, and SNR | hours |
| Top transmitters ranked by spot count or max distance | band, hours, sort_by (spots/distance), limit |
| Top receivers ranked by spot count or max distance | band, hours, sort_by (spots/distance), limit |
| Propagation between two locations—auto-widens to field-level proxy for sparse endpoints | tx, rx, band, hours |
| All WSPR activity in/out of a Maidenhead grid square | grid (2 or 4 char), band, hours |
| Longest distance WSPR paths in a time window | band, hours, min_distance, limit |
| Hourly SNR trend for a specific path over time | tx, rx, band, hours |
| Service version + upstream spec version (fleet identity attestation) | — |
What is WSPR?
WSPR beacons transmit a 2-minute encoded signal at very low power (typically 200 mW to 5 W). Each decoded spot proves a propagation path exists between two locations on a specific band. With thousands of beacons worldwide transmitting 24/7, WSPR provides continuous, automated propagation monitoring across all HF bands.
Good Neighbor Policy
wspr.live is a volunteer-run service that mirrors all wsprnet.org data into a public ClickHouse database. We take our responsibility as a good neighbor seriously:
Measure | Detail |
Rate limiting | 3 seconds between requests (20 req/min max) |
Circuit breaker | Opens after 3 consecutive failures; exponential backoff up to 5 minutes. Prevents hammering a struggling service. |
Time-bounded queries | Every query filters by time (max 72 hours). No unbounded full-table scans. |
Band filtering | Queries filter by band whenever the user provides one—this hits wspr.live's indexes efficiently. |
Column selection | We SELECT only the columns each tool needs (8-10 per query), never |
Result limits | All queries cap results (200 spots, 50 leaderboard entries). |
Response caching | 2-10 minute TTL per tool. Identical queries within the window hit local cache with zero network traffic. |
Request timeout | 20-second timeout—we don't hold connections open on a shared service. |
User-Agent header | Every request identifies itself as |
If wspr.live is down or overloaded, the circuit breaker backs off automatically. We don't retry in a tight loop.
Quick Start
No credentials needed—just install and configure your MCP client.
Configure your MCP client
Claude Desktop
Add to claude_desktop_config.json (~/Library/Application Support/Claude/ on macOS, %APPDATA%\Claude\ on Windows):
{
"mcpServers": {
"wspr": {
"command": "uvx",
"args": ["wspr-mcp"]
}
}
}Claude Code
Add to .claude/settings.json:
{
"mcpServers": {
"wspr": {
"command": "uvx",
"args": ["wspr-mcp"]
}
}
}ChatGPT Desktop
{
"mcpServers": {
"wspr": {
"command": "uvx",
"args": ["wspr-mcp"]
}
}
}Cursor
Add to .cursor/mcp.json (project-level) or ~/.cursor/mcp.json (global):
{
"mcpServers": {
"wspr": {
"command": "uvx",
"args": ["wspr-mcp"]
}
}
}VS Code / GitHub Copilot
Add to .vscode/mcp.json in your workspace:
{
"servers": {
"wspr": {
"command": "uvx",
"args": ["wspr-mcp"]
}
}
}Gemini CLI
Add to ~/.gemini/settings.json (global) or .gemini/settings.json (project):
{
"mcpServers": {
"wspr": {
"command": "uvx",
"args": ["wspr-mcp"]
}
}
}Ask questions
"Show me recent WSPR spots on 20m"
"What bands are open right now?"
"Who are the top WSPR beacons on 20m today?"
"What are the longest WSPR paths in the last 24 hours?"
"Is there propagation between Idaho (DN13) and central Europe (JN48)?"
"Any WSPR paths between DN13 and Bouvet (JD15)?" (auto-widens to DN↔JD if no exact match)
"What's happening in grid square JN48?"
"How's the SNR trending between K9AN and G8JNJ on 20m?"
"Who are the best WSPR receivers sorted by distance?"
Testing Without Network
WSPR_MCP_MOCK=1 wspr-mcpMCP Inspector
wspr-mcp --transport streamable-http --port 8009Development
git clone https://github.com/qso-graph/wspr-mcp.git
cd wspr-mcp
uv sync --group dev
uv run pytestLicense
GPL-3.0-or-later
Available Tools
9 toolsget_version_infoGet Version InfoARead-onlyIdempotent
Get wspr-mcp service version and upstream spec version.
Returns the running PyPI version of wspr-mcp and the wspr.live ClickHouse schema revision in use. Use this to confirm fleet alignment across MCP deployments — agents can compare service_version and spec_version across servers to detect drift without going outside the MCP protocol.
Inputs: no named parameters. Returns: object
wspr_band_activityWspr Band ActivityARead-onlyIdempotent
Get per-band WSPR activity summary.
Shows spot counts, TX/RX station counts, average and max distance, and average SNR for each band. The best indicator of which bands are open right now.
Inputs: hours. Returns: object
wspr_grid_activityWspr Grid ActivityARead-onlyIdempotent
Get all WSPR activity in or out of a Maidenhead grid square.
Shows summary stats and recent spots for a geographic area. Use 2-character grid (e.g., DN) for a wide area or 4-character (e.g., DN13) for a specific region.
Inputs: grid (required), band, hours, limit. Returns: object
wspr_longest_pathsWspr Longest PathsARead-onlyIdempotent
Get the longest WSPR paths in the given time window.
WSPR's precise timing and low power make it the gold standard for detecting marginal propagation. Long paths here prove the band is open.
Inputs: band, hours, limit, min_distance. Returns: object
wspr_propagationWspr PropagationARead-onlyIdempotent
Get WSPR-derived propagation between two locations.
Shows which bands have been open between two endpoints, with spot counts, SNR statistics, and hours of opening. Accepts callsigns or grid squares (or a mix). Searches both directions automatically.
Inputs: rx (required), tx (required), band, hours. Returns: object
wspr_snr_trendWspr Snr TrendARead-onlyIdempotent
Get SNR trend over time for a specific WSPR path.
Shows hourly SNR buckets for a path between two endpoints. Useful for seeing when a band opens and closes on a specific path, and how signal strength varies over time.
Inputs: rx (required), tx (required), band, hours. Returns: object
wspr_spotsWspr SpotsBRead-onlyIdempotent
Get recent WSPR spots.
WSPR beacons transmit every 2 minutes on precise frequencies. Each spot is a 2-minute integration proving a propagation path exists.
Inputs: band, grid, hours, limit, +4 more. Returns: object
wspr_top_beaconsWspr Top BeaconsARead-onlyIdempotent
Get top WSPR transmitters ranked by spot count or max distance.
Shows the most active or most far-reaching WSPR beacon operators. Useful for finding who's putting out a big signal on a band.
Inputs: band, hours, limit, sort_by. Returns: object
wspr_top_spottersWspr Top SpottersARead-onlyIdempotent
Get top WSPR receivers ranked by spot count or max distance.
Shows the most prolific or most sensitive WSPR receiving stations. Useful for finding good receivers to monitor for propagation.
Inputs: band, hours, limit, sort_by. Returns: object
Tool Schema Changelog
Recent tool additions, removals, and schema changes observed during successful MCP inspections.
Loading tool schema changelog…
TDQS
Scored across 9 tools
Each tool targets a distinct view: band summary, grid summary, two-endpoint propagation, SNR over time, top lists, longest paths, and raw spots. The closest overlap is wspr_propagation vs wspr_snr_trend (both take two endpoints), but the latter is explicitly a time-series view, so boundaries are mostly clear.
Eight tools follow a clean wspr_<noun> snake_case pattern (wspr_band_activity, wspr_top_beacons, wspr_grid_activity) that is highly predictable. get_version_info breaks the prefix convention with a verb_noun style, a minor but noticeable deviation.
Nine tools is right-sized for a read-only propagation-data server, with each tool covering a different analytical lens (band, grid, path, time, leaderboards). Nothing feels redundant or padded.
The surface covers the core WSPR workflows: raw spots, band activity, grid activity, point-to-point propagation, SNR trends, leaderboards, and version/health info. A per-callsign activity or spot-filtering-by-station view is a small gap, but top_beacons/spotters partially compensate.
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