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NPI MCP Server

by zapperedge-prabhu
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Python

NPI MCP Server

An offline-capable MCP (Model Context Protocol) server for the CMS NPPES NPI Registry, written in Python, deployable on Azure App Service as a Docker container.

Features

  • ✅ Works offline — uses a local SQLite database

  • 🔄 Auto-updates every 7 days from CMS NPPES (background scheduler)

  • 🐳 Docker-ready with multi-stage build

  • ☁️ Azure App Service deployment with persistent storage

  • 🔍 Full-text search with wildcard support

  • ✔️ Luhn validation for NPI check digits

  • 📊 ~8M+ provider records from the full NPPES dataset

MCP Tools

Tool

Description

npi_search

Search by name, specialty, city, state, ZIP

npi_lookup

Look up a specific NPI number

npi_validate

Validate NPI format + Luhn check digit (offline)

db_status

Check DB record count, last/next update time

db_update

Manually trigger a data refresh

Quick Start (Local)

1. Build and run with Docker Compose

git clone <this-repo>
cd npi-mcp-server

# Build and start
docker compose up -d

# Trigger initial data load (one-time, ~30-60 min)
curl -X POST "http://localhost:8000/update?force=true"

# Monitor progress
docker compose logs -f

2. Check health

curl http://localhost:8000/health

3. Connect MCP client

Point your MCP client to: http://localhost:8000/sse

Azure Deployment

Prerequisites

  • Azure CLI installed: brew install azure-cli or see docs

  • Docker installed

  • Azure subscription

Deploy

# Log in to Azure
az login

# Edit variables at top of script
nano deploy-azure.sh

# Run deployment (takes ~5 minutes)
chmod +x deploy-azure.sh
./deploy-azure.sh

After deployment

Trigger the initial NPI data load (one-time, requires internet):

curl -X POST "https://your-app.azurewebsites.net/update?force=true"

The full NPPES file is ~900MB compressed / ~8GB uncompressed. Loading takes 30-60 minutes. After that, weekly incremental updates run automatically.

Architecture

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                  Azure App Service                   │
│                                                      │
│  ┌──────────────┐    ┌──────────────────────────┐   │
│  │  FastAPI/SSE │───▶│  MCP Server (mcp SDK)    │   │
│  │  HTTP layer  │    │  - npi_search            │   │
│  └──────────────┘    │  - npi_lookup            │   │
│                      │  - npi_validate          │   │
│  ┌──────────────┐    │  - db_status/update      │   │
│  │  Background  │    └──────────────────────────┘   │
│  │  Scheduler   │              │                    │
│  │  (every 7d)  │              ▼                    │
│  └──────────────┘    ┌──────────────────────────┐   │
│                      │  SQLite Database          │   │
│                      │  /data/npi.db             │   │
│                      │  (~5-10 GB)               │   │
│                      └──────────────────────────┘   │
│                                  │                   │
│                      ┌──────────────────────────┐   │
│                      │  Azure File Share         │   │
│                      │  (persistent volume)      │   │
│                      └──────────────────────────┘   │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
          │
          │ (weekly, when internet available)
          ▼
┌─────────────────────┐
│  CMS NPPES          │
│  download.cms.gov   │
└─────────────────────┘

Environment Variables

Variable

Default

Description

NPI_DB_PATH

/data/npi.db

SQLite database path

NPI_UPDATE_DAYS

7

Days between auto-updates

DOWNLOAD_TIMEOUT

3600

Download timeout in seconds

PORT

8000

HTTP server port

API Endpoints

Endpoint

Method

Description

/

GET

Server info

/health

GET

Health check (used by Azure)

/status

GET

DB status (record count, last update)

/update

POST

Trigger manual update (?force=true)

/sse

GET

MCP SSE connection endpoint

/messages

POST

MCP messages endpoint

Storage Requirements

Component

Size

NPPES ZIP download

~900 MB

SQLite database

~5-10 GB

Recommended Azure File Share

50 GB

Use Azure App Service B2 or higher (2 vCPU, 3.5 GB RAM minimum).

Connecting MCP Clients

Claude Desktop (claude_desktop_config.json)

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "npi-registry": {
      "url": "https://your-app.azurewebsites.net/sse",
      "transport": "sse"
    }
  }
}

Local stdio mode (for dev/testing)

python main.py

Data Source

Data comes from CMS NPPES, the official National Plan and Provider Enumeration System. Updated monthly (full) and weekly (incremental) by CMS.

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Related MCP Connectors

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