city-data-mcp
OfficialServer Configuration
Describes the environment variables required to run the server.
| Name | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| BLS_API_KEY | No | Your BLS API key (optional, for higher rate limits) | |
| FRED_API_KEY | Yes | Your FRED API key (required) | |
| CENSUS_API_KEY | Yes | Your Census API key (required) |
Instructions
Guidance the server publishes about itself, which clients place ahead of the tool catalog so the model reads it before choosing anything.
This server publishes no instructions, or was last inspected before Glama recorded them.
Capabilities
Features and capabilities supported by this server
Protocol revision2025-11-25
| Capability | Details |
|---|---|
| tools | {
"listChanged": true
} |
Tools
Functions exposed to the LLM to take actions
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| query_city_dataA | Query publicly available data for a US city by category. US only (Socrata open data portals). Supported cities: NYC, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle Supported categories: crime, 311 Returns recent data with category breakdown and sample records. |
| list_available_dataA | List all supported cities and the data categories available for each. Use this to discover what data you can query. |
| query_demographicsA | Query demographic data for a city in the US, UK, or Canada. US: Census ACS — population, income, poverty, education, housing, commuting (~30,000 places). UK: ONS/Nomis — population, households, age distribution. CA: StatCan Census Profile — population, income, households, immigration. Country is auto-detected or specify with the country parameter. Required for ambiguous cities (London, Birmingham, etc.). |
| compare_demographicsA | Compare demographic data across multiple US cities side by side. Works for ANY US city (~30,000 places). Returns population, income, poverty, education, housing, and commuting. |
| query_economicsA | Query economic indicators for a city in the US, UK, or Canada. US: FRED — unemployment, employment, housing price index, per capita income (20 major metros). UK: ONS — CPI, GDP, regional GVA, unemployment. CA: StatCan — CPI, GDP, retail trade (national/provincial). Country auto-detected or specify with country parameter. |
| query_national_crimeA | Query crime data for a city in the US, UK, or Canada. US: FBI UCR — state-level violent/property crime, homicide, robbery, assault, multi-year trends. UK: data.police.uk — street-level crime by category (anti-social behaviour, burglary, robbery, violence, etc.). CA: StatCan UCR — Crime Severity Index, violent/non-violent CSI, homicide rate (CMA level). Country auto-detected or specify with country parameter. |
| query_employmentA | Query employment statistics for a city in the US, UK, or Canada. US: BLS — metro unemployment rate, total employment, labor force (20 major metros). UK: ONS/Nomis — regional unemployment rate. CA: StatCan LFS — unemployment, employment, participation rates (13 CMAs). Country auto-detected or specify with country parameter. |
| create_census_cohortA | Find peer cities based on Census demographic data. Fast — uses only Census ACS data across ~75 cities. Compares: population, income, poverty, education, housing costs, commuting patterns, region. Criteria: "balanced", "size", "economics", "housing", "education", "commuting", "region". Use this for quick demographic peer matching. For richer multi-source comparison (economics, crime, employment), use create_full_cohort instead. |
| create_full_cohortA | Find peer cities using ALL data sources: Census demographics, FRED economics, BLS employment, and FBI crime data. Richer but slower than create_census_cohort (~50 cities pool). Compares across 12 dimensions: population, income, poverty, education, home values, rent, housing price trend, unemployment, job growth, per-capita income, violent crime rate, and geographic region. Criteria options:
Use this for comprehensive benchmarking. Takes longer due to multi-source API calls. |
| query_weatherA | Get current weather conditions and forecast for a city in the US, UK, or Canada. US: National Weather Service — conditions, forecast, alerts. No API key needed. UK: Met Office DataHub — hourly forecast. Requires METOFFICE_API_KEY. CA: MSC GeoMet — current conditions and forecast. No API key needed. Country auto-detected or specify with country parameter. |
| query_air_qualityA | Get air quality data for a city in the US, UK, or Canada. US: EPA AirNow — AQI (0-500 scale). Requires AIRNOW_API_KEY. UK: DEFRA UK-AIR — DAQI (1-10 scale). No API key needed. CA: MSC — AQHI (1-10+ scale). No API key needed. Note: Each country uses a different scale. Country auto-detected or specify with country parameter. |
| query_housingA | Get housing data for a city in the US, UK, or Canada. US: HUD — Fair Market Rents, area median income, income limits. No API key needed. UK: ONS/Land Registry — house prices, annual change. No API key needed. CA: StatCan/CREA — average/median price, price change, housing starts. Country auto-detected or specify with country parameter. |
| query_waterB | Get real-time water monitoring data for a city in the US, UK, or Canada. US: USGS — streamflow, gage height, water temperature. No API key needed. UK: Environment Agency — water levels, flow rates, flood warnings (England only). No API key needed. CA: MSC Hydrometric — water levels, discharge. No API key needed. Country auto-detected or specify with country parameter. |
| query_representativesA | Look up elected officials for a city in the US, UK, or Canada. US: Google Civic — federal, state, local officials. Requires GOOGLE_CIVIC_API_KEY. UK: TheyWorkForYou — MPs, constituency. Requires TWFY_API_KEY. CA: Represent (Open North) — federal MP, provincial MLA/MPP, municipal councillors. No API key needed. Country auto-detected or specify with country parameter. |
| query_311_trendsB | Analyze 311 service request trends for a US city. Returns top complaint categories, request volumes, and monthly trends. US only. Available cities: [object Object], [object Object], [object Object], [object Object], [object Object], [object Object], [object Object], [object Object], [object Object], [object Object], [object Object], [object Object], [object Object]. Great for understanding what residents are actually reporting: potholes, noise, graffiti, homeless encampments, etc. |
| query_transitA | Public transit and transport data for a city in the US or UK. US: NTD — ridership by agency and mode, service hours, efficiency (53 cities). UK: DfT — road traffic, bus passengers, rail station usage (8 major cities). CA: Not yet available. Country auto-detected or specify with country parameter. |
| query_schoolsA | School data for a city in the US or UK. US: NCES — enrollment, student-teacher ratios, finance data (52 cities). UK: DfE GIAS — school counts, types, Ofsted ratings by local authority. CA: Not yet available. Country auto-detected or specify with country parameter. |
| query_permitsB | Building permit trends from the Census Bureau's Building Permits Survey. US only. Shows 5-year trend (2020-2024) of permits and housing units authorized at the county level. 52 cities available. Rising permits = development activity; declining = slowdown. |
| query_budgetB | City government budget data for a city in the US or UK. US: Published municipal budgets — total budget, per-capita spending, category breakdown (30 cities). UK: Local authority spending — council tax Band D, total spending, category breakdown (11 cities). CA: Not yet available. Country auto-detected or specify with country parameter. |
| query_trafficB | Traffic safety data from NHTSA FARS and TTI congestion metrics. US only. Returns fatal crash statistics (2019-2022) including pedestrian, cyclist, and alcohol-related breakdowns. County-level data as primary view with state-level context. Congestion data for 33 metros. No API key needed. Works for any US city via geo-resolver. |
| create_city_briefingA | Pull data from ALL available sources and assemble a structured executive briefing for a city in the US, UK, or Canada. US: 14 data sources (Census, FRED, BLS, FBI, NWS, AirNow, HUD, USGS, Civic, 311, Transit, Schools, Permits, Budget). UK: 11 data sources (ONS demographics/economics/housing, Police crime, Met Office, DEFRA, Environment Agency, DfT, DfE, TWFY, Budget). CA: 9 data sources (StatCan demographics/economics/employment/crime/housing, MSC weather/air/water, Represent). The "give me everything" tool. Takes 10-20 seconds. Country auto-detected or specify with country parameter. |
| map_issue_dataA | Given a community concern or issue topic, find all relevant hard data for a city. The cross-reference engine — "residents say X, here's what the data shows." Available topics: Housing Affordability ( Also accepts free-text issues (matched to closest topic by keywords). Example: "housing affordability" in Denver → pulls home values, rent, FMR, permits, housing budget allocation. |
| track_city_changesA | Show how a city is changing — what's improving, declining, or holding steady. Pulls trend data from BLS (unemployment), FRED (economics), FBI (crime), building permits, and 311 complaints. Returns a directional dashboard: each metric tagged as improving, declining, or stable with supporting data. Great for spotting momentum or emerging problems. |
| query_public_healthA | Get public health indicators from CDC PLACES for a US city. Returns 30+ measures including obesity, diabetes, depression, mental health, smoking, binge drinking, insurance coverage, food insecurity, housing insecurity, loneliness, and disability rates. Data from BRFSS (Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System). Covers 500+ US cities. No API key needed. Great for: understanding community health challenges, anchoring social media health discussions with data. |
| query_homelessnessA | HUD Point-in-Time (PIT) homelessness counts for US cities. Returns total homeless, sheltered vs unsheltered, chronic homelessness, veterans, families, unaccompanied youth, per-capita rates, and year-over-year trends. 20 cities available. Data from January 2024 PIT count (AHAR Part 1). |
| query_cost_of_livingB | Consumer Price Index data by metro area from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Shows overall inflation rate and breakdown by category: food, housing, transportation, medical care, and energy. 17 metros available. Includes year-over-year inflation rates and monthly trend data. |
| query_migrationB | Census geographic mobility data showing population movement patterns. Returns what percentage of a city's population moved in from a different state or abroad in the past year, vs stayed in the same house. Works for any US city (~30,000 places). Uses ACS 5-Year estimates, Table B07003. |
| search_uk_datasetsB | Search the UK government's open data catalogue (data.gov.uk). Returns dataset titles, publishers, formats, and links. No API key required. |
Prompts
Interactive templates invoked by user choice
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
No prompts | |
Resources
Contextual data attached and managed by the client
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
No resources | |
TDQS
Scored across 28 tools
Most query_* tools target distinct datasets and domains, and descriptions often clarify when to use alternatives. However, query_city_data overlaps with query_311_trends and query_national_crime, while meta-tools like map_issue_data and create_city_briefing overlap with individual query tools, creating several ambiguous boundaries.
Tool names consistently follow a snake_case verb_noun pattern: query_*, create_*, compare_*, list_*, map_*, track_*, search_*. Minor variations like query_311_trends and query_cost_of_living remain readable and within the same convention.
With 28 tools, the server exceeds the ideal range and falls into the 25+ category, which is heavy for an agent to navigate. While the broad city-data domain explains some breadth, several tools could be parameterized or consolidated instead of exposed individually.
The surface covers a wide range of city data domains, including demographics, crime, economics, housing, transit, schools, health, and government budgets, plus aggregation tools. There are minor gaps in country coverage, such as Canada lacking transit, schools, budget, and traffic tools, but agents can work around these limitations.