eia-energy-mcp-server

Browse and query the EIA API v2 — electricity, petroleum, natural gas, coal, forecasts via MCP.

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What it can do

    What data it sees

    Do you need an account

    No: the server works without sign-in

    Browse and query the EIA API v2 — electricity, petroleum, natural gas, coal, forecasts via MCP.

    How to connect

    How to connect eia-energy-mcp-server to Claude

    The server address to paste into Claude settings:

    https://eia-energy.caseyjhand.com/mcp

    1. Open Claude (claude.ai or the desktop app).
    2. Go to Settings → Connectors.
    3. Click Add custom connector.
    4. Paste the server address copied below into Remote MCP server URL and click Add.
    5. In a chat, click + → Connectors and switch the new connector on.

    Custom connectors are available on Free, Pro, Max, Team and Enterprise plans (Free is limited to one). On Team and Enterprise an organization Owner adds the connector first under Organization settings → Connectors.

    Authorization

    After you click Add, a sign-in window for the service opens. Sign in with your own account and approve access. Claude never sees your password.

    How to connect eia-energy-mcp-server to ChatGPT

    The server address to paste into ChatGPT settings:

    https://eia-energy.caseyjhand.com/mcp

    1. Open ChatGPT in a browser (chatgpt.com). A Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise or Edu plan is required.
    2. Turn on developer mode once: Settings → Apps → Advanced settings → Developer mode.
    3. Open Settings → Connectors and click Create.
    4. Fill in the form: Name (anything), Description (one line about what the service does), MCP server URL (copy it below).
    5. Under Authentication choose OAuth if the service requires sign-in, otherwise None. Click Create.
    6. In a new chat open + → Apps/Connectors and enable the connector.

    OpenAI has renamed this section before (Connectors → Apps/Plugins). If the label differs, search settings for "developer mode". On Business/Enterprise workspaces an admin must allow custom connectors first.

    Authorization

    On first use ChatGPT opens the service's sign-in window. Sign in and approve access.

    How to connect eia-energy-mcp-server to Cursor

    The server address to paste into Cursor settings:

    https://eia-energy.caseyjhand.com/mcp

    Fastest: click Open in Cursor below and confirm the prompt.

    Manually:

    1. In Cursor open Settings → Cursor Settings → MCP and click Add new global MCP server.
    2. Paste the JSON copied below into ~/.cursor/mcp.json (per project: .cursor/mcp.json in the repo root).
    3. Save the file. The server appears in the MCP list; authorize it there if asked.

    Authorization

    If the service needs sign-in, an authorize button appears next to the server in the MCP list.

    Server tool list (6)

    Raw names from tools/list. Only developers need these.

    eia_browse_routesLists child routes under a given path in the EIA dataset taxonomy. Start with no path to get the 14 top-level categories (electricity, petroleum, natural-gas, steo, aeo, ieo, seds, etc.), then drill into subcategories. Each result includes an isLeaf flag — leaf routes are queryable endpoints; non-leaf routes have children to browse. When isLeaf is true on the browsed path itself, switch to eia_describe_route.
    eia_describe_routeReturns metadata for a leaf route: available facets with their valid values, data column names and units, frequency options, and date range. Call this before eia_query_route to discover valid facet IDs, facet values, column IDs, and frequency codes. Each facet returns a capped window of its values with value_count and values_truncated alongside; pass facet and values_offset to page through the rest of one facet. A values_offset past the last value of a facet returns an empty window for it and a notice naming the count to page against. Facet values are fetched from separate EIA endpoints and merged — results are cached per-route for the process lifetime to minimize API calls.
    eia_search_routesFuzzy text search across route names, descriptions, and category labels. Resolves natural-language queries like "electricity retail sales by state" or "natural gas imports" to matching route paths. Multi-term queries are also matched term by term, so combining a commodity, a metric, and a sector — "electricity price residential", "coal generation industrial sector" — reaches the route carrying that data even when no single entry reads like the whole phrase. STEO series names are indexed so queries like "ethanol net imports" or "crude oil production forecast" also resolve, and so are facet values, so a fuel type or sector term like "wind" or "anthracite coal" resolves to the route that exposes it, with filter_hint carrying the filter to pass on. Results include isLeaf so you know whether to browse further or query directly. Results with score > 0.72 are weak matches — try a more specific query or use eia_browse_routes to explore the taxonomy. The first call after server start waits 24-30s while the index warms, and at most 45s; every later call returns in milliseconds. Check indexComplete before reading anything into a short or empty result set.
    eia_query_routeFetches data from a leaf route with optional facet filters, date range, frequency, and column selection. Use eia_describe_route first to discover valid facet IDs, facet values, column IDs, and frequency codes. Data values are strings in the response (EIA API returns all numeric values as strings, e.g. "9.13"); cast to DOUBLE in SQL when arithmetic is needed. Returns a preview inline and stages nothing by default — one upstream request, whatever total says. Pass stage: true to also page past the preview and stage the accumulated set as a DataCanvas table, then pass the returned dataset name to eia_dataframe_query for SQL. Every dataset a tenant stages lands in the same canvas, so tables from different routes cross-join by name with nothing to thread between calls.
    eia_dataframe_describeList canvas dataframes (df_<id>) materialized by eia_query_route calls that passed stage: true, with provenance, expiry, row count, and column schema. Nothing is staged until such a call runs, so an empty list on a fresh session means no query has staged yet, not that staging failed. Drops entries for dataframes the canvas no longer holds before responding, so the list is always current. Pass a specific name to inspect one dataframe; omit to list all active dataframes for this tenant. A name that is not staged comes back as found=false alongside the handles that are, never as an empty list. Listing is not use: only an eia_dataframe_query statement naming a dataframe extends its expiry, so a dataframe polled with this tool and never queried still lapses on schedule.
    eia_dataframe_queryRun a single-statement SELECT against canvas dataframes registered by eia_query_route calls that passed stage: true — a query that staged nothing leaves no table to select from. Standard DuckDB SQL — joins, aggregates, window functions, CTEs all supported. Reference dataframes by the df_<id> handles returned by eia_query_route or listed by eia_dataframe_describe. Read-only: writes, DDL, DROP, COPY, PRAGMA, ATTACH, and external-file table functions are rejected. System catalogs (information_schema, pg_catalog, sqlite_master, duckdb_*) are denied. EIA data values are VARCHAR — use CAST(col AS DOUBLE) for arithmetic and aggregation. Optional register_as chains results as a new dataframe with a fresh expiry. Every dataframe named in the statement has its expiry extended by the query.