OpenUKPublicDataMCP: one MCP endpoint for useful UK public data

#mcp #opensource #api #python

Agents are only as good as the facts they can reach. OpenUKPublicDataMCP is a no-key-first Model Context Protocol server that gives Claude, Hermes, Cursor, and other MCP clients one reliable place to ask common UK public-data questions — with sources attached.

Why public data needs an MCP layer

UK public APIs are powerful and fragmented: postcodes, GOV.UK search, flood monitoring, ONS statistics, carbon intensity, planning applications, Parliament lookups, and more. Each has its own quirks, pagination, and auth story. Agents should not re-learn that glue in every chat session.

Design principles

No-key-first — core tools work without signup
Source-cited — every tool returns upstream source metadata and retrieval time
Official-first — prefer official UK public-sector APIs; label community sources explicitly
Thin adapters — normalise useful fields, keep upstream payloads available
Optional enrichments — Companies House, OS Places, Met Office, TfL only when keys exist
Read-only by default — no public-sector write operations

What shipped in the MVP

23+ MCP tools, a FastAPI explorer API, and a React map UI under web/. Example capabilities:

Postcode lookup, bank holidays, National Grid carbon intensity
GOV.UK search and data.gov.uk dataset search
Environment Agency flood warnings and areas
ONS datasets/observations and CPIH headline inflation
Planning applications, police street crime near a point
MP / constituency lookups via Parliament APIs
Optional: Met Office forecast, Companies House profile, OS Places, TfL line status

How we use it

Register the stdio MCP server with Hermes (or any MCP client). Agents can plan research, pull a cited answer, and save notes without inventing numbers. A public explorer host also exists for human browsing when the stack is deployed.