使用说明
@cyanheads/cdc-health-mcp-server
Search and query CDC public health data — mortality, vaccinations, surveillance, behavioral risk (Socrata SODA API) via MCP. STDIO or Streamable HTTP. 5 Tools • 2 Resources • 1 Prompt
Public Hosted Server: https://cdc.caseyjhand.com/mcp
Overview
CDC public health data from two systems: the Socrata-based CDC Open Data portal and CDC WONDER, a separate CDC system for national mortality statistics. Search the catalog, inspect dataset schemas, and run SoQL queries across vaccination, surveillance, and behavioral-risk data, or query WONDER for deaths, population, and death rates by year, age, sex, and race. Runs as a stdio process, a local Streamable HTTP server, or the public hosted endpoint above.
Tools
| Tool | Description |
|---|---|
cdc_discover_datasets |
Search the CDC dataset catalog by keyword, category, or tag |
cdc_get_dataset_schema |
Fetch column schema, row count, and metadata for a dataset |
cdc_list_catalog_vocabulary |
List the catalog's category and tag values with their entry counts |
cdc_query_dataset |
Execute SoQL queries — filter, aggregate, sort, full-text search, select fields |
cdc_query_wonder |
Query CDC WONDER for national mortality, population, and death rates across five databases |
Resources
| Resource | Description |
|---|---|
cdc://datasets |
Top 50 most-viewed catalog entries, for orientation |
cdc://datasets/{datasetId} |
Dataset metadata and the first 100 columns for a specific dataset |
Both resources mirror data also reachable via cdc_discover_datasets and cdc_get_dataset_schema, for clients that surface resources but not tools.
Prompts
| Prompt | Description |
|---|---|
analyze_health_trend |
Guided workflow for investigating a public health question across CDC data |
Capability reference
cdc_discover_datasets tool
query,category, andtagsfilters (tags union, the other two intersect with them); up to 100 results per page (default 10; a largerlimit, up to 10,000, is capped at 100 and thenoticesays so with the offset to continue from), withoffset + limitcapped at 10,000 (page_out_of_rangepast it);orderisdataset_id(default, stable paging) orrelevance- Results carry
assetType,columnCount(0 marks a chart, map, story, file, or link that yields no data), an 8-namecolumnSample, and a description cut to 300 characters (cdc_get_dataset_schemawithfull_description: truereturns the whole text); enrichment addstotalCountandappliedFilters - When a
categoryortagsvalue matches nothing, thenoticenames the closest catalog values with their entry counts, e.g.Vaccination→"Vaccinations" (89 datasets)
cdc_get_dataset_schema tool
- Four-by-four
datasetId(e.g.bi63-dtpu);column_limit(default 100, any larger value up to the whole schema) andcolumn_offsetpage wide schemas, reportingtotalCount,truncated, andnextOffset - The dataset
descriptionis capped at 4,000 characters by default, ending in…withdescriptionTruncatedanddescriptionLengthset when cut;full_description: truereturns the whole text. Column descriptions are never shortened - Columns carry
fieldName,dataType, anddescription;rowCountSourcesays whetherrowCountis alivecount or Socrata'scachedfigure, which can lag an active dataset. A non-tabular asset fails withnot_queryable
cdc_list_catalog_vocabulary tool
- Every category comes back whole; the ~1,600 tags are ranked by entry count and paged with
tag_limit(default 50; a value at or above the tag count returns them all) andtag_offset.filter(3+ characters) narrows both by word containment in either direction, not fuzzy matching - Each value carries
datasetCount; enrichment reportsvocabularySize,categoryCount,tagCount,truncated, andnextOffset, withtruncationCeilingbounding the count of every tag after the page — the tags beforetag_offsetrank at or above the first tag shown
cdc_query_dataset tool
select,where,group,having,order, and full-textsearch; up to 5,000 rows per call (default 100; a largerlimitis capped at 5,000 and says so),offsetup to 1,000,000. Pair offset paging with anorder, set from the first page, ending in a per-row tie-breaker::idon ungrouped rows, the grouped columns on a grouped query. When the order lacks one, the notice says to restart from offset 0 with iteffectiveQueryechoes the SoQL clauses as sent, unencoded;truncatedandnextOffsetcome from a one-row over-fetch, with nototalCount. A chart or map ID fails withnot_queryable
cdc_query_wonder tool
database |
CDC database | Years | Race groups | mcd_icd10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
underlying_1999_2020 (default) |
D76 — Underlying Cause of Death | 1999–2020 | 4 bridged | — |
provisional |
D176 — Provisional Mortality Statistics | 2018 → current year | 6 single-race | yes |
underlying_2018_2024 |
D158 — Underlying Cause of Death, Single Race | 2018–2024 | 6 single-race | — |
multiple_1999_2020 |
D77 — Multiple Cause of Death | 1999–2020 | 4 bridged | yes |
multiple_2018_2024 |
D157 — Multiple Cause of Death, Single Race | 2018–2024 | 6 single-race | yes |
group_bytakes 1–4 ofyear,age_group,sex,race, national only.cause_icd10andmcd_icd10take an ICD-10 code, a chapter or block range (X40-X49), or a list of up to 50 matched as one union (an empty list reads as all causes).age_groupstakesNS(age not stated) alone or with all eleven known groups, never beside only some of them, which CDC refuses.limit(any positive integer; the response budget bounds the page) andoffset(max 10,000) page the table, and an empty page's notice says whether nothing matched or the offset ran past the end- Rows carry
deaths,population,crude_rate, andage_adjusted_ratewhere age can be standardized. Cells CDC returns asSuppressed,Unreliable, orNot Applicablereadnulland are listed incellNotes;messagesreports whole rows CDC hid, andtotalCountis exact - CDC rejects requests less than 15 seconds apart, so calls are spaced 16 seconds apart and queued one at a time
cdc://datasets resource
- Top 50 catalog entries by popularity, each with
id,name,assetType,category,columnCount, andupdatedAt, plus the catalogtotalCount columnCount: 0marks a non-tabular entry;cdc_discover_datasetssearches and pages the full catalog
cdc://datasets/{datasetId} resource
- Dataset metadata plus the first 100 columns as
application/json, withcolumnCountandtruncated; the description is capped at 4,000 characters, withdescriptionTruncatedanddescriptionLengthset when cut - Takes no selector; continue a wider schema with
cdc_get_dataset_schemaandcolumn_offset, and read a cut description whole with itsfull_description: true. Thenoticenames both when they apply
analyze_health_trend prompt
- Arguments:
topicrequired;timeRangeandgeographyoptional - Returns one user message that routes the question to
cdc_query_wonder(national mortality) or the Socrata tools (everything else), then walks discover → inspect → baseline → compare → synthesize
Features
Built on @cyanheads/mcp-ts-core: stdio and Streamable HTTP transports, pluggable auth (none / jwt / oauth), swappable storage (in-memory, filesystem, Supabase, Cloudflare KV/R2/D1), structured logging with optional OpenTelemetry tracing.
CDC-specific:
- The Socrata SODA API v2.1 over the CDC Open Data portal (~1,080 datasets); no auth required, and an optional app token raises rate limits
- CDC WONDER mortality data from five databases covering 1999 through the current year, reached over its XML request API
- The three Socrata tools take a
domaininput, allowlisted todata.cdc.gov(default) andchronicdata.cdc.gov. Both front the same catalog, so it picks the host that answers, not the datasets you can reach categoryandtagsmatch the catalog's controlled vocabularies (categories case-sensitively, tags case-insensitively), so a near miss returns nothing;cdc_list_catalog_vocabularylists the real values- Socrata returns every value as a string, and a column like
yearis numeric in some datasets and text in others. Match WHERE literals to the column'sdataTypefrom the schema: numbers bare, strings single-quoted
Agent-friendly output:
- Paging disclosed rather than implied:
totalCount,truncated,nextOffset, andshown/cap. Both query tools bound each page by a 200,000-character budget overstructuredContentandcontent[]together, so a wide page can end short oflimit - Typed error contracts with a recovery hint on every declared reason, such as
not_queryable,page_out_of_range, andinvalid_query - Upstream gaps stay visible: WONDER status tokens per cell in
cellNotes, hidden-row notices inmessages, androwCountSourceon schema row counts effectiveQueryechoes the SoQL clauses or a WONDER query summary, so a result can be reproduced
Getting started
Public Hosted Instance
A public instance is available at https://cdc.caseyjhand.com/mcp — no installation required. Point any MCP client at it via Streamable HTTP:
{
"mcpServers": {
"cdc-health-mcp-server": {
"type": "streamable-http",
"url": "https://cdc.caseyjhand.com/mcp"
}
}
}
Self-Hosted / Local
Add the following to your MCP client configuration file.
{
"mcpServers": {
"cdc-health-mcp-server": {
"type": "stdio",
"command": "bunx",
"args": ["@cyanheads/cdc-health-mcp-server@latest"],
"env": {
"MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE": "stdio",
"MCP_LOG_LEVEL": "info"
}
}
}
}
Or with npx (no Bun required):
{
"mcpServers": {
"cdc-health-mcp-server": {
"type": "stdio",
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "@cyanheads/cdc-health-mcp-server@latest"],
"env": {
"MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE": "stdio",
"MCP_LOG_LEVEL": "info"
}
}
}
}
Or with Docker:
{
"mcpServers": {
"cdc-health-mcp-server": {
"type": "stdio",
"command": "docker",
"args": ["run", "-i", "--rm", "-e", "MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE=stdio", "ghcr.io/cyanheads/cdc-health-mcp-server:latest"]
}
}
}
For Streamable HTTP, set the transport and start the server:
MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE=http MCP_HTTP_PORT=3010 bun run start:http
# Server listens at http://localhost:3010/mcp
Prerequisites
- Bun v1.4.0 or higher (or Node.js v24+).
- Optional: a Socrata app token for higher rate limits.
Installation
- Clone the repository:
git clone https://github.com/cyanheads/cdc-health-mcp-server.git
- Navigate into the directory:
cd cdc-health-mcp-server
- Install dependencies:
bun install
- Configure environment:
cp .env.example .env
# optionally set CDC_APP_TOKEN
Configuration
| Variable | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|
CDC_APP_TOKEN |
Socrata app token; raises rate limits. | none |
CDC_BASE_URL |
SODA host for requests that name no domain, in practice only the cdc://datasets/{datasetId} resource. The Socrata tools choose their host with domain. |
https://data.cdc.gov |
CDC_CATALOG_URL |
Socrata Discovery API base URL. | https://api.us.socrata.com/api/catalog/v1 |
MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE |
Transport: stdio or http. |
stdio |
MCP_HTTP_PORT |
HTTP server port. | 3010 |
MCP_SESSION_MODE |
HTTP session mode: stateless, stateful, or auto. |
stateless |
MCP_AUTH_MODE |
Authentication: none, jwt, or oauth. |
none |
MCP_LOG_LEVEL |
Log level (debug, info, warning, error, etc.). |
info |
OTEL_ENABLED |
Enable OpenTelemetry. | false |
See .env.example for the full list of optional overrides.
Running the server
Local development
-
Build and run the production version:
# One-time build bun run rebuild # Run the built server bun run start:http # or bun run start:stdio -
Run checks and tests:
bun run devcheck # Lints, formats, type-checks, and more bun run test # Runs the test suite
Docker
docker build -t cdc-health-mcp-server .
docker run --rm -p 3010:3010 cdc-health-mcp-server
The Dockerfile defaults to HTTP transport, stateless session mode, and logs to /var/log/cdc-health-mcp-server. OpenTelemetry peer dependencies are installed by default; build with --build-arg OTEL_ENABLED=false to omit them.
Project structure
| Directory | Purpose |
|---|---|
src/index.ts |
createApp() entry point — registers tools/resources/prompts and inits services. |
src/config |
Server-specific environment variable parsing and validation with Zod. |
src/mcp-server/tools |
Tool definitions (*.tool.ts). Four Socrata tools and one WONDER tool. |
src/mcp-server/resources |
Resource definitions. Catalog overview and dataset detail. |
src/mcp-server/prompts |
Prompt definitions. Health trend analysis workflow. |
src/services/socrata |
Socrata service — catalog search, vocabularies, metadata, SoQL queries. |
src/services/wonder |
CDC WONDER service — XML request builder, response parser, request spacing. |
src/utils |
Shared helpers — HTML-to-text, table-cell escaping, vocabulary matching, response budget. |
tests/ |
Unit and integration tests mirroring src/. |
Development guide
See CLAUDE.md for development guidelines and architectural rules. The short version:
- Handlers throw, framework catches — no
try/catchin tool logic - Use
ctx.logfor logging,ctx.statefor storage - Register new tools and resources in the
createApp()arrays insrc/index.ts - Wrap external API calls: validate raw → normalize to domain type → return output schema; never fabricate missing fields
Contributing
Issues are welcome. Run checks and tests before submitting:
bun run devcheck
bun run test
License
Apache-2.0 — see LICENSE for details.