Federal Reserve Economic Data MCP Server


> [!IMPORTANT]
> Disclaimer: This open-source project is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by the Federal Reserve or the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. "FRED" is a registered trademark of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, used here for descriptive purposes only.

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server providing universal access to all 800,000+ Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED®) time series through three powerful tools.

https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/66c7f3ad-7b0e-4930-b1c5-a675a7eb1e09

> [!TIP]
> If you use this project in your research or work, please cite it using the CITATION.cff file, or the APA format below:

Amorelli, S. (2025). Federal Reserve Economic Data MCP (Model Context Protocol) Server [Computer software]. GitHub. https://github.com/stefanoamorelli/fred-mcp-server

Installation

$3

To install Federal Reserve Economic Data Server for Claude Desktop automatically via Smithery:

``bash
npx -y @smithery/cli install @stefanoamorelli/fred-mcp-server --client claude
`

$3

1. Clone the repository:
`bash
git clone https://github.com/stefanoamorelli/fred-mcp-server.git
cd fred-mcp-server
`
2. Install dependencies:
`bash
pnpm install
`
3. Build the project:
`bash
pnpm build
`

Configuration

This server requires a FRED® API key. You can obtain one from the FRED® website.

Install the server, for example, on Claude Desktop, modify the claude_desktop_config.json file and add the following configuration:

`json
{
"mcpServers": {
"FRED MCP Server": {
"command": "/usr/bin/node",
"args": [
"/fred-mcp-server/build/index.js"
],
"env": {
"FRED_API_KEY": ""
}
}
}
}
`

$3

You can also run the FRED MCP Server using Docker. Add this configuration to your claude_desktop_config.json:

`json
{
"mcpServers": {
"fred-mcp": {
"command": "docker",
"args": [
"run",
"-i",
"--rm",
"-e",
"FRED_API_KEY=",
"stefanoamorelli/fred-mcp-server:latest"
],
"env": {}
}
}
}
`

Replace with your actual FRED API key.

Available Tools

This MCP server provides three comprehensive tools to access all 800,000+ FRED® economic data series:

$3

Description: Browse FRED's complete catalog through categories, releases, or sources.

Parameters:
* browse_type (required): Type of browsing - "categories", "releases", "sources", "category_series", "release_series"
* category_id (optional): Category ID for browsing subcategories or series within a category
* release_id (optional): Release ID for browsing series within a release
* limit (optional): Maximum number of results (default: 50)
* offset (optional): Number of results to skip for pagination
* order_by (optional): Field to order results by
* sort_order (optional): "asc" or "desc"

$3

Description: Search for FRED economic data series by keywords, tags, or filters.

Parameters:
* search_text (optional): Text to search for in series titles and descriptions
* search_type (optional): "full_text" or "series_id"
* tag_names (optional): Comma-separated list of tag names to filter by
* exclude_tag_names (optional): Comma-separated list of tag names to exclude
* limit (optional): Maximum number of results (default: 25)
* offset (optional): Number of results to skip for pagination
* order_by (optional): Field to order by (e.g., "popularity", "last_updated")
* sort_order (optional): "asc" or "desc"
* filter_variable (optional): Filter by "frequency", "units", or "seasonal_adjustment"
* filter_value (optional): Value to filter the variable by

$3

Description: Retrieve data for any FRED series by its ID with support for transformations and date ranges.

Parameters:
* series_id (required): The FRED series ID (e.g., "GDP", "UNRATE", "CPIAUCSL")
* observation_start (optional): Start date in YYYY-MM-DD format
* observation_end (optional): End date in YYYY-MM-DD format
* limit (optional): Maximum number of observations
* offset (optional): Number of observations to skip
* sort_order (optional): "asc" or "desc"
* units (optional): Data transformation:
- "lin" (levels/no transformation)
- "chg" (change from previous period)
- "ch1" (change from year ago)
- "pch" (percent change)
- "pc1" (percent change from year ago)
- "pca" (compounded annual rate of change)
- "cch" (continuously compounded rate of change)
- "log" (natural log)
* frequency (optional): Frequency aggregation ("d", "w", "m", "q", "a")
* aggregation_method (optional): "avg" (average), "sum", or "eop" (end of period)

Example Usage

With these three tools, you can:
- Browse all economic categories and discover available data
- Search for specific indicators by keywords or tags
- Retrieve any of the 800,000+ series with custom transformations
- Access real-time economic data including GDP, unemployment, inflation, interest rates, and more

Social Media Shoutouts 📣

> [!NOTE]
> Want to be featured? Tag Stefano Amorelli on LinkedIn or @stefanoamorelli on X in your post about using FRED MCP Server, or submit a PR to add your shoutout!

We're grateful for the community support! Here are some mentions from amazing people:

Scott G - "One of my breakthrough moments for 'getting' what is possible with Claude was this fred-mcp-server project..."

Scott G - Fintech & Data Analytics Professional | LinkedIn Profile

John Shelburne - "The FRED MCP Server is a game-changer for financial analysis..."

John Shelburne - Fixed Income Fintech Leader with 20+ Years of Experience | Machine Learning & Cloud Computing Specialist | LinkedIn Profile

Testing

See TESTING.md for more details.

`bash


Run all tests

pnpm test

Run specific tests

pnpm test:registry
``

License ⚖️

This open-source project is licensed under the GNU Affero General Public License v3.0 (AGPL-3.0). This means:

- You can use, modify, and distribute this software
- If you modify and distribute it, you must release your changes under AGPL-3.0
- If you run a modified version on a server, you must provide the source code to users
- See the LICENSE file for full details

For commercial licensing options or other licensing inquiries, please contact stefano@amorelli.tech.

© 2025 Stefano Amorelli