A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for querying the IATI Datastore API. Query international development and humanitarian aid data using natural language through Claude or other MCP clients.
What is MCP? The Model Context Protocol is an open standard that connects AI assistants and chatbots to external data sources and tools. It allows AI systems to expand their capabilities beyond their training data by securely accessing live information from APIs, databases, and services. MCP enables both conversational agents and autonomous AI systems to tap into real-world data, making them more useful and contextually aware.
Use the public hosted service at mcp-iati.baobabtech.ai - no installation needed!
3 Simple Steps:
- Get your IATI API key from https://developer.iatistandard.org/
- Configure your MCP client with the hosted URL:
https://mcp-iati.baobabtech.ai/mcp - Start querying - ask questions in natural language!
Supported MCP Clients:
- Claude (Anthropic) - via OAuth or Claude Desktop config
- HuggingChat - via HTTP headers (not OAuth)
- OpenAI ChatGPT - via OAuth (requires Developer Mode)
- Your own MCP Client - build with MCP Client Concepts, AI SDK, or LangChain Python
📖 See HOSTED_SERVICE.md for complete setup instructions with screenshots.
Run your own MCP IATI server locally or deploy it to your infrastructure:
pnpm install
pnpm build
IATI_API_KEY=your_key pnpm start📖 See SELF_HOSTING.md for complete instructions.
Once connected, simply ask questions in natural language! The AI assistant automatically converts your requests into the appropriate API calls:
- "Show me UK government projects in Afghanistan"
- "What health projects are funded in Kenya?"
- "Find climate change activities with budgets over $1 million"
- "What are the top reporting organizations?"
The server provides 7 specialized tools for searching activities by organization, country, sector, text, or advanced queries. You can also retrieve specific activities and explore data using facets.
See TOOLS.md for complete tool documentation and query examples.
- HOSTED_SERVICE.md - Using the public hosted service
- SELF_HOSTING.md - Self-hosting guide
- TOOLS.md - Available tools and query examples
- DEPLOYMENT.md - Production deployment guide
- OAUTH.md - OAuth 2.1 authorization details
- ENV_TEMPLATE.md - Environment variables reference
- Query IATI activities using Solr query syntax
- Search by organization, country, sector, or full-text
- Get specific activities by identifier
- Retrieve facet counts for data exploration
- Dual transport modes: STDIO (local) and HTTP (remote)
- Built-in OAuth server (no external dependencies)
- Full OAuth 2.1 authorization support per MCP specification
- IATI Datastore API Documentation
- Model Context Protocol Documentation
- MCP Authorization Specification
- IATI Standard
This project is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
You are free to share and adapt this work for non-commercial purposes with attribution.
See LICENSE or visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ for full terms.