# nhtsa-vehicle-safety-mcp-server [Health: Active]
**Category:** 💻 Developer Tools
**Repository:** https://github.com/cyanheads/nhtsa-vehicle-safety-mcp-server
**GitHub Stars:** 1
**Views:** 0
**Installs:** 0
**Upvotes:** 0
**Directory Page:** https://allmcps.com/mcp/nhtsa-vehicle-safety-mcp-server
## Description
Vehicle safety data from NHTSA — recalls, complaints, crash ratings, investigations, VIN decoding.
## Claude Desktop Quick Installation
Install path detected from listing signals. Uses `bunx` (confidence: high):
```json
"mcpServers": {
"nhtsa-vehicle-safety-mcp-server": {
"command": "bunx",
"args": ["@cyanheads/nhtsa-vehicle-safety-mcp-server@latest"]
}
}
```
## Documentation & README
@cyanheads/nhtsa-vehicle-safety-mcp-server
Decode VINs, search recalls, complaints, crash ratings, and investigations via MCP. STDIO or Streamable HTTP.
7 Tools
[](./CHANGELOG.md) [](./LICENSE) [](https://github.com/users/cyanheads/packages/container/package/nhtsa-vehicle-safety-mcp-server) [](https://modelcontextprotocol.io/) [](https://www.npmjs.com/package/@cyanheads/nhtsa-vehicle-safety-mcp-server) [](https://www.typescriptlang.org/) [](https://bun.sh/)
[](https://github.com/cyanheads/nhtsa-vehicle-safety-mcp-server/releases/latest/download/nhtsa-vehicle-safety-mcp-server.mcpb) [](https://cursor.com/en/install-mcp?name=nhtsa-vehicle-safety-mcp-server&config=eyJjb21tYW5kIjoibnB4IiwiYXJncyI6WyIteSIsIkBjeWFuaGVhZHMvbmh0c2EtdmVoaWNsZS1zYWZldHktbWNwLXNlcnZlciJdfQ==) [](https://vscode.dev/redirect?url=vscode:mcp/install?%7B%22name%22%3A%22nhtsa-vehicle-safety-mcp-server%22%2C%22command%22%3A%22npx%22%2C%22args%22%3A%5B%22-y%22%2C%22%40cyanheads/nhtsa-vehicle-safety-mcp-server%22%5D%7D)
[](https://www.npmjs.com/package/@cyanheads/mcp-ts-core)
**Public Hosted Server:** [https://nhtsa.caseyjhand.com/mcp](https://nhtsa.caseyjhand.com/mcp)
---
## Tools
Seven tools for querying NHTSA vehicle safety data:
| Tool Name | Description |
|:----------|:------------|
| `nhtsa_get_vehicle_safety` | Comprehensive safety profile combining crash test ratings, recalls, and complaint summary with per-section availability status. |
| `nhtsa_search_recalls` | Search recall campaigns by vehicle or campaign number with optional date filtering. |
| `nhtsa_search_complaints` | Consumer safety complaints with component breakdown and severity stats. |
| `nhtsa_get_safety_ratings` | NCAP crash test ratings and ADAS feature availability. |
| `nhtsa_decode_vin` | Decode VINs for make, model, year, engine, safety equipment (single or batch up to 50). |
| `nhtsa_search_investigations` | Search NHTSA defect investigations (PE, EA, DP, RQ, AQ, and more) with cached index. |
| `nhtsa_lookup_vehicles` | Look up valid makes, models, vehicle types, and manufacturer details from VPIC. |
### `nhtsa_get_vehicle_safety`
Composite safety profile — the default tool when asked about vehicle safety, reliability, or purchase decisions.
- Combines NCAP crash test ratings, recall history, and complaint summary in a single response
- Frontal crash, side crash, and rollover ratings per vehicle variant
- Recall consequence text plus the do-not-drive, park-outside, and over-the-air-update advisories
- Complaint breakdown by component with crash, fire, injury, and death counts
- Returns `sectionStatus` plus warnings so upstream outages are not mistaken for a clean record
---
### `nhtsa_search_recalls`
Search recall campaigns by vehicle or campaign number.
- Look up by make/model/year or by specific NHTSA campaign number
- Campaign lookups return every make/model the campaign covers, plus the ODI investigation that preceded it
- Optional date range filtering (ISO 8601)
- Includes do-not-drive advisories, park-outside warnings, and OTA update availability
---
### `nhtsa_decode_vin`
Decode Vehicle Identification Numbers for manufacturing and safety details.
- Single VIN or batch decode up to 50 VINs
- Partial VINs accepted — use `*` for unknown positions
- Preserves sparse VPIC fields instead of filling missing data with empty placeholders
---
### `nhtsa_search_investigations`
Search NHTSA defect investigations.
- Investigation types: Preliminary Evaluations (PE), Engineering Analyses (EA), Defect Petitions (DP), Recall Queries (RQ), Audit Queries (AQ), and additional ODI codes (SQ, EQ, RP, and others)
- Free-text search across investigation IDs, subjects, and summaries, plus structured make, model, and component filters
- `nhtsaId` fetches one investigation by its exact ID — the reverse of the recall link, closing the campaign-to-investigation round trip
- Sourced from NHTSA's ODI bulk file (`FLAT_INV.zip`) — the first query downloads and parses it (~10s), subsequent queries use the cached index (24h TTL, matching the file's daily refresh)
- Returns up to 25 investigations per page; the response echoes `offset`/`limit` and the offset for the next page
---
### `nhtsa_search_complaints`
Search consumer safety complaints filed with NHTSA.
- Component breakdown with crash, fire, injury, and death counts
- Optional component filter (e.g., "ENGINE", "AIR BAGS")
- Returns up to 50 most recent complaints sorted by filing date
- An incident date the complaint's own filing date or model year rules out is disclosed as `unreliableIncidentDate` rather than served as the incident date
---
### `nhtsa_get_safety_ratings`
NCAP crash test ratings and ADAS feature data.
- Frontal crash, side crash (barrier + pole), and rollover ratings
- ADAS features: ESC, forward collision warning, lane departure warning
- Accepts either make/model/year or a follow-up `vehicleId` from earlier NCAP results
- Counts of complaints, recalls, and investigations on file
---
### `nhtsa_lookup_vehicles`
Reference lookups against NHTSA's VPIC database.
- Four operations: `makes`, `models`, `vehicle_types`, `manufacturer`
- `makes` supports `limit` and `offset` pagination for the full VPIC catalog
- Use to resolve ambiguous vehicle names or verify correct spelling
- Models can be filtered by year; manufacturers support partial match
- `manufacturer` pages VPIC up to a 500-record ceiling and discloses when a broad partial name hits it
## Features
Built on [`@cyanheads/mcp-ts-core`](https://github.com/cyanheads/mcp-ts-core):
- Declarative tool definitions — single file per tool, framework handles registration and validation
- Unified error handling across all tools
- Pluggable auth (`none`, `jwt`, `oauth`)
- Swappable storage backends: `in-memory`, `filesystem`, `Supabase`, `Cloudflare KV/R2/D1`
- Structured logging with optional OpenTelemetry tracing
- Runs locally (stdio/HTTP) from the same codebase
NHTSA-specific:
- Type-safe client wrapping four NHTSA JSON APIs with retry logic and sparse-field normalization, plus a streaming parser for the ODI investigations bulk file
- Investigation index caching (24h TTL) for fast repeated queries
- No API key required — all NHTSA APIs are public
## Getting started
### Public Hosted Instance
A public instance is available at `https://nhtsa.caseyjhand.com/mcp` — no installation required. Point any MCP client at it via Streamable HTTP:
```json
{
"mcpServers": {
"nhtsa-vehicle-safety-mcp-server": {
"type": "streamable-http",
"url": "https://nhtsa.caseyjhand.com/mcp"
}
}
}
```
### Self-Hosted / Local
Add the following to your MCP client configuration file:
```json
{
"mcpServers": {
"nhtsa-vehicle-safety-mcp-server": {
"type": "stdio",
"command": "bunx",
"args": ["@cyanheads/nhtsa-vehicle-safety-mcp-server@latest"],
"env": {
"MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE": "stdio",
"MCP_LOG_LEVEL": "info"
}
}
}
}
```
Or with npx (no Bun required):
```json
{
"mcpServers": {
"nhtsa-vehicle-safety-mcp-server": {
"type": "stdio",
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "@cyanheads/nhtsa-vehicle-safety-mcp-server@latest"],
"env": {
"MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE": "stdio",
"MCP_LOG_LEVEL": "info"
}
}
}
}
```
Or with Docker:
```json
{
"mcpServers": {
"nhtsa-vehicle-safety-mcp-server": {
"type": "stdio",
"command": "docker",
"args": ["run", "-i", "--rm", "-e", "MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE=stdio", "ghcr.io/cyanheads/nhtsa-vehicle-safety-mcp-server:latest"]
}
}
}
```
For Streamable HTTP, set the transport and start the server:
```sh
MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE=http MCP_HTTP_PORT=3010 bun run start:http
# Server listens at http://localhost:3010/mcp
```
### Prerequisites
- [Bun v1.3.2](https://bun.sh/) or higher (or Node.js >= 24.0.0)
### Installation
1. **Clone the repository:**
```sh
git clone https://github.com/cyanheads/nhtsa-vehicle-safety-mcp-server.git
```
2. **Navigate into the directory:**
```sh
cd nhtsa-vehicle-safety-mcp-server
```
3. **Install dependencies:**
```sh
bun install
```
## Configuration
No API keys required — all NHTSA APIs are public.
| Variable | Description | Default |
|:---------|:------------|:--------|
| `MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE` | Transport: `stdio` or `http`. | `stdio` |
| `MCP_HTTP_HOST` | HTTP server host. | `127.0.0.1` |
| `MCP_HTTP_PORT` | HTTP server port. | `3010` |
| `MCP_HTTP_ENDPOINT_PATH` | HTTP endpoint path. | `/mcp` |
| `MCP_AUTH_MODE` | Auth mode: `none`, `jwt`, or `oauth`. | `none` |
| `MCP_LOG_LEVEL` | Log level (RFC 5424). | `info` |
## Data sources
All data comes from NHTSA's public APIs and bulk files:
- **Recalls API** — `api.nhtsa.gov/recalls`
- **Complaints API** — `api.nhtsa.gov/complaints`
- **Safety Ratings API** — `api.nhtsa.gov/SafetyRatings`
- **Investigations bulk file** — `static.nhtsa.gov/odi/ffdd/inv/FLAT_INV.zip`
- **VPIC API** — `vpic.nhtsa.dot.gov/api/vehicles`
## Running the server
### Local development
```sh
bun run devcheck # Lints, formats, type-checks, and more
bun run test # Runs the test suite
```
### Production
```sh
bun run build
bun run start:stdio # Production stdio
bun run start:http # Production HTTP
```
### Docker
```sh
docker build -t nhtsa-vehicle-safety-mcp-server .
docker run -p 3010:3010 nhtsa-vehicle-safety-mcp-server
```
## Project structure
| Directory | Purpose |
|:----------|:--------|
| `src/index.ts` | Server entry point — `createApp()` registration. |
| `src/mcp-server/tools/definitions/` | Tool definitions (`*.tool.ts`). |
| `src/services/nhtsa/` | NHTSA API client and ODI bulk-file parser with field normalization. |
## Development guide
See [`CLAUDE.md`](https://github.com/cyanheads/nhtsa-vehicle-safety-mcp-server/blob/HEAD/CLAUDE.md) for development guidelines and architectural rules. The short version:
- Handlers throw, framework catches — no `try/catch` in tool logic
- Use `ctx.log` for logging
- One tool per file, `nhtsa_` prefix for all tool names
## Contributing
Issues and pull requests are welcome. Run checks before submitting:
```sh
bun run devcheck
bun run test
```
## License
Apache-2.0 — see [LICENSE](https://github.com/cyanheads/nhtsa-vehicle-safety-mcp-server/blob/HEAD/LICENSE) for details.