Arcgis Charlotte vs Open Waters AIS
A side-by-side look at the Arcgis Charlotte and Open Waters AIS MCP servers: transport, auth, tools, quality signals, and the config to install either one in Claude, Cursor, Windsurf or VS Code.
Verdict: choose Arcgis Charlotte for location services work as a local process; choose Open Waters AIS for location services over a hosted endpoint. You can also run both side by side in one mcpServers block.
Which MCP server should you choose?
Choose Arcgis Charlotte when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Location Services domain.
- You prefer a local stdio subprocess transport.
- You want tools like
search_datasets, query_layer, layer_info.
Choose Open Waters AIS when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Location Services domain.
- You prefer a remote HTTP/SSE transport.
Feature & specification comparison
Rows where the two servers differ are marked.
| Spec | ||
|---|---|---|
| Category | Location Services | Location Services |
| Quality signal | 55/100 · Good | 43/100 · Fair |
| Install command | Confirmed | Confirmed |
| Transport | Local subprocess (stdio) | Remote HTTP/SSE |
| Auth | Not declared | Not declared |
| Pricing | Not declared | Not declared |
| Required env vars | None listed | None listed |
| Verified owner | Community listing | Community listing |
| GitHub stars | 1 | 7 |
| Directory activity | 0 views 0 installs 0 upvotes | 0 views 0 installs 0 upvotes |
| Tools | 3 | Not listed |
| Full listing | View Arcgis Charlotte | View Open Waters AIS |
Tools & capabilities
Arcgis Charlotte tools 3
search_datasetsSearch City of Charlotte GIS open geospatial datasets (parcels, zoning, public works & city services) by keyword. Returns each dataset's name, summary, record_count, owner/org, and its Feature Service `url` — pass that url to query_layer / layer_info.query_layerQuery an ArcGIS Feature Service / Map Service layer by its url (from search_datasets). SQL-like `where`, comma-separated `out_fields`, `order_by`, `limit`, `offset`. Returns attribute rows (and geometry). Use where="1=1" + out_fields="*" to sample.layer_infoGet an ArcGIS Feature/Map Service layer's schema by url: fields (name + type), geometry type, total record count, and capabilities.
Open Waters AIS tools
No tool names declared yet. Check the project README from the listing page.
Ready-to-paste client configs
Paste either block (or both) into your client config, e.g. claude_desktop_config.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json. We only show a config when the install command is confirmed.
Arcgis Charlotte
{
"mcpServers": {
"arcgis-charlotte": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"@pipeworx/mcp-arcgis-charlotte"
]
}
}
}
Open Waters AIS
{
"mcpServers": {
"open-waters-ais": {
"url": "https://ais.openwaters.io/mcp"
}
}
}
Frequently asked questions
Arcgis Charlotte is categorized under Location Services and uses a local stdio subprocess. Open Waters AIS belongs to Location Services and uses a remote HTTP/SSE transport. Pick Arcgis Charlotte for location services work and Open Waters AIS for location services.
Copy the mcpServers block from the config section on this page into your client's config (for example claude_desktop_config.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json), then fully restart the client.
Arcgis Charlotte has no declared pricing — check the project's own site. Open Waters AIS has no declared pricing — check the project's own site. If a server needs environment variables such as API keys, define them under the env key in your client's MCP config.
Yes. MCP clients support multiple servers: add arcgis-charlotte and open-waters-ais as separate keys in the same mcpServers object, and your assistant will call tools from either one.
On AllMCPs, Arcgis Charlotte has a quality signal of 55/100 (Good) with 0 views, 0 installs and 1 GitHub stars. Open Waters AIS has 43/100 (Fair) with 0 views, 0 installs and 7 GitHub stars.