Data Cityofchicago

What Data Cityofchicago does

The Data Cityofchicago MCP server exposes the City of Chicago's Socrata open-data portal to MCP-compatible applications. It works with the portal's JSON resource endpoint at https://data.cityofchicago.org/resource/<id>.json and does not require an API key.

The package is intended for agents that need to find public datasets, inspect a dataset's definition, or retrieve filtered and grouped records. It does not describe a separate database or local copy of Chicago data; requests are made against the listed Socrata source.

How it works

The Data Cityofchicago MCP server can be used in two ways. A hosted connection is available through the Pipeworx gateway at https://gateway.pipeworx.io/data-cityofchicago/mcp. That endpoint lists the Chicago pack's tools along with shared Pipeworx gateway tools. The gateway's ask_pipeworx tool can route natural-language questions across the wider Pipeworx catalogue, including data sources beyond this pack.

A local package is also available through npm. When started with npx, it communicates over standard input and output and exposes only the tools for this data source. This local mode does not add the gateway's shared tools and does not use Pipeworx routing.

The same hosted gateway also has a general endpoint at https://gateway.pipeworx.io/mcp. The pack endpoint and the full gateway reach the same gateway and data sources; they differ in which tools are listed directly.

Setup and configuration

For an MCP client, add the hosted URL as a remote server:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "data-cityofchicago": {
      "url": "https://gateway.pipeworx.io/data-cityofchicago/mcp"
    }
  }
}

The README names Claude Desktop, Cursor, and Windsurf as compatible clients. No account is needed for the first hosted calls. For a local connection, configure the client to run:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "data-cityofchicago": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@pipeworx/mcp-data-cityofchicago"]
    }
  }
}

The package can also be started directly with npx -y @pipeworx/mcp-data-cityofchicago. For clients that do not use MCP, the hosted gateway provides HTTP tool calls under /v1/tools/, including a documented example for the datasets tool.

Tools and capabilities

The pack exposes three source-specific tools:

• datasets(query?, limit?, offset?) searches the Chicago dataset catalogue.
• query(resource_id, where?, select?, group?, order?, limit?, offset?) runs a SoQL query against a resource.
• metadata(resource_id) returns metadata for a resource.

The query arguments support filtering, field selection, grouping, ordering, and pagination through the parameters shown in the tool definition. The Data Cityofchicago MCP server is therefore suited to workflows that first discover a resource, inspect its metadata, and then query its records.

Limitations and notes

Hosted pack connections include shared Pipeworx meta-tools in addition to the three source-specific tools, so tools/list may show roughly 30 additional gateway tools. The exact scope is reported by the connection's initialize response and may change. Local stdio mode exposes only the pack tools.

The hosted endpoint is keyless according to the package description, while the local mode avoids a gateway round trip. The material does not specify rate limits, schema guarantees, or freshness beyond identifying the source as the City of Chicago Socrata open-data portal.