Data Dc

What Data Dc does

Data Dc provides MCP access to Washington, DC open data published through opendata.dc.gov and the ArcGIS REST API. Its main use cases are retrieving recent records from common datasets, finding available layers in a DC ArcGIS service, and running structured queries against a selected layer.

The shortcut path is dc_recent, which accepts friendly dataset names for crime, 311 service requests, and building permits. Results are returned newest first, and ArcGIS epoch timestamps are converted to ISO-formatted dates. For broader coverage, dc_layers supports service discovery and dc_query can address any Washington, DC ArcGIS layer when its service path and layer ID are known.

How it works

The hosted MCP endpoint is available at https://gateway.pipeworx.io/data-dc/mcp. An MCP client connects to that URL and can invoke the three Data Dc tools. The same gateway also exposes shared Pipeworx tools on the endpoint, including routing and discovery functions; the exact tool set is reported during MCP initialization.

A local npm package, @pipeworx/mcp-data-dc, acts as a stdio bridge. The client starts it with npx, and the bridge forwards requests to the hosted gateway, so network access is still required. The gateway can also be called directly over HTTP through its tool API.

Setup and configuration

For a hosted connection, add the endpoint to an MCP client configuration:

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

The npm bridge uses this configuration:

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

Anonymous use is available with a daily call limit. Setting PIPEWORX_API_KEY supplies a Pipeworx bearer token and increases the allowance for a free account. Set PIPEWORX_META_TOOLS=1 if the local bridge should also list the gateway-wide meta-tools. Requests require network access; the package has no offline mode.

Tools and capabilities

• dc_recent retrieves recent rows from the crime, 311, or permits datasets. An ArcGIS where expression can narrow the result.
• dc_layers lists layer IDs and names for known services or a supplied ArcGIS service path. Omit the service to list known DC services.
• dc_query runs an ArcGIS layer query using a service path and layer ID. Supported query controls include where, out_fields, order_by, and limit.
• Date values returned from ArcGIS epoch format are converted to ISO dates.

Limitations and notes

The friendly-name shortcut covers the listed common datasets; use dc_layers followed by dc_query for other layers. The integration is independent and unofficial, and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the upstream data provider. The npm bridge forwards calls to the hosted service rather than running an independent local data source. Anonymous calls are capped at 50 per day, while a free account raises the limit to 200 per day. The hosted and local routes expose the same underlying gateway and data sources, but the local bridge lists only this pack's tools unless meta-tools are enabled.