Data Ny

What Data Ny MCP server does

Data Ny connects MCP-compatible agents to data.ny.gov, New York State’s open-data portal. The source uses Socrata’s SODA 2.1 JSON resource endpoints, so queries operate against individual datasets identified by their four-by-four resource IDs, such as xj2p-gjci.

The Data Ny MCP server exposes four pack-specific tools:

• datasets searches the data catalog and accepts optional query, limit, and offset values.
• query runs a SoQL query against one resource, with optional filtering, selection, grouping, ordering, pagination, and row limits.
• metadata returns metadata for a resource.
• column_data returns distinct values from a selected column.

This combination supports finding a relevant dataset, inspecting its structure, querying records, and checking the values present in a field.

How it works

The hosted connection is available at https://gateway.pipeworx.io/data-ny/mcp. An MCP client can initialize the connection, list tools, and call them through the gateway. The pack endpoint includes the four Data Ny tools plus shared Pipeworx gateway tools such as ask_pipeworx, discover_tools, search_within, and remember/recall. The exact tool scope is reported by the connection’s initialize response and may change.

The gateway’s ask_pipeworx tool can accept a plain-language question and select a tool and arguments automatically. It can route across the broader Pipeworx catalog, not only the New York data pack. A full gateway connection at https://gateway.pipeworx.io/mcp lists all packs directly, while both gateway URLs can reach the wider catalog through routing.

The Data Ny MCP server can also run locally over stdin/stdout. The standalone mode uses the same source and pack tools but does not add the gateway’s shared meta-tools or cross-catalog routing.

Setup and configuration

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

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

For local stdio operation, run the published package with npx:

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

The package can also be started directly with npx -y @pipeworx/mcp-data-ny. For clients or scripts that do not use MCP, the gateway provides HTTP tool endpoints, including POST /v1/tools/data_ny_datasets and GET /v1/tools/data_ny_datasets for inspection.

Tools and capabilities

Use datasets before querying when the resource ID is unknown. Once a resource is identified, metadata helps inspect its definition, while query provides record access using SoQL parameters. column_data is useful for enumerating distinct values in a field before constructing a filter.

The service is keyless: the provided configuration does not require a data.ny.gov API token or an environment variable. Hosted and local modes expose the same underlying New York source, but differ in whether gateway-wide tools are included.

Limitations and notes

Queries target one Socrata resource at a time and require its four-by-four resource ID. The pack endpoint does not contain only four tools; shared gateway schemas are listed alongside them. If that additional tool context is undesirable, the local package exposes only the pack tools, while the full gateway avoids mounting several separate pack endpoints.

Treat the initialize response as authoritative for the hosted connection’s current scope.