DistrictAPI

What DistrictAPI MCP server does

The DistrictAPI MCP server exposes US public school district and school data from districtapi.dev to MCP-compatible AI assistants. It supports lookups based on addresses, district names, states, NCES LEA IDs, NCES school IDs, and geographic proximity.

Address-based workflows can identify the district serving a US street address or return schools within a specified radius. Identifier-based workflows can retrieve a full district profile or a full school profile. Search and relationship tools support broader exploration: search for districts by name or state, then list all schools associated with a selected district.

These capabilities suit agents answering questions about school service areas, district enrollment and demographics, school locations, or the schools belonging to a district. The available material does not specify the individual fields returned in each profile beyond the listed district and school data categories.

How it works

The package runs as an MCP server and makes DistrictAPI functionality available as callable tools. An MCP-compatible assistant can select the appropriate operation from the tool set based on a user’s request. For example, an address question can use lookup_district_by_address, while a request for schools close to an address can use find_schools_near_address.

The six exposed tools are:

• lookup_district_by_address: identifies the district serving a US street address.
• get_district: retrieves a district profile using an NCES LEA ID.
• search_districts: searches districts by name, state, or both.
• get_district_schools: lists the schools in a district.
• get_school: retrieves a school profile using an NCES school ID.
• find_schools_near_address: finds schools within a radius of an address.

Setup and configuration

Install the Python package with pip install districtapi-mcp, or launch it without a separate installation by running uvx districtapi-mcp. Configure the MCP client to use uvx as the command and districtapi-mcp as its argument.

Set DISTRICTAPI_KEY in the server environment. The README directs users to districtapi.dev to obtain a free API key. A Claude Desktop or Cursor configuration uses the same command, argument, and environment-variable pattern shown for other MCP clients.

A typical server entry has this structure:

{
  "command": "uvx",
  "args": ["districtapi-mcp"],
  "env": {
    "DISTRICTAPI_KEY": "your_api_key_here"
  }
}

Limitations and notes

The DistrictAPI MCP server is scoped to US school district and school data. Address operations require a US street address, and profile retrieval by identifier requires the relevant NCES LEA ID or NCES school ID. The provided documentation does not state a historical-data range, update schedule, rate limits, supported address formats, or the exact response schema.

The README names Claude and Cursor among compatible MCP clients and also describes support for MCP-compatible AI assistants generally. The server’s license is MIT. REST API documentation and package details are linked from the project README at districtapi.dev/docs and PyPI.