Ecb

What Ecb MCP server does

Ecb provides MCP access to statistical data from the European Central Bank Data Portal. Its scope includes EUR exchange rates, Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) year-over-year changes, interest rate statistics, monetary and bank balance-sheet data, short-term statistics, and bank lending information.

The server exposes four pack-specific tools:

• exchange_rate retrieves EUR exchange-rate data for a currency, with optional date range and frequency filters.
• get_data runs a generic SDMX query using a flow reference and dimension key, with optional period limits.
• list_dataflows finds available ECB data flows and can filter the results.
• hicp_inflation returns HICP year-over-year changes, optionally narrowed by country and period.

Common flow references include EXR for exchange rates, ICP for inflation, BSI for bank balance-sheet items, IRS for interest rates, STS for short-term statistics, BLS for the bank lending survey, and MIR for MFI interest rates.

How it works

The hosted MCP endpoint is https://gateway.pipeworx.io/ecb/mcp. Add that URL to an MCP client to connect over the gateway. A full Pipeworx gateway endpoint is also available; both endpoints reach the same catalog of data sources, while the Ecb endpoint lists this pack's tools directly.

The underlying ECB service uses SDMX requests at https://data-api.ecb.europa.eu/service/data/<flowRef>/<key>?format=jsondata. Dimension values in a key are separated by periods, and empty positions act as wildcards. For example, D.USD.EUR.SP00.A represents daily USD against EUR data.

Pack endpoints also expose shared Pipeworx meta-tools, including ask_pipeworx, discover_tools, search_within, and memory tools. ask_pipeworx accepts a plain-language question and routes it to an appropriate catalog tool.

Setup and configuration

For a hosted connection, add the following MCP server entry:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ecb": {
      "url": "https://gateway.pipeworx.io/ecb/mcp"
    }
  }
}

The npm package, @pipeworx/mcp-ecb, provides a local stdio bridge that forwards calls to the same hosted endpoint:

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

The bridge requires network access and has no offline mode. Anonymous use is capped at 50 calls per day. Setting PIPEWORX_API_KEY enables an account-based limit of 200 calls per day after obtaining a key from Pipeworx. Set PIPEWORX_META_TOOLS=1 if the local bridge should also list the shared gateway tools.

Tools and capabilities

• Query an ECB exchange rate by currency, date range, and frequency.
• Retrieve arbitrary ECB SDMX data with flow references and dimension keys.
• Discover available ECB dataflows, optionally using a filter.
• Retrieve country-specific or date-bounded HICP inflation changes.
• Connect through MCP clients or call tools through the gateway's HTTP interface.

Limitations and notes

The integration is unofficial and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or published by the European Central Bank. Hosted access requires network connectivity. The scoped endpoint still lists shared Pipeworx meta-tools alongside the Ecb tools, so its tool list is larger than the pack-specific set. Anonymous npm-bridge usage is limited to 50 daily calls, while an account key raises the stated limit to 200 daily calls.