livetrafficcam-mcp

MCP (Model Context Protocol) server for LiveTrafficCam, a directory of live US traffic cameras built on official state DOT feeds. Every camera is checked on a rolling schedule with real HTTP requests, so "live" means a verified current image, not a listing.

The server wraps the site's public JSON API. It sends one request per tool call, caches responses for 60 seconds, and returns compact JSON with a source_url you can cite.

Install

Requires Node 20 or newer.

Claude Desktop (claude_desktop_config.json):

config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "livetrafficcam": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "livetrafficcam-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Claude Code:

Terminal

claude mcp add livetrafficcam -- npx -y livetrafficcam-mcp

Cursor (.cursor/mcp.json):

config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "livetrafficcam": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "livetrafficcam-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Tools

list_states — states covered, camera counts, and a liveness summary per state. Example: "Which states have traffic camera coverage?"
cameras_by_state — cameras for a two-letter state code, with an optional route filter. Example: "Show live cameras on I-90 in Washington."
cameras_for_entity — cameras for a named pass, corridor, bridge or tunnel slug. Example: "What do the Donner Pass cameras show?" uses donner-pass.
camera_status — one camera's verified-live status, last live time, and official DOT source. Example: "Is the I-90 floating bridge camera up?"
state_uptime — measured uptime for a state's camera fleet: live, stale and dead counts plus the 14-day check success rate. Example: "How reliable are Washington's traffic cameras?"

The camera API returns at most 200 cameras per query; tool output says so when a state has more. Fleet counts come from the camera uptime report.

Data source and attribution

All data comes from livetrafficcam.com's public API, which aggregates official state DOT camera feeds (WSDOT, Caltrans, UDOT, and others). Every camera result carries the attribution line for its agency; keep it when you display the data. Uptime numbers should cite the uptime report.

License

MIT