Food Data Central MCP Server

🚀 USDA FoodData Central MCP Server

This is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for accessing the USDA's FoodData Central API via an API. It enables users to interact with the vast food data repository provided by the USDA, facilitating tasks such as food searching and nutrient information retrieval.

✨ Features

• Search for foods in the USDA FoodData Central database.
• Access food nutrition information.
• Paginate search results.
• Support multiple data types (Foundation, SR Legacy, Survey, Branded).

📦 Installation

1. Clone the repository.
2. Install dependencies:

   npm install
   

3. Build the project:

   npm run build
   

💻 Usage Examples

Running the Server

The server uses stdio transport, which means it is designed to be run as a child process by an MCP client. To run it directly:

# Set the USDA API key as an environment variable
export USDA_API_KEY=your-api-key-here
npm start

For development with hot reloading:

# Set the USDA API key as an environment variable
export USDA_API_KEY=your-api-key-here
npm run dev

Using with Claude Desktop

To use this MCP server with Claude Desktop:

1. Open Claude Desktop settings:
   • On macOS: Click the Claude menu and select "Settings...".
   • On Windows: Click the Claude menu and select "Settings...".
2. In the settings pane, click "Developer" in the left sidebar, then click "Edit Configuration".
3. This will create or open the configuration file:
   • macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
   • Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
4. Add the FoodData Central MCP server to the configuration file:

   {
     "mcpServers": {
       "food-data-central": {
         "command": "npx",
         "args": ["tsx", "/path/to/food-data-central-mcp-server/src/index.ts"],
         "env": {
           "PATH": "/opt/homebrew/bin",
           "USDA_API_KEY": "<INSERT KEY HERE>"
         }
       }
     }
   }
   

   Replace /path/to/food-data-central-mcp-server with the actual absolute path to your repository, and <INSERT KEY HERE> with your actual USDA API key. Note: If you are using Windows, you may need to adjust the PATH value to include the npm global installation directory.
5. Save the configuration file and restart Claude Desktop.
6. After restarting, you should see a hammer icon in the bottom - right corner of the input box. Click it to view available tools.

Now, Claude will be able to access the FoodData Central API through this MCP server. You can ask Claude to search for foods, obtain nutrition information, or retrieve detailed food data.

MCP Resources and Tools

Resources

• food://details - Get detailed information about a specific food (by ID).
  • Query parameters:
    • fdcId: FoodData Central ID (required).
    • format: Optional. 'abridged' for an abridged version, 'full' for all elements (default).
    • nutrients: Optional. A comma - separated list of up to 25 nutrient numbers.
• food://foods - Get detailed information about multiple foods using the entered FDC IDs.
  • Query parameters:
    • fdcIds: A comma - separated string containing one or more FDC IDs.
• food://list - Get a list of foods.
  • Query parameters:
    • dataType: Data type (e.g., Foundation, SR Legacy).
    • pageSize: Number of items per page.
    • pageNumber: Current page number.

Tools

• search - foods: Search for foods.
  • Parameters:
    • query: Name of the food to search for.
    • dataType: List of supported data types (e.g., Foundation, SR Legacy).
    • pageSize: Number of items per page.
    • pageNumber: Current page number.
    • brandOwner: Specific brand owner (for branded foods only).
    • tradeChannel: Foods that include the specified trade channel.
    • startDate: Start of the publication date (format: YYYY - MM - DD).
    • endDate: End of the publication date (format: YYYY - MM - DD).

Example Usage

Get detailed information about a food using an MCP resource:

food://details?fdcId=2345678&format=full

Get detailed information about multiple foods using an MCP resource:

food://foods?fdcIds=534358,373052,616350

Get a list of foods using an MCP resource:

food://list?dataType=Foundation,SR Legacy&pageSize=10&pageNumber=1

Search for foods using an MCP tool:

{
  "name": "search-foods",
  "arguments": {
    "query": "apple",
    "dataType": ["Foundation", "SR Legacy"]
  }
}