FreightUtils MCP Server

FreightUtils MCP Server

A Model Context Protocol server that gives AI agents access to 19 freight calculation and reference tools, covering road, air, and sea freight.

Built by an ADR-certified freight transport planner for AI agents, developers, and freight professionals.

Website: https://www.freightutils.com API Docs: https://www.freightutils.com/api-docs

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Tools (19)

Calculators

Tool	Description
ldm_calculator	Loading metres for European and US road trailers
cbm_calculator	Cubic metres for sea freight
chargeable_weight_calculator	Air freight chargeable weight (volumetric vs actual)
pallet_fitting_calculator	Box-on-pallet optimisation with rotation
container_lookup	ISO container specs (10 types) and loading calculation
unit_converter	Weight, volume, length, and freight-specific conversions
consignment_calculator	Multi-item CBM, weight, LDM, chargeable weight

Dangerous Goods (ADR)

Tool	Description
adr_lookup	2,939 UNECE ADR 2025 entries
adr_exemption_calculator	ADR 1.1.3.6 small load exemption check
adr_lq_eq_check	Limited and Excepted Quantity eligibility

Customs & Tariff

Tool	Description
hs_code_lookup	6,940 Harmonized System tariff codes (HS 2022)
uk_duty_calculator	UK import duty and VAT (live GOV.UK Trade Tariff data)
incoterms_lookup	Incoterms 2020 — all 11 rules with risk/cost transfer points

Reference Data

Tool	Description
airline_lookup	6,352 airlines with IATA/ICAO codes and AWB prefixes
unlocode_lookup	116,129+ UN/LOCODE transport locations
uld_lookup	16 air cargo ULD types (LD3, PMC, etc.)
vehicle_lookup	17 road freight vehicles and trailers

Composite

Tool	Description
shipment_summary	Chains CBM + weight + LDM + ADR + duty in one call

Subscription

Tool	Description
get_subscribe_link	URL to upgrade to FreightUtils Pro (50,000/month at £19/mo)

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Installation

Claude Desktop / Claude Code (stdio)

Add to your MCP config (claude_desktop_config.json or .claude/settings.json):

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

Remote HTTP / SSE

If your MCP client supports remote servers, use the canonical URL:

https://www.freightutils.com/api/mcp

The older URL https://www.freightutils.com/api/mcp/mcp still works for backwards compatibility with existing clients.

No authentication required for basic usage.

Authenticating with a Pro key

Anonymous usage caps at 25 requests/day per IP. If you have a free or Pro API key, set FREIGHTUTILS_API_KEY in the environment that runs the MCP server. The package reads it from process.env and attaches Authorization: Bearer <key> to every outbound /api/* call — same key the remote https://www.freightutils.com/api/mcp transport already honors.

stdio config example with the env var wired through:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "freightutils": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["freightutils-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "FREIGHTUTILS_API_KEY": "fu_pk_xxx"
      }
    }
  }
}

Get a key at freightutils.com/api-docs (free, 100/day) or freightutils.com/pricing (Pro, 50,000/month). Backwards compatible — unset env var preserves the existing anonymous behaviour.

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Verify your setup

After adding FreightUtils to your MCP client config, fully quit and relaunch the client (Claude Desktop, Cursor, Cline). MCP servers are only loaded at client startup; editing the config in a running session does nothing until restart.

Then run the install diagnostic from a terminal:

npx freightutils-mcp ping

You should see three ticks and All checks passed:

FreightUtils MCP Diagnostic
───────────────────────────
package: [email protected]
health:  https://www.freightutils.com/api/mcp/health

[1/3] Backend health (https://www.freightutils.com/api/mcp/health)
      ✓ status=ok mcp_version=2.2.0 tools_registered=19 (143ms)

[2/3] MCP handshake (in-process via InMemoryTransport)
      ✓ server [email protected] initialized; tools/list returned 19 tools

[3/3] End-to-end tool call (cbm_calculator l=120 w=80 h=100)
      ✓ cbm_calculator → total=0.96 m³ (expected 0.96) (218ms)

All checks passed. Your FreightUtils MCP install is working.

If any check shows ✗, see Troubleshooting below. Exit code is 0 on all-pass and 1 on any failure, so the command works in CI / health-check scripts too.

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Troubleshooting

Symptom	Likely cause	Fix
Tools not appearing in the MCP client after editing the config	Client wasn't fully restarted	Quit and relaunch (Cmd+Q on macOS / right-click → Quit on Windows tray). Closing the window is not enough.
npx freightutils-mcp ping check 1 fails with a network error	DNS, proxy, or the website is unreachable from your network	Check the status page at https://www.freightutils.com/status. If you're behind a corporate proxy, set HTTPS_PROXY. Override the host for ping with FREIGHTUTILS_API_URL=<base-url>.
npx freightutils-mcp ping check 2 fails	Broken local install (npx cache or stale Node version)	Re-install: rm -rf ~/.npm/_npx && npm install -g freightutils-mcp and rerun. Requires Node 18 or newer.
Tool calls return HTTP 429 / "rate_limited"	Anonymous IP cap of 25 requests/day exceeded	If you have a FreightUtils Pro API key, set FREIGHTUTILS_API_KEY in your environment before invoking the MCP. The package passes it through automatically on every outbound call. See https://www.freightutils.com/pricing if you need a key.
"Server failed to start" / spawn error in client logs	npx not on PATH, or Node older than 18	Install Node 18+. On macOS, an absolute path in the config ("command": "/opt/homebrew/bin/npx") avoids PATH issues for GUI-launched clients.
Specific tool returns isError: true	Bad input shape, or an unknown lookup key (UN number / HS code / AWB prefix not in the dataset)	The tool's error body names the offending field. Verify against the schema at https://www.freightutils.com/api-docs or call the corresponding playground endpoint to confirm the input shape.

The full diagnostic flow lives at the /api-docs#mcp-setup section on the website. The live backend status is callable from inside any MCP client at GET /api/mcp/health — useful when you don't have shell access during a conversation.

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Rate Limits

All tools call the free FreightUtils API:

• Anonymous: 25 requests/day per IP
• Free API key: 100 requests/day (register at https://www.freightutils.com)
• Pro: 50,000 requests/month at £19/month

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Example Prompts

Once connected, your AI agent can:

• "Calculate CBM for a box 120cm × 80cm × 100cm, 24 pieces"
• "Look up UN 1203 in the ADR database"
• "Check if 200L of petrol qualifies for ADR 1.1.3.6 exemption"
• "Find the HS code for lithium batteries"
• "What does FOB mean in shipping?"
• "How many boxes of 40×30×25cm fit on a euro pallet?"
• "Calculate loading metres for 26 euro pallets on an artic trailer"
• "What's the UK import duty on laptops from China?"

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Data Sources

• ADR 2025 — UNECE (licensed from Labeline.com)
• HS 2022 — UN Comtrade (PDDL)
• Airlines — public IATA/ICAO data, cross-referenced
• UN/LOCODE — UNECE
• UK Duty — live GOV.UK Trade Tariff API
• Containers/ULD/Vehicles — ISO, IATA, and industry-standard specifications

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Changelog

Full release notes also on GitHub Releases.

2.1.1 — 2026-05-09

• Fix: serverInfo.version was stuck at 1.0.8 even after 1.1.0 / 2.0.0 / 2.1.0 published. The wire-level identity has been silently lying about the package version since the 1.0.7 fix. Now reads from package.json at runtime via createRequire, so the wire version always matches the npm-published release.
• Fix: server.json description undercounted tools ("18 freight tools …" → "19 freight tools …, get_subscribe_link").
• Tightened Zod input constraints across airline_lookup, adr_lookup, adr_exemption_calculator, adr_lq_eq_check, unlocode_lookup, and uk_duty_calculator (regex / length / min-max on UN numbers, IATA / ICAO / AWB prefixes, ISO country codes, UN/LOCODE format). Field-level constraints take effect at the wire; .strict() on top-level schemas becomes wire-effective once the server.registerTool() migration ships in 2.2.0.

2.1.0 — 2026-05-01

• New tool: get_subscribe_link. Returns the FreightUtils /pricing URL plus tier / monthly limit / monthly price metadata. Tool description tells agents NOT to attempt checkout themselves — they hand the URL to the user. Tool count: 18 → 19.
• Pairs with the website-side fix wiring /api/mcp/* through the existing API rate-limit middleware so Pro keys are attributed against the 50,000/month bucket on MCP traffic.

2.0.0 — 2026-04-25 (BREAKING — input-side casing)

• Tool input schemas migrated camelCase → snake_case to match the response convention shipped in 1.1.0. 13 input keys renamed across uk_duty_calculator, consignment_calculator, and shipment_summary (e.g. commodityCode → commodity_code, originCountry → origin_country, items[].grossWeight → items[].gross_weight). Agents calling these tools with prior camelCase keys now get a Zod validation error instead of a 200. Re-prompt or update tool-call code.
• All other tools (cbm_calculator, chargeable_weight_calculator, ldm_calculator, pallet_fitting_calculator, unit_converter, ADR family, airline_lookup, container_lookup, hs_code_lookup, incoterms_lookup, unlocode_lookup, uld_lookup, vehicle_lookup) already used snake_case (or single-word) input keys and are unchanged.

1.1.0 — 2026-04-25 (BREAKING — response-side casing)

• API responses migrated camelCase → snake_case site-wide across /api/unlocode, /api/uld, /api/containers, /api/vehicles, /api/consignment, /api/duty. All MCP tools in this package are passthroughs, so AI agents see snake_case keys (e.g. commodity_code, location_code, internal_length_cm) instead of the prior camelCase forms. Re-prompt or update parsing logic.
• No code changes to MCP tool implementations — every tool was already a passthrough wrapper around apiGet / apiPost. Input schemas continue to declare camelCase here; 2.0.0 deliberately closes that asymmetry.
• README badges: added monthly + total npm downloads alongside the existing version + license + Glama score badges.

1.0.8 — 2026-04-23 (hotfix)

• Critical fix: revert list_prompts / list_resources stub handlers introduced in 1.0.7. The raw SDK asserts the corresponding capability must be declared before setRequestHandler is called — 1.0.7 threw Server does not support prompts at startup, crashing the MCP server on every run. 1.0.8 removes the stubs and restores boot.
• Server identity bumped: version: '1.0.7' → '1.0.8'.
• No other changes. 18 tools, annotations, shipment_summary descriptions, and smithery.yaml from 1.0.7 are preserved.

1.0.7 — 2026-04-22

• Add smithery.yaml with empty configSchema (Smithery Quality Score: config UX +25).
• Add read-only annotations to all 18 tools (readOnlyHint: true, destructiveHint: false, idempotentHint: true, openWorldHint: false) with human-readable title (+7).
• Add missing parameter .describe(...) text to shipment_summary (+1).
• Add stub list_prompts / list_resources handlers so probes return { prompts: [] } / { resources: [] } instead of -32601 Method not found (+5).
• Fix server identity: name: 'FreightUtils' → 'freightutils-mcp', version: '1.0.0' → '1.0.7'.
• No breaking changes. Same 18 tools, same names, same behaviour.

1.0.6 — 2026-04-22

• Security: bump @modelcontextprotocol/sdk to 1.26.0 to patch CVE-2026-25536 (cross-client data leak via shared transport/server instance reuse). See GHSA-345p-7cg4-v4c7.
• No user-facing API changes. Same 18 tools.

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Other ways to use FreightUtils

FreightUtils ships across multiple distribution surfaces. Pick the one that fits how you work:

• Website — interactive tools at freightutils.com
• REST API — 19 endpoints, free tier (100/day) and Pro tier (50K/month, £19/mo). API docs
• MCP server — for LLM agents and AI tooling. npm: freightutils-mcp · MCP Registry
• n8n custom node — for workflow automation. npm: n8n-nodes-freightutils

Same data, same compliance reference set (ADR 2025, HS 2022, IATA-regulated airline prefixes), every surface kept in sync.

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License

MIT — see LICENSE.

Built by Marius Cristoiu, ADR-certified freight transport planner.