Data.gov.il MCP Server

data-gov-il-mcp

Production-grade Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for Israeli Government Open Data from data.gov.il.

This server gives MCP-compatible clients structured access to Israeli government datasets, resources, tags, organizations, and tabular records through the official CKAN API. It is written in TypeScript, validates inputs and outputs with Zod, returns JSON-first tool responses, and supports both local stdio and remote Streamable HTTP transports.

Highlights

Area	Status
MCP tools	9 tools by default, 10 with optional Sampling enabled
MCP resources	5 static resources + 1 dataset resource template
MCP prompts	3 domain prompts with argument completions
Discovery	In-memory catalog snapshot with Hebrew normalization, fuzzy matching, tag ranking, and co-occurrence
Transports	stdio and Streamable HTTP
Auth	none, API key bearer auth, OAuth 2.1 JWT/JWKS
HTTP hardening	Helmet, CORS, rate limiting, request IDs, Host/Origin validation
Responses	structuredContent plus identical JSON in content[0].text
Runtime config	Environment-driven, validated at startup with Zod

Quick Start

Claude Desktop / Local Stdio

Use the published package directly:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "data-gov-il": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "data-gov-il-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Streamable HTTP

npm install -g data-gov-il-mcp
data-gov-il-mcp-http

Then configure your MCP client:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "data-gov-il": {
      "url": "http://localhost:3664/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Docker

docker run -p 3664:3664 ghcr.io/davidosherproceed/data-gov-il-mcp:latest

For local development:

npm install
npm run build
npm run start:stdio
# or
npm run start:http

Catalog Discovery Layer

The server ships with a committed catalog snapshot at src/data/catalog/catalog.snapshot.json. The snapshot is generated from data.gov.il and bundled into the build. At startup, it is validated and indexed in memory.

The discovery layer powers:

• find_datasets catalog-first search with live CKAN fallback.
• list_all_datasets instant local enumeration with optional organization filter.
• list_organizations instant local organization list with dataset counts.
• list_available_tags and search_tags from real CKAN tag/facet data.
• Dynamic completions for datagov://dataset/{id}.
• datagov://tags and datagov://catalog/stats resources.

It includes:

• Hebrew normalization, including nikud removal and final-letter normalization.
• Tokenization and trigram indexes for fuzzy matches and typo tolerance.
• Dataset, tag, and organization maps.
• Tag-to-dataset and organization-to-dataset indexes.
• Tag co-occurrence for related tag suggestions.
• Weighted ranking across exact, token, tag, organization, and fuzzy signals.

Refresh the snapshot:

npm run catalog:refresh
npm run build

A scheduled GitHub Actions workflow (.github/workflows/catalog-refresh.yml) refreshes the snapshot and opens a PR when catalog data changes.

More detail: docs/catalog-discovery-layer.md.

Tools

All successful tool responses return:

• structuredContent: the typed JSON object.
• content[0].text: the same object serialized as JSON for text-only clients.

Default Tools

Tool	Purpose
find_datasets	Primary dataset discovery tool. Uses the local catalog first, then live CKAN fallback when needed.
get_dataset_info	Full CKAN metadata for a dataset, including tags and resources.
list_all_datasets	Instant catalog-backed dataset summaries, optionally filtered by organization.
list_resources	Lists files/datastores inside a dataset and identifies datastore_active resources.
search_records	Queries CKAN datastore records with full-text search, filters, fields, sorting, pagination, and distinct values.
list_organizations	Catalog-backed organizations with Hebrew titles and dataset counts.
get_organization_info	Live CKAN organization metadata.
list_available_tags	Ranked catalog tags with dataset counts and related tags.
search_tags	Fuzzy tag search with related tag suggestions.

Optional Tools

Tool	Enabled By	Purpose
summarize_dataset	MCP_ENABLE_SAMPLING=true	Requests MCP Sampling from compatible clients to produce a human-readable dataset summary. Falls back to metadata when Sampling is unavailable.

Elicitation in find_datasets

find_datasets can optionally expose an interactive parameter:

{
  "query": "תחבורה",
  "interactive": true
}

This is only registered when:

MCP_ENABLE_ELICITATION=true

When enabled, compatible clients may show a clarification form for broad searches. For example, the server can ask the user to narrow many matching datasets by publisher organization. If the client does not support Elicitation, the user declines, or the request times out, the tool falls back to normal search results.

This is disabled by default because MCP client support varies.

Resources

URI	Type	Description
datagov://organizations	Static JSON	Organization list from CKAN, cached.
datagov://tags	Static JSON	Ranked tags from the committed catalog snapshot.
datagov://featured	Static JSON	Curated high-value datasets with ready-to-use resource_id values and field schemas.
datagov://guide	Static text	Usage guide for tools, resources, and recommended workflows.
datagov://catalog/stats	Static JSON	Snapshot metadata: generated time, dataset count, tag count, organization count, top organizations.
datagov://dataset/{id}	Template JSON	Full dataset metadata by dataset slug or ID. Includes dynamic completions and a catalog-backed resource list.

The server also implements resource subscriptions in a minimal standards-compliant way:

• Advertises resources.subscribe.
• Handles resources/subscribe and resources/unsubscribe.
• Sends notifications/resources/updated only for resources a client subscribed to.
• Does not poll CKAN in real time.

Prompts

Prompt	Argument	Purpose
food-nutrition-analysis	analysis_type	Food prices, nutrition, kosher, safety, import/export.
environmental-sustainability-analysis	analysis_focus	Air quality, green buildings, waste, water, contaminated sites.
real-estate-market-analysis	market_focus	Housing, urban renewal, subsidized housing, city/property analysis.

Prompt arguments use MCP completions. Domain focus suggestions are curated, and organization completions are catalog-backed.

Optional MCP Client Features

These features are off by default. Enable them only when your target MCP client supports them and you want the server to expose them.

Variable	Default	Effect
MCP_ENABLE_ELICITATION	false	Adds interactive to find_datasets and allows server-initiated clarification forms. Works in clients such as Cursor and Claude Code.
MCP_ENABLE_SAMPLING	false	Registers summarize_dataset, which requests client-side model generation through MCP Sampling.

Client support differs:

• Cursor supports Elicitation, but does not currently expose Sampling.
• Claude Code supports Elicitation in recent versions.
• Claude Desktop supports many MCP features, but Elicitation support is not reliable/available.
• Sampling availability varies; the server always falls back safely.

Configuration

Copy .env.example to .env:

cp .env.example .env

Core

Variable	Default	Description
TRANSPORT	stdio	Default transport when using the generic entry point. Dedicated binaries are also available.
PORT	3664	HTTP port.
HOST	0.0.0.0	HTTP bind host.
CORS_ORIGIN	*	Allowed CORS origins. Avoid wildcard in production browser deployments.
LOG_LEVEL	info	fatal, error, warn, info, debug, or trace.
NODE_ENV	production	development, production, or test.

CKAN

Variable	Default	Description
CKAN_BASE_URL	https://data.gov.il/api/3/action	CKAN action API base URL.
CKAN_TIMEOUT_MS	10000	Default CKAN request timeout.
CKAN_SEARCH_TIMEOUT_MS	15000	Timeout for heavier datastore/search requests.
CACHE_TTL_MS	300000	Default cache TTL.
CACHE_MAX_ITEMS	500	Max entries per in-memory cache.

HTTP Hardening

Variable	Default	Description
TRUST_PROXY	false	Trust reverse proxy headers. Set when behind nginx/Caddy/ALB.
RATE_LIMIT_WINDOW_MS	60000	Rate limit window. Set 0 to disable.
RATE_LIMIT_MAX	120	Requests per IP per window. Set 0 to disable.
ALLOWED_HOSTS	empty	Host allowlist for DNS rebinding protection. Defaults to loopback/local hosts when unset.
ALLOWED_ORIGINS	empty	Browser Origin allowlist. Falls back to CORS_ORIGIN when appropriate.

Authentication

Variable	Default	Description
AUTH_MODE	none	none, apikey, or oauth.
API_KEYS	empty	Comma-separated bearer tokens for AUTH_MODE=apikey.
OAUTH_ISSUER	unset	Expected JWT issuer for AUTH_MODE=oauth.
OAUTH_AUDIENCE	unset	Expected JWT audience for AUTH_MODE=oauth.
OAUTH_JWKS_URI	unset	JWKS URL for JWT verification.
OAUTH_RESOURCE_SERVER	unset	Canonical MCP resource URL for OAuth protected resource metadata. Usually includes /mcp.

Service Identity

Variable	Default	Description
SERVICE_NAME	package/server default	MCP server name override.
SERVICE_VERSION	package version	MCP server version override.
SERVICE_DESCRIPTION	built-in description	MCP server semantic description override.

Recommended Workflows

Find and Query a Dataset

1. Use find_datasets with natural Hebrew or English terms.
2. Use get_dataset_info or list_resources for a chosen dataset.
3. Pick a resource with datastore_active=true.
4. Use search_records with limit=5 first to inspect fields.
5. Add filters, fields, sort, distinct, or pagination as needed.

Example flow:

find_datasets({ "query": "מחיר למשתכן" })
get_dataset_info({ "dataset": "mechir-lamishtaken" })
search_records({
  "resource_id": "7c8255d0-49ef-49db-8904-4cf917586031",
  "limit": 5,
  "include_total": true
})

Discover Tags

search_tags({ "keyword": "דיור", "limit": 5 })
find_datasets({ "query": "תחבורה", "tags": "תחבורה ציבורית" })

Use Interactive Discovery

Requires:

MCP_ENABLE_ELICITATION=true

Then an agent may call:

find_datasets({ "query": "תחבורה", "interactive": true })

Compatible clients may show a form asking the user to narrow results.

Use Client-Side Summaries

Requires:

MCP_ENABLE_SAMPLING=true

Then:

summarize_dataset({ "dataset": "mechir-lamishtaken", "language": "he" })

If Sampling is unavailable, the tool returns the dataset metadata and sampling.used=false.

Development

npm install

# Type-check
npm run typecheck

# Lint
npm run lint

# Test
npm test

# Build
npm run build

# Refresh local catalog snapshot
npm run catalog:refresh

Run locally:

# stdio
npm run build
npm run start:stdio

# HTTP
npm run build
npm run start:http

Enable optional features locally:

MCP_ENABLE_ELICITATION=true MCP_ENABLE_SAMPLING=true npm run start:http

On PowerShell:

$env:MCP_ENABLE_ELICITATION="true"
$env:MCP_ENABLE_SAMPLING="true"
npm run start:http

Project Structure

src/
  auth/           Authentication providers and Express middleware
  bin/            stdio and HTTP entry points
  cache/          In-memory TTL/LRU cache
  catalog/        Snapshot validation, indexing, fuzzy search, CatalogService
  ckan/           Typed CKAN API client and CKAN response types
  config/         Zod env config, constants, server identity
  core/           Dependency container, MCP server factory, lifecycle
  data/catalog/   Committed catalog snapshot artifact
  formatting/     JSON response builders and guidance text
  observability/  Pino logger
  prompts/        MCP prompt definitions, templates, registration
  resources/      MCP resources, templates, subscriptions
  services/       Domain services for CKAN data access
  tools/          MCP tool definitions and Zod schemas
  transports/     stdio and Streamable HTTP transports
tests/
  fixtures/       Test fixtures
  unit/           Unit tests
scripts/
  refresh-catalog.ts
docs/
  catalog-discovery-layer.md
  MIGRATION.md

Docker

docker build -t data-gov-il-mcp .
docker run -p 3664:3664 data-gov-il-mcp

With optional features:

docker run -p 3664:3664 \
  -e MCP_ENABLE_ELICITATION=true \
  -e MCP_ENABLE_SAMPLING=true \
  data-gov-il-mcp

Quality

The project is expected to pass:

npm run typecheck
npm run lint
npm test
npm run build

Current implementation includes unit coverage for environment parsing, auth providers, CKAN errors, cache, formatting, catalog text normalization/fuzzy/index/search logic, snapshot validation, services, resources, subscriptions, and HTTP Host/Origin guard.

License

MIT