How do I install Fred?

Copy the stdio config for Cursor, Claude Desktop, Claude Code, or VS Code on this page. It uses the publisher's install, not a PlugMCP proxy.

Does Fred need an API key?

No required environment variable is listed on this record.

When was Fred last checked?

Last checked 2026-10-27. Open-source FRED MCP Server (Federal Reserve Economic Data)

Fred MCP-Server

Agenten stärken

Diesen Server hinzufügen

The publisher's own command. Not a PlugMCP endpoint.

Add to Cursor Add to VS Code Auf PlugMCP ausführen

Host a copy with our keys and logs.

Local command

npx -y [email protected]

Claude Code has no install link for a local command. Copy the command below and run it in a terminal.

shClaude Code

1claude mcp add stefanoamorelli-fred-mcp-server -- npx -y fred-mcp-server@1.2.0

Run in a terminal.

jsonClaude Desktop

1{2  "mcpServers": {3    "stefanoamorelli-fred-mcp-server": {4      "command": "npx",5      "args": [6        "-y",7        "[email protected]"8      ]9    }10  }11}

claude_desktop_config.json

Local · npmPublisher installStep-by-step: add this in Claude

Remote URL or a command on your machine? How the two installs differ

Auf PlugMCP ausführen

Host a copy with our keys and logs.

A new server you create. It is not this listing's official endpoint. Use the publisher install when you want their URL and their credentials.

Starten

Server facts

Local

Transport: stdio
License: AGPL-3.0
Last checked

Tools

No tool list yet. Remote servers get one after the first health check.

FAQ

Questions

Federal Reserve Economic Data MCP Server

[!IMPORTANT] Disclaimer: This open-source project is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by the Federal Reserve or the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. "FRED" is a registered trademark of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, used here for descriptive purposes only.

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server providing universal access to all 800,000+ Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED®) time series through three powerful tools.

https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/66c7f3ad-7b0e-4930-b1c5-a675a7eb1e09

[!TIP] If you use this project in your research or work, please cite it using the CITATION.cff file, or use the following citation:

APA Format:

Amorelli, S. (2025). Federal Reserve Economic Data MCP (Model Context Protocol) Server (Version 1.0.2) [Computer software]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14536707

BibTeX:

@software{amorelli_2025_14536707,
  author       = {Amorelli, Stefano},
  title        = {{Federal Reserve Economic Data MCP (Model Context
                   Protocol) Server}},
  month        = jan,
  year         = 2025,
  publisher    = {Zenodo},
  version      = {1.0.2},
  doi          = {10.5281/zenodo.14536707},
  url          = {https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14536707}
}

Installation

Manual Installation

Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/stefanoamorelli/fred-mcp-server.git
cd fred-mcp-server

Install dependencies:
```
pnpm install
```
Build the project:
```
pnpm build
```

Configuration

This server requires a FRED® API key. You can obtain one from the FRED® website.

Install the server, for example, on Claude Desktop, modify the claude_desktop_config.json file and add the following configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "FRED MCP Server": {
      "command": "/usr/bin/node",
      "args": [
        "<PATH_TO_YOUR_CLONED_REPO>/fred-mcp-server/build/index.js"
      ],
      "env": {
        "FRED_API_KEY": "<YOUR_API_KEY>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Using Docker

You can also run the FRED MCP Server using Docker. Add this configuration to your claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "fred-mcp": {
      "command": "docker",
      "args": [
        "run",
        "-i",
        "--rm",
        "-e",
        "FRED_API_KEY=<your-key-here>",
        "stefanoamorelli/fred-mcp-server:latest"
      ],
      "env": {}
    }
  }
}

Replace <your-key-here> with your actual FRED API key.

Using Streamable HTTP Transport

For network deployments, you can run the server with Streamable HTTP transport instead of stdio:

# Using CLI flag
node build/index.js --http

# Or using environment variable
TRANSPORT=http node build/index.js

# Custom port (default is 3000)
PORT=8080 node build/index.js --http

The server will be available at http://localhost:3000/mcp (or your custom port).

Example client request:

# Initialize session
curl -X POST http://localhost:3000/mcp \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Accept: application/json, text/event-stream" \
  -d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"initialize","params":{"protocolVersion":"2024-11-05","capabilities":{},"clientInfo":{"name":"my-client","version":"1.0.0"}}}'

# Use the mcp-session-id from the response header for subsequent requests
curl -X POST http://localhost:3000/mcp \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Accept: application/json, text/event-stream" \
  -H "mcp-session-id: <session-id-from-init>" \
  -d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":2,"method":"tools/list"}'

A GET /healthz endpoint reports active sessions, cache statistics, and uptime for load balancers and orchestrators.

Configuration

All settings are environment variables with sensible defaults:

Variable	Default	Description
`FRED_API_KEY`	(required)	Your FRED API key
`FRED_API_TIMEOUT_MS`	`30000`	Per-request timeout against the FRED API
`FRED_API_MAX_RETRIES`	`3`	Retries for 429/5xx/network failures (exponential backoff with jitter, honors `Retry-After`)
`FRED_API_RETRY_BASE_DELAY_MS`	`500`	Base delay for retry backoff
`FRED_RATE_LIMIT_PER_MINUTE`	`120`	Client-side token bucket matching FRED's per-key quota
`FRED_CACHE_TTL_MS`	`60000`	TTL for cached API responses (`0` disables caching)
`FRED_CACHE_MAX_ENTRIES`	`500`	LRU cache capacity
`TRANSPORT`	`stdio`	Set to `http` for Streamable HTTP transport
`HOST`	(all interfaces)	HTTP bind address
`PORT`	`3000`	HTTP port
`MCP_MAX_SESSIONS`	`100`	Maximum concurrent MCP sessions (new sessions get `503` beyond this)
`MCP_SESSION_TTL_MS`	`1800000`	Idle time before a session is reaped
`MCP_SESSION_SWEEP_INTERVAL_MS`	`60000`	How often the idle-session reaper runs
`MCP_BODY_LIMIT`	`1mb`	Maximum accepted JSON body size
`LOG_LEVEL`	`info`	`error`, `warn`, `info`, or `debug` (logs go to stderr)

Identical concurrent requests are coalesced into a single upstream call, and successful responses are cached, so multiple sessions share one rate-limit budget efficiently.

Available Tools

This MCP server provides three comprehensive tools to access all 800,000+ FRED® economic data series:

`fred_browse`

Description: Browse FRED's complete catalog through categories, releases, or sources.

Parameters:

browse_type (required): Type of browsing - "categories", "releases", "sources", "category_series", "release_series"
category_id (optional): Category ID for browsing subcategories or series within a category
release_id (optional): Release ID for browsing series within a release
limit (optional): Maximum number of results (default: 50)
offset (optional): Number of results to skip for pagination
order_by (optional): Field to order results by
sort_order (optional): "asc" or "desc"

`fred_search`

Description: Search for FRED economic data series by keywords, tags, or filters.

Parameters:

search_text (optional): Text to search for in series titles and descriptions
search_type (optional): "full_text" or "series_id"
tag_names (optional): Comma-separated list of tag names to filter by
exclude_tag_names (optional): Comma-separated list of tag names to exclude
limit (optional): Maximum number of results (default: 25)
offset (optional): Number of results to skip for pagination
order_by (optional): Field to order by (e.g., "popularity", "last_updated")
sort_order (optional): "asc" or "desc"
filter_variable (optional): Filter by "frequency", "units", or "seasonal_adjustment"
filter_value (optional): Value to filter the variable by

`fred_get_series`

Description: Retrieve data for any FRED series by its ID with support for transformations and date ranges.

Parameters:

series_id (required): The FRED series ID (e.g., "GDP", "UNRATE", "CPIAUCSL")
observation_start (optional): Start date in YYYY-MM-DD format
observation_end (optional): End date in YYYY-MM-DD format
limit (optional): Maximum number of observations
offset (optional): Number of observations to skip
sort_order (optional): "asc" or "desc"
units (optional): Data transformation:
- "lin" (levels/no transformation)
- "chg" (change from previous period)
- "ch1" (change from year ago)
- "pch" (percent change)
- "pc1" (percent change from year ago)
- "pca" (compounded annual rate of change)
- "cch" (continuously compounded rate of change)
- "log" (natural log)
frequency (optional): Frequency aggregation ("d", "w", "m", "q", "a")
aggregation_method (optional): "avg" (average), "sum", or "eop" (end of period)

Example Usage

With these three tools, you can:

Browse all economic categories and discover available data
Search for specific indicators by keywords or tags
Retrieve any of the 800,000+ series with custom transformations
Access real-time economic data including GDP, unemployment, inflation, interest rates, and more

Social Media Shoutouts 📣

[!NOTE] Want to be featured? Tag Stefano Amorelli on LinkedIn or @stefanoamorelli on X in your post about using FRED MCP Server, or submit a PR to add your shoutout!

We're grateful for the community support! Here are some mentions from amazing people:

Testing

See TESTING.md for more details.

# Run all tests
pnpm test

# Run specific tests
pnpm test:registry

License ⚖️

This open-source project is licensed under the GNU Affero General Public License v3.0 (AGPL-3.0). This means:

You can use, modify, and distribute this software
If you modify and distribute it, you must release your changes under AGPL-3.0
If you run a modified version on a server, you must provide the source code to users
See the LICENSE file for full details

For commercial licensing options or other licensing inquiries, please contact [email protected].

Fred

Diesen Server hinzufügen

Host a copy with our keys and logs.

Server facts

Tools

Questions

How do I install Fred?

Does Fred need an API key?

What transport does Fred use?

When was Fred last checked?

Documentation

Federal Reserve Economic Data MCP Server

Installation

Manual Installation

Configuration

Using Docker

Using Streamable HTTP Transport

Configuration

Available Tools

`fred_browse`

`fred_search`

`fred_get_series`

Example Usage

Social Media Shoutouts 📣

Testing

License ⚖️