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 2026-10-28. MCP server for the Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED) API. Covers the full API: series, categories, releases, sources, tags, and GeoFRED maps.

Servidor MCP Fred

Potencia tu agente

Añadir este servidor

Install from the publisher. Not a PlugMCP endpoint.

Ejecutar en PlugMCP

Host a copy with our keys and logs.

No packaged release in the registry yet. Follow the repository README.

RepositoryPublisher installStep-by-step: add this in Claude

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

Ejecutar en PlugMCP

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.

Abrir

Server facts

Local

Transport: stdio
License: MIT
Last checked: 2026-10-28

Tools

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

FAQ

Questions

fred-mcp

MCP server for Federal Reserve Economic Data. Wraps all 37 go-fred API endpoints as typed MCP tools. Connects over stdio (local) or HTTP/SSE (remote with OAuth).

Quick Start

1. Get a FRED API key

2. Pick a mode

Stdio

Run locally via the installed binary, or with go run (no install):

# installed binary
FRED_API_KEY=your-key fred-mcp

# go run — no install needed
FRED_API_KEY=your-key go run github.com/shanehull/fred-mcp/cmd/fred-mcp@latest

Client config for most clients (Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI, Goose, VS Code):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "fred": {
      "command": "fred-mcp",
      "env": { "FRED_API_KEY": "your-key" }
    }
  }
}

Or without installing — point your client at go run:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "fred": {
      "command": "go",
      "args": ["run", "github.com/shanehull/fred-mcp/cmd/fred-mcp@latest"],
      "env": { "FRED_API_KEY": "your-key" }
    }
  }
}

OpenCode uses its own format:

{
  "$schema": "https://opencode.ai/config.json",
  "mcp": {
    "fred": {
      "type": "local",
      "command": [
        "go",
        "run",
        "github.com/shanehull/fred-mcp/cmd/fred-mcp@latest",
      ],
      "enabled": true,
      "environment": {
        "FRED_API_KEY": "{env:FRED_API_KEY}",
      },
    },
  },
}

Where to put it: opencode.json (OpenCode), .codex.json (Codex), ~/.gemini/settings.json (Gemini CLI), .vscode/mcp.json (VS Code). Claude Code users can run /mcp add instead.

Serve

Run as an HTTP server (useful for remote access or Docker):

FRED_API_KEY=your-key fred-mcp serve

Or via Docker:

docker run -p 4000:4000 \
  -e FRED_API_KEY=your-key \
  ghcr.io/shanehull/fred-mcp:latest

Client config for SSE-capable clients (Cursor, etc.):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "fred": {
      "url": "http://your-host:4000/sse"
    }
  }
}

Streamable HTTP clients can use http://your-host:4000/mcp.

3. Try it

Once connected, ask your agent: "What's the latest US unemployment rate?" — it will call get_series_observations with UNRATE.

API Key

Get a free key at fred.stlouisfed.org/docs/api/api_key.html. Pass it via the FRED_API_KEY environment variable — all modes respect it.

Serve Mode (HTTP/SSE)

Extended configuration reference for fred-mcp serve.

OAuth (optional)

When OAUTH_AUDIENCE is set, MCP routes require a valid Bearer token. The server acts as an OAuth proxy:

Endpoint	Purpose
`/.well-known/oauth-protected-resource`	RFC 9728 resource metadata
`/.well-known/oauth-authorization-server`	RFC 8414 discovery
`/register`	Dynamic client registration
`/authorize`	Authorize proxy (injects scope)
`/oauth/callback`	Authorize callback (strips iss)
`/token`	Token proxy (injects client credentials)
`/config`	OAuth config endpoint

Tokens are validated via JWKS (JWT) with opaque token fallback (Google tokeninfo). Restrict access with OAUTH_ALLOWED_EMAILS (comma-separated). OAUTH_ALLOWED_EMAIL is deprecated but still works.

Point OAUTH_CALLBACK_URL at this server (for example https://fred.example.com/oauth/callback) and register the same URL as an authorized redirect URI on the Google OAuth client. The client must be a Web application; desktop app clients only allow loopback redirect URIs and cannot own a proxy callback. The callback flow requires OAUTH_AUDIENCE and OAUTH_CLIENT_SECRET. The proxy terminates the Google redirect and returns to the MCP client itself, so the response carries no RFC 9207 iss parameter.

Authorization codes are delivered only to loopback redirects (http://localhost, http://127.0.0.1, http://[::1]) unless the exact URI is listed in OAUTH_REDIRECT_URIS.

Docker

docker run -p 4000:4000 \
  -e FRED_API_KEY=your-key \
  ghcr.io/shanehull/fred-mcp:latest

The container runs serve mode. Add OAuth env vars to enable authentication. Multi-arch (linux/amd64, linux/arm64), FROM scratch (~8 MB).

Tag	Description
`latest`	Latest release
`main`	Main branch
`v1.2.3`	Specific version
`v1.2`	Minor version

Tool Reference

All 37 FRED API endpoints, one MCP tool each. Every tool returns JSON.

Series (12 tools)

Tool	Description
`get_series_info`	Get series metadata (title, units, frequency, tags)
`get_series_observations`	Get time-indexed observation data
`get_series_all_releases`	Get all vintages (every revision)
`get_series_first_release`	Get first-published values (ALFRED)
`get_series_as_of`	Get observations as they were on a specific date
`get_series_vintage_dates`	List all revision dates
`get_series_categories`	Get categories a series belongs to
`get_series_release`	Get the release a series belongs to
`get_series_tags`	Get tags assigned to a series
`search_series_tags`	Search series by tag text
`search_series_related_tags`	Find related tags for a series search
`get_series_updates`	Get recently updated series

Observation tools accept optional parameters: observation_start, observation_end, realtime_start, realtime_end, units, frequency, aggregation_method, output_type, vintage_dates, sort_order, limit, offset.

Categories (5 tools)

Tool	Description
`get_category`	Get a category by ID
`get_category_children`	Get child categories (pass 0 for root)
`get_category_related`	Get related categories
`get_category_tags`	Get tags for a category
`get_category_related_tags`	Get related tags for a category

Releases (8 tools)

Tool	Description
`get_releases`	List all data releases
`get_releases_dates`	List all release dates
`get_release`	Get a release by ID
`get_release_dates`	Get dates for a release
`get_release_sources`	Get sources for a release
`get_release_tags`	Get tags for a release
`get_release_related_tags`	Get related tags for a release
`get_release_tables`	Get tables for a release

Sources (3 tools)

Tool	Description
`get_sources`	List all data sources
`get_source`	Get a source by ID
`get_source_releases`	Get releases for a source

Tags (3 tools)

Tool	Description
`get_tags`	Browse/search all tags
`get_related_tags`	Find tags related to given tags
`get_tags_series`	Get series matching given tags

Search (3 tools)

Tool	Description
`search_series`	Search series by keyword
`get_release_series`	Get series in a release
`get_category_series`	Get series in a category

Search tools accept optional parameters: search_type, order_by, sort_order, filter_variable, filter_value, limit, tag_names, exclude_tag_names.

GeoFRED (3 tools)

Tool	Description
`get_series_group`	Get GeoFRED series group metadata
`get_series_data`	Get map data for a series
`get_regional_data`	Get regional map data by series group

Configuration

All settings via environment variables.

Common

Variable	Default	Purpose
`FRED_API_KEY`	(required)	FRED API key

Serve mode

Variable	Default	Purpose
`PORT`	`4000`	HTTP listen port
`OAUTH_ISSUER`	Google	OAuth issuer URL
`OAUTH_JWKS_URL`	Google certs	JWKS endpoint
`OAUTH_AUTHORIZE_URL`	Google auth	OAuth authorize endpoint
`OAUTH_TOKEN_URL`	Google token	OAuth token endpoint
`OAUTH_AUDIENCE`	(empty)	OAuth client ID; unset = no auth
`OAUTH_CLIENT_SECRET`	(empty)	OAuth client secret (server-side)
`OAUTH_CALLBACK_URL`	(empty)	OAuth proxy callback URL
`OAUTH_REDIRECT_URIS`	(empty)	Extra client redirect URIs (comma-separated)
`OAUTH_ALLOWED_EMAILS`	(empty)	Restrict access to emails (comma-separated)
`OAUTH_ALLOWED_EMAIL`	(empty)	(deprecated) Single email; use `OAUTH_ALLOWED_EMAILS`

Install

# Go install
go install github.com/shanehull/fred-mcp/cmd/fred-mcp@latest

# Nix
nix profile install github:shanehull/fred-mcp

# Docker
docker pull ghcr.io/shanehull/fred-mcp:latest

# Prebuilt binary (from GitHub Releases)
curl -fsSL https://github.com/shanehull/fred-mcp/releases/latest/download/fred-mcp-$(uname -s | tr '[:upper:]' '[:lower:]')-$(uname -m | sed 's/x86_64/amd64/;s/aarch64/arm64/') -o /usr/local/bin/fred-mcp
chmod +x /usr/local/bin/fred-mcp

Fred

Añadir este servidor

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

fred-mcp

Quick Start

1. Get a FRED API key

2. Pick a mode

Stdio

Serve

3. Try it

API Key

Serve Mode (HTTP/SSE)

OAuth (optional)

Docker

Tool Reference

Series (12 tools)

Categories (5 tools)

Releases (8 tools)

Sources (3 tools)

Tags (3 tools)

Search (3 tools)

GeoFRED (3 tools)

Configuration

Common

Serve mode

Install