How do I install NOAA Tides And Currents?

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

Does NOAA Tides And Currents need an API key?

No required environment variable is listed on this record.

What transport does NOAA Tides And Currents use?

NOAA Tides And Currents is reached over HTTP.

When was NOAA Tides And Currents last checked?

Last checked 2026-10-16. NOAA tides and currents: water levels, tide predictions, currents, met data, flooding, sun and moon

NOAA Tides And Currents MCP server

🌊 NOAA Tides & Currents MCP Server

A Model Context Protocol server for NOAA CO-OPS Tides and Currents data

Built by Cardin Labs · Hosted at Perigee

Water levels · tide predictions · currents · marine weather · station metadata · tidal datums · harmonic constituents · sea level trends & projections · high tide flooding · sun & moon calculations

Quick Start

# Run immediately with npx
npx @ryancardin/noaa-tides-currents-mcp-server

# Or the short alias
npx noaa-mcp

Claude Desktop / Claude Code configuration

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "noaa": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@ryancardin/noaa-tides-currents-mcp-server"]
    }
  }
}

Claude Code one-liner:

claude mcp add noaa -- npx -y @ryancardin/noaa-tides-currents-mcp-server

HTTP mode (optional)

npx noaa-mcp --http --port 3000   # stateless streamable HTTP at http://localhost:3000/mcp

No API key is required — NOAA's CO-OPS APIs are open.

Tools (25)

Observations & Predictions (Data API)

Tool	What it does
`noaa_get_water_levels`	Observed water levels: 1-minute, 6-minute, or hourly series, preliminary/verified quality flags decoded
`noaa_get_water_level_summaries`	high_low (HH/H/L/LL daily extremes), daily_mean (Great Lakes), daily_max_min, monthly_mean datum tables
`noaa_get_tide_predictions`	Harmonic tide predictions — `hilo` high/low events (up to 10 years) or interval series
`noaa_get_currents`	Observed current speed/direction by depth bin (ADCP), optional beam diagnostics
`noaa_get_current_predictions`	Predicted currents — `max_slack` flood/ebb/slack events or interval series
`noaa_get_meteorological_data`	Wind, air/water temperature, pressure, air gap (bridge clearance), conductivity, visibility, humidity, salinity

Station Discovery & Metadata (Metadata API)

Tool	What it does
`noaa_search_stations`	Search the station directory by capability type, name substring, state — paginated
`noaa_find_nearest_stations`	Nearest stations to any lat/lon (great-circle, cached directory), filterable by type
`noaa_get_station_info`	Full station record with expandable sensors, flood levels, benchmarks, bins, deployments...
`noaa_get_station_datums`	Tidal datum elevations (MLLW, MSL, MHHW, NAVD88...), HAT/LAT, historic extremes, current or superseded epoch
`noaa_get_harmonic_constituents`	The M2/S2/K1/... constituents behind a station's predictions (water level or current ellipse form)
`noaa_get_prediction_offsets`	Subordinate-station time/height offsets from their reference stations (tide or current)

Climate & Derived Products (DPAPI)

Tool	What it does
`noaa_get_sea_level_trends`	Long-term relative sea level trend with error bars and observation period
`noaa_get_sea_level_rise_projections`	2022 Interagency SLR scenario projections per decade through 2150
`noaa_get_extreme_water_levels`	Annual exceedance probability levels (e.g. the "100-year" water level)
`noaa_get_top_ten_water_levels`	Highest water levels ever recorded, with causal events (hurricanes, nor'easters)
`noaa_get_high_tide_flooding`	HTF flood-day counts (daily/monthly/seasonal/annual), outlooks, decadal projections, likelihoods

Astronomy (computed locally)

Tool	What it does
`astro_get_moon_phase`	Phase, illumination, age, distance for a date or range (spring/neap tide context)
`astro_get_next_moon_phase`	Next new/full/quarter moon date(s)
`astro_get_sun_times`	Sunrise/sunset, twilights, golden hour, day length for any location/date
`astro_get_sun_position`	Azimuth/altitude (+ approximate declination/RA)
`astro_get_next_sun_event`	Next occurrence(s) of any sun event

Wind & Marine Forecasts (NWS Weather API)

Tool	What it does
`nws_get_wind_forecast`	Hourly numeric wind forecast (speed/gust/direction, wave height where gridded) for any US lat/lon, up to ~7 days
`nws_get_marine_forecast`	Official Coastal Waters Forecast narrative for the marine zone covering a lat/lon, incl. Small Craft Advisories

Reference

Tool	What it does
`noaa_get_reference_guide`	Curated NOAA reference: products, datums, units, time zones, intervals, station types, data limits, quality flags, date formats, marine forecasts

Every tool supports response_format: "markdown" (readable tables with units spelled out — the default) or "json" (complete structured payload), and attaches structured content for MCP clients that consume it.

Resources

noaa://guide/getting-started — workflow recipes and common pitfalls
noaa://reference/{topic} — the ten reference topics above as pinnable resources

Prompts

tide_report — tide report for a place/station and date
boating_conditions — pre-departure briefing: tides, currents, wind, daylight
station_flood_risk — flood risk profile: HTF history, extremes, trends, projections
station_overview — everything a station offers

The Nuances (handled for you)

These are the things that make NOAA's API tricky — this server encodes them:

Datums matter. Heights are meaningless without a vertical reference. MLLW (chart datum) is the default; stations differ in which datums they support (Great Lakes use IGLD/LWD and have no tide predictions). noaa_get_station_datums gives the conversion table.
Units are asymmetric. metric means m/s for wind but cm/s for currents; air pressure is millibars and salinity PSU in both systems. Every response labels its units.
Per-product request-span limits (4 days for 1-minute data, 31 days for 6-minute, 1 year hourly, 10 years for hilo predictions...) are validated client-side with actionable messages before hitting NOAA.
Two station ID schemes. Water-level/met stations are 7-digit numeric (9414290); current stations are alphanumeric (cb0102).
Reference vs subordinate stations. Subordinate (S) prediction stations only support hilo predictions, derived by offsets from a reference (R) station.
daily_mean requires local standard time and only exists for Great Lakes stations — enforced automatically.
Quality flags decoded. Preliminary vs verified data, sigma, flag alphabets (which differ between preliminary and verified!), and HH/H/L/LL tide types are explained inline.
Predictions are astronomical — storm surge is not included; compare with observed water levels.
Station directory is cached (6 h) so nearest-station searches don't refetch thousands of records.

Usage Examples

"When is high tide in Boston tomorrow?"

noaa_find_nearest_stations (type tidepredictions) → 8443970 BOSTON
noaa_get_tide_predictions (interval hilo) → high/low times & heights above MLLW

"How strong will the current be in the Cape Cod Canal this afternoon?"

noaa_find_nearest_stations (type currentpredictions)
noaa_get_current_predictions (interval max_slack) → max flood/ebb (knots) and slack times

"How often does Providence flood now vs 20 years ago, and what's projected for 2050?"

noaa_get_high_tide_flooding (report annual, range 25)
noaa_get_high_tide_flooding (report projections, decade 2050)
noaa_get_sea_level_trends + noaa_get_sea_level_rise_projections

Development

npm install
npm run build        # tsc → dist/
npm test             # vitest unit tests (validation, formatting, astronomy)
npm run test:live    # end-to-end smoke test against the live NOAA API
npm run inspector    # MCP Inspector against dist/index.js
npm run dev          # tsx src/index.ts

Architecture

src/
├── index.ts            # entry point: stdio (default) or --http streamable HTTP
├── constants.ts        # API base URLs, timeouts, cache TTLs, response limits
├── client/             # shared HTTP layer (retry/backoff, error mapping) + TTL cache
├── validation/         # date normalization + per-product span limit enforcement
├── format/             # unit labeling, flag legends, markdown/json response shaping
├── schemas/            # shared Zod field schemas with nuance-carrying descriptions
├── services/           # Data API, Metadata API, DPAPI, moon & sun services
├── tools/              # 25 tool registrations grouped by domain
├── resources/          # noaa:// reference resources
├── prompts/            # workflow prompt templates
└── reference/          # curated NOAA reference content

Data sources:

Data API — api.tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/api/prod/datagetter
Metadata API — api.tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/mdapi/prod/webapi
Derived Product API — api.tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/dpapi/prod/webapi
Astronomy — suncalc, computed locally

License

MIT © Cardin LLC (Cardin Labs)

NOAA data is provided by the NOAA Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services (CO-OPS). This project is not affiliated with or endorsed by NOAA.

2.1.0 tool delivery contract

Every raw tool advertises an output schema. Successful provider payloads retain their fields and add _response: { contractVersion: "2026-09-29.1", status: "complete" }. Reference guides have a separate typed topic/guide result. Both text and structured payloads are bounded: an oversized result returns an explicit response_too_large error with narrowing guidance instead of truncated text alongside an unbounded structured response. Error metadata states whether retry may help. Chained provider reads share a 45-second cancellation deadline and each request has an 18-second total retry budget. No fishing, navigation or catch probability is inferred from raw data.

🌊 NOAA Tides & Currents MCP Server

A Model Context Protocol server for NOAA CO-OPS Tides and Currents data

Built by Cardin Labs · Hosted at Perigee

Quick Start

# Run immediately with npx
npx @ryancardin/noaa-tides-currents-mcp-server

# Or the short alias
npx noaa-mcp

Claude Desktop / Claude Code configuration

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "noaa": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@ryancardin/noaa-tides-currents-mcp-server"]
    }
  }
}

Claude Code one-liner:

claude mcp add noaa -- npx -y @ryancardin/noaa-tides-currents-mcp-server

HTTP mode (optional)

npx noaa-mcp --http --port 3000   # stateless streamable HTTP at http://localhost:3000/mcp

No API key is required — NOAA's CO-OPS APIs are open.

Tools (25)

Observations & Predictions (Data API)

Tool	What it does
`noaa_get_water_levels`	Observed water levels: 1-minute, 6-minute, or hourly series, preliminary/verified quality flags decoded
`noaa_get_water_level_summaries`	high_low (HH/H/L/LL daily extremes), daily_mean (Great Lakes), daily_max_min, monthly_mean datum tables
`noaa_get_tide_predictions`	Harmonic tide predictions — `hilo` high/low events (up to 10 years) or interval series
`noaa_get_currents`	Observed current speed/direction by depth bin (ADCP), optional beam diagnostics
`noaa_get_current_predictions`	Predicted currents — `max_slack` flood/ebb/slack events or interval series
`noaa_get_meteorological_data`	Wind, air/water temperature, pressure, air gap (bridge clearance), conductivity, visibility, humidity, salinity

Station Discovery & Metadata (Metadata API)

Tool	What it does
`noaa_search_stations`	Search the station directory by capability type, name substring, state — paginated
`noaa_find_nearest_stations`	Nearest stations to any lat/lon (great-circle, cached directory), filterable by type
`noaa_get_station_info`	Full station record with expandable sensors, flood levels, benchmarks, bins, deployments...
`noaa_get_station_datums`	Tidal datum elevations (MLLW, MSL, MHHW, NAVD88...), HAT/LAT, historic extremes, current or superseded epoch
`noaa_get_harmonic_constituents`	The M2/S2/K1/... constituents behind a station's predictions (water level or current ellipse form)
`noaa_get_prediction_offsets`	Subordinate-station time/height offsets from their reference stations (tide or current)

Climate & Derived Products (DPAPI)

Tool	What it does
`noaa_get_sea_level_trends`	Long-term relative sea level trend with error bars and observation period
`noaa_get_sea_level_rise_projections`	2022 Interagency SLR scenario projections per decade through 2150
`noaa_get_extreme_water_levels`	Annual exceedance probability levels (e.g. the "100-year" water level)
`noaa_get_top_ten_water_levels`	Highest water levels ever recorded, with causal events (hurricanes, nor'easters)
`noaa_get_high_tide_flooding`	HTF flood-day counts (daily/monthly/seasonal/annual), outlooks, decadal projections, likelihoods

Astronomy (computed locally)

Tool	What it does
`astro_get_moon_phase`	Phase, illumination, age, distance for a date or range (spring/neap tide context)
`astro_get_next_moon_phase`	Next new/full/quarter moon date(s)
`astro_get_sun_times`	Sunrise/sunset, twilights, golden hour, day length for any location/date
`astro_get_sun_position`	Azimuth/altitude (+ approximate declination/RA)
`astro_get_next_sun_event`	Next occurrence(s) of any sun event

Wind & Marine Forecasts (NWS Weather API)

Tool	What it does
`nws_get_wind_forecast`	Hourly numeric wind forecast (speed/gust/direction, wave height where gridded) for any US lat/lon, up to ~7 days
`nws_get_marine_forecast`	Official Coastal Waters Forecast narrative for the marine zone covering a lat/lon, incl. Small Craft Advisories

Reference

Tool	What it does
`noaa_get_reference_guide`	Curated NOAA reference: products, datums, units, time zones, intervals, station types, data limits, quality flags, date formats, marine forecasts

Resources

noaa://guide/getting-started — workflow recipes and common pitfalls
noaa://reference/{topic} — the ten reference topics above as pinnable resources

Prompts

tide_report — tide report for a place/station and date
boating_conditions — pre-departure briefing: tides, currents, wind, daylight
station_flood_risk — flood risk profile: HTF history, extremes, trends, projections
station_overview — everything a station offers

The Nuances (handled for you)

These are the things that make NOAA's API tricky — this server encodes them:

Datums matter. Heights are meaningless without a vertical reference. MLLW (chart datum) is the default; stations differ in which datums they support (Great Lakes use IGLD/LWD and have no tide predictions). noaa_get_station_datums gives the conversion table.
Units are asymmetric. metric means m/s for wind but cm/s for currents; air pressure is millibars and salinity PSU in both systems. Every response labels its units.
Per-product request-span limits (4 days for 1-minute data, 31 days for 6-minute, 1 year hourly, 10 years for hilo predictions...) are validated client-side with actionable messages before hitting NOAA.
Two station ID schemes. Water-level/met stations are 7-digit numeric (9414290); current stations are alphanumeric (cb0102).
Reference vs subordinate stations. Subordinate (S) prediction stations only support hilo predictions, derived by offsets from a reference (R) station.
daily_mean requires local standard time and only exists for Great Lakes stations — enforced automatically.
Quality flags decoded. Preliminary vs verified data, sigma, flag alphabets (which differ between preliminary and verified!), and HH/H/L/LL tide types are explained inline.
Predictions are astronomical — storm surge is not included; compare with observed water levels.
Station directory is cached (6 h) so nearest-station searches don't refetch thousands of records.

Usage Examples

"When is high tide in Boston tomorrow?"

noaa_find_nearest_stations (type tidepredictions) → 8443970 BOSTON
noaa_get_tide_predictions (interval hilo) → high/low times & heights above MLLW

"How strong will the current be in the Cape Cod Canal this afternoon?"

noaa_find_nearest_stations (type currentpredictions)
noaa_get_current_predictions (interval max_slack) → max flood/ebb (knots) and slack times

"How often does Providence flood now vs 20 years ago, and what's projected for 2050?"

noaa_get_high_tide_flooding (report annual, range 25)
noaa_get_high_tide_flooding (report projections, decade 2050)
noaa_get_sea_level_trends + noaa_get_sea_level_rise_projections

Development

npm install
npm run build        # tsc → dist/
npm test             # vitest unit tests (validation, formatting, astronomy)
npm run test:live    # end-to-end smoke test against the live NOAA API
npm run inspector    # MCP Inspector against dist/index.js
npm run dev          # tsx src/index.ts

Architecture

src/
├── index.ts            # entry point: stdio (default) or --http streamable HTTP
├── constants.ts        # API base URLs, timeouts, cache TTLs, response limits
├── client/             # shared HTTP layer (retry/backoff, error mapping) + TTL cache
├── validation/         # date normalization + per-product span limit enforcement
├── format/             # unit labeling, flag legends, markdown/json response shaping
├── schemas/            # shared Zod field schemas with nuance-carrying descriptions
├── services/           # Data API, Metadata API, DPAPI, moon & sun services
├── tools/              # 25 tool registrations grouped by domain
├── resources/          # noaa:// reference resources
├── prompts/            # workflow prompt templates
└── reference/          # curated NOAA reference content

Data sources:

Data API — api.tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/api/prod/datagetter
Metadata API — api.tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/mdapi/prod/webapi
Derived Product API — api.tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/dpapi/prod/webapi
Astronomy — suncalc, computed locally

License

NOAA data is provided by the NOAA Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services (CO-OPS). This project is not affiliated with or endorsed by NOAA.

Add this server

Host a copy with our keys and logs.

Related MCP

Related skills

Questions

🌊 NOAA Tides & Currents MCP Server

Quick Start

Claude Desktop / Claude Code configuration

HTTP mode (optional)

Tools (25)

Observations & Predictions (Data API)

Station Discovery & Metadata (Metadata API)

Climate & Derived Products (DPAPI)

Astronomy (computed locally)

Wind & Marine Forecasts (NWS Weather API)

Reference

Resources

Prompts

The Nuances (handled for you)

Usage Examples

Development

Architecture

License

2.1.0 tool delivery contract

Add this server

Host a copy with our keys and logs.

Related MCP

Related skills

Questions

🌊 NOAA Tides & Currents MCP Server

Quick Start

Claude Desktop / Claude Code configuration

HTTP mode (optional)

Tools (25)

Observations & Predictions (Data API)

Station Discovery & Metadata (Metadata API)

Climate & Derived Products (DPAPI)

Astronomy (computed locally)

Wind & Marine Forecasts (NWS Weather API)

Reference

Resources

Prompts

The Nuances (handled for you)

Usage Examples

Development

Architecture

License

2.1.0 tool delivery contract