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Usda MCP Server

answering

Usda MCP Server is answering right now. Last checked 1 min ago. 211 installs a week from npm. It exposes 5 tools. Last commit 16 Sep 2026.

Search foods, compare nutrients, and look up the full USDA FoodData Central database.

Installs per day peak 165 · avg 21 · +617% w/w
a month agotoday
Uptime history 36 days of history · worst day 95%
36 days agonow
100.0%
Uptime 24h
92 of 92 checks
5
Tools
read from the server
354 ms
Response time
average over 24h
211
Installs / week
npm and PyPI

What changed 7

Every tool that appeared, vanished or quietly changed what it asks for. Recorded since 25 August 2026. No other catalogue keeps this.

16 Sep a tool changed version
25 Aug 5 tools changed the parameters they ask for usda_compare_foods, usda_get_food, usda_get_foods and 2 more
25 Aug a tool changed version

Nothing serious here today

Today is the operative word: we check Usda MCP Server every 15 minutes and re-read its code on every release. Watch it and you find out the day that stops being true.

Three servers free · no card

Connect this server

Endpoint below is the one we actually reach during checks — not the one copied from a README. Last verified 1 min ago.

run in your terminal
claude mcp add usda-mcp-server --transport http https://usda.caseyjhand.com/mcp
~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "usda-mcp-server": {
      "url": "https://usda.caseyjhand.com/mcp"
    }
  }
}
~/.codex/config.toml
[mcp_servers.usda-mcp-server]
url = "https://usda.caseyjhand.com/mcp"
.cursor/mcp.json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "usda-mcp-server": {
      "url": "https://usda.caseyjhand.com/mcp"
    }
  }
}
.vscode/mcp.json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "usda-mcp-server": {
      "url": "https://usda.caseyjhand.com/mcp"
    }
  }
}

This one needs environment variables set before it will start: USDA_FDC_API_KEY (USDA FoodData Central API key from data.gov. Required for all food data requests.), MCP_HTTP_HOST (The hostname for the HTTP server.), MCP_HTTP_PORT (The port to run the HTTP server on.), MCP_HTTP_ENDPOINT_PATH (The endpoint path for the MCP server.), MCP_AUTH_MODE (Authentication mode to use: 'none', 'jwt', or 'oauth'.), MCP_LOG_LEVEL (Sets the minimum log level for output (e.g., 'debug', 'info', 'warn').). The author declared them in the registry entry; get the values from the project itself.

Available tools 5

Read directly from the server with tools/list, grouped by what they act on. If a tool disappears, we record the date.

usda
usda_compare_foods
Compare nutrients side-by-side for 2–5 foods. Returns a structured table — one row per nutrient, one column per food — formatted as markdown. Best for "spinach vs kale iron" or "which has more protein?" questions. Omit nutrients[] to use the 12 most common defaults (energy, protein, fat, saturated fat, carbs, fiber, sugars, sodium, potassium, calcium, iron, vitamin C); provide nutrients[] with specific FDC IDs to compare different nutrients. All values are scaled to the same gram basis (default 100g). If one or more FDC IDs are not found, the comparison proceeds with the valid foods — only throws too_few_foods when fewer than 2 IDs return data.
usda_get_food
Get the full nutrient profile for one food by FDC ID. Returns all available nutrients (or a filtered subset via the nutrients[] param) with optional per-portion scaling. Use usda_search_foods to discover FDC IDs. Provide quantity + unit to scale all nutrient values from per-100g to the specified portion (e.g. quantity=200, unit="g" → per-200g values). Use unit="serving" to scale to the food's first defined portion weight. Narrow nutrients[] to specific IDs to reduce response size for focused queries.
usda_get_foods
Fetch nutrient profiles for 2–20 foods in a single API call. More efficient than calling usda_get_food N times when you already have multiple FDC IDs. All values are per 100g (no portion scaling). Use the nutrients[] filter to limit response size — strongly recommended for batch calls. For side-by-side comparison with a formatted table, use usda_compare_foods instead. Failed IDs (not found or no data) are reported in the failed[] array rather than aborting the entire batch.
usda_list_nutrients
Look up the FDC nutrient reference table — all tracked nutrients with their numeric IDs, names, SR reference numbers, units, and categories. Use to resolve a nutrient name (e.g. "vitamin C") to its FDC ID (1162) before passing it to the nutrients[] filter on other tools. Filter by category (macronutrients, vitamins, minerals, lipids, amino_acids, or other) to narrow results. The data is static — call once and reuse the IDs.
usda_search_foods
Search USDA FoodData Central foods by keyword. Returns matching foods with FDC IDs and a preview of key nutrients (energy, protein, fat, carbs — not guaranteed complete). Use the returned fdcId with usda_get_food for the full nutrient profile, or usda_compare_foods for side-by-side comparisons. When dataType is omitted, defaults to SR Legacy (common whole foods with complete profiles) — or to Branded when brandOwner is set, since only Branded records carry one. Set dataType to ["Branded"] for packaged products, or include a UPC/GTIN code as the query. Pass brandOwner (e.g. "General Mills") to narrow branded results.

Endpoints

URLTransportStateLatencyChecked
https://usda.caseyjhand.com/mcp streamable-http answering 384 ms 1 min ago

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Usda MCP Server — questions

Answers built from our own checks of this server.

What can Usda MCP Server do?
It exposes 5 tools, read directly from the server on our last check. Among them: usda_compare_foods, usda_get_food, usda_get_foods, usda_list_nutrients, usda_search_foods. The full list with descriptions is on this page — we take it from the server itself via tools/list, not from a README. How MCP servers expose tools in the first place →
Is Usda MCP Server working right now?
We send a real MCP handshake every 15 minutes. Over the last 24 hours 92 of 92 checks got a reply (100.0%), average response time 354 ms. The bar chart above shows every period we have measured.
How do I connect Usda MCP Server?
Copy the ready config from this page — we generate it for Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Codex, Cursor and VS Code, each with the file path that client actually reads. It is a remote server, so there is nothing to install — the client connects to the address.
Does Usda MCP Server need an API key?
No. Usda MCP Server completed a full MCP handshake with us as an anonymous client and listed its tools without asking for anything. All 5 of them are readable on this page. This is what we observed, not what the docs claim.
How fast is Usda MCP Server?
It answers our handshake in 354 ms on average, which is faster than 44% of all working MCP servers we measure. The comparison comes from our own checks across the whole registry, every 15 minutes.
How many people use Usda MCP Server?
The npm package @cyanheads/usda-mcp-server was installed 211 times in the last week. Week over week that is +617%. We show installs rather than GitHub stars on purpose: a star is a bookmark, an install is someone actually running it.
Is Usda MCP Server open source?
Yes — it is published under the Apache-2.0 licence, written in TypeScript, 1 stars on GitHub and 2 open issues. The source link is on this page, so you can read exactly what it does with your data before you connect it.