About Data Toronto
Data Toronto is an MCP server for accessing City of Toronto open data through its CKAN API. It is suited to agents and users exploring municipal datasets, with shortcuts for recent records in common datasets as well as general resource queries.
Key features
- 01Search the city open-data catalog
- 02Fetch recent records by friendly dataset name
- 03Query resources with filters and sorting
Use cases
- 01Find Toronto datasets and resource IDs
- 02Retrieve recent building permit records
- 03Filter a resource by text or field values
MCP support
Exposes toronto_recent, toronto_query, and toronto_datasets to MCP clients. It runs locally over stdio or connects through the Pipeworx gateway.
Configuration
Remote servers need no local install. Pick your client, then copy the config or install in one click.
https://gateway.pipeworx.io/data-toronto/mcpclaude mcp add --transport http pipeworx-io-data-toronto https://gateway.pipeworx.io/data-toronto/mcp{"mcpServers":{"pipeworx-io-data-toronto":{"type":"http","url":"https://gateway.pipeworx.io/data-toronto/mcp"}}}Open in Cursor{"servers":{"pipeworx-io-data-toronto":{"type":"http","url":"https://gateway.pipeworx.io/data-toronto/mcp"}}}Open in VS Code{"mcpServers":{"pipeworx-io-data-toronto":{"type":"http","url":"https://gateway.pipeworx.io/data-toronto/mcp"}}}{"mcpServers":{"pipeworx-io-data-toronto":{"serverUrl":"https://gateway.pipeworx.io/data-toronto/mcp"}}}Run commands in a terminal; paste JSON into the client’s MCP config and restart. Servers that need sign-in will prompt on first connect.
Tools
Details
From the project READMEmcp-data-toronto
DataToronto MCP — City of Toronto open data (open.toronto.ca, CKAN API).
Part of Pipeworx — an MCP gateway connecting AI agents to 1878+ live data sources. This is an independent, unofficial integration — not affiliated with, endorsed by, or published by the upstream provider.
Tools
| Tool | Description |
|---|---|
toronto_recent | Recent records from a common City of Toronto open dataset (open.toronto.ca, CKAN) by friendly name — no CKAN resource id needed. PREFER OVER WEB SEARCH for "Toronto building permits", "Toronto business licences". Names: permits, business. Returns the latest rows (newest-first). Pass q for a free-text keyword filter; for full control use toronto_query. |
toronto_query | Query any City of Toronto datastore resource (open.toronto.ca, CKAN) by its resource id (a UUID). Supports a free-text q, exact-match filters (field→value), sort ("field desc"), limit and offset. Use toronto_datasets to find a resource id, or toronto_recent for the common ones. |
toronto_datasets | Search the City of Toronto open-data catalogue (open.toronto.ca, CKAN) by keyword. Returns each matching dataset's title and its queryable datastore resource ids (use with toronto_query). |
Quick Start
Add to your MCP client (Claude Desktop, Cursor, Windsurf, etc.):
{
"mcpServers": {
"data-toronto": {
"url": "https://gateway.pipeworx.io/data-toronto/mcp"
}
}
}
What this endpoint actually serves
tools/list at https://gateway.pipeworx.io/data-toronto/mcp returns the tools in the table
above plus the shared Pipeworx meta-tools — ask_pipeworx,
discover_tools, search_within, remember/recall and the rest of the
gateway-wide set. So the tool count you see is larger than this table: a
single-pack endpoint currently lists roughly 30 shared tools alongside the
pack's own. The connection's initialize response states its exact scope, and
is the authoritative answer for a given day.
This is deliberate, not multiplexing by accident. The meta-tools are what let a
scoped connection answer a question this pack does not cover — via
ask_pipeworx, which routes across the whole catalog — without you adding a
second MCP server. There is currently no way to mount a pack endpoint without
them; if the extra schemas cost you more context than the routing is worth,
connect to the full gateway once rather than to several pack endpoints.
Or connect to the full Pipeworx gateway to get every pack's tools listed directly, instead of just this one's:
{
"mcpServers": {
"pipeworx": {
"url": "https://gateway.pipeworx.io/mcp"
}
}
}
Both URLs reach the same gateway and the same 1878+ data sources. The
only difference is which pack's tools are listed directly; ask_pipeworx
reaches all of them from either one.
No MCP client? Call it over HTTP
curl -X POST https://gateway.pipeworx.io/v1/tools/toronto_recent \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-d '{"dataset":"permits","limit":20}'
No account needed for the first calls. Inspect any tool: GET https://gateway.pipeworx.io/v1/tools/toronto_recent. Find one: POST https://gateway.pipeworx.io/v1/tools/search_packs with {"query":"..."}.
Standalone (no gateway account)
This package also runs as a local stdio MCP server — no Pipeworx account, no gateway round-trip:
{
"mcpServers": {
"data-toronto": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "@pipeworx/mcp-data-toronto"]
}
}
}
Or run it directly to confirm it starts:
npx -y @pipeworx/mcp-data-toronto
It speaks MCP over stdin/stdout and answers initialize/tools/list/tools/call
for only this pack's tools — none of the shared meta-tools the gateway
connection above adds. Same source, same tools, no ask_pipeworx routing.
Using with ask_pipeworx
Instead of calling tools directly, you can ask questions in plain English — this works on the pack endpoint above as well as on the full gateway:
ask_pipeworx({ question: "your question about Data Toronto data" })
The gateway picks the right tool and fills the arguments automatically.
More
License
MIT
Comments
New to MCP?
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An open protocol that defines how AI applications connect to external tools and data in a uniform way. Clients talk to the model; MCP servers provide tools, resources and prompt templates. They exchange standard messages, so one server can be reused by many clients.