Healthdata

mcp-healthdata

HealthData.gov MCP. Keyless.

Part of Pipeworx — an MCP gateway connecting AI agents to 1881+ live data sources. This is an independent, unofficial integration — not affiliated with, endorsed by, or published by the upstream provider.

Tools

Tool	Description
search_datasets	Search HealthData.gov for public-health datasets by keyword (e.g. "COVID hospitalizations", "Medicare spending", "opioid prescriptions"). Returns each dataset's Socrata id (a 4x4 like "g62h-syeh"), title, description, owning agency, tags, when the data was last updated, and its page-view count. Pass the id to get_dataset for full metadata or to get_rows to read the actual rows.
get_dataset	Full metadata for one HealthData.gov dataset by its Socrata id (a 4x4 like "g62h-syeh", returned by search_datasets). Returns title, description, owning agency, licence, every column with its type, row count and the last data update. NOTE: HealthData.gov migrated off CKAN, so an old CKAN package id or slug will NOT resolve — search for the dataset again to get its 4x4.
get_rows	Read actual rows from a HealthData.gov dataset by its Socrata 4x4 id. Optional SoQL where (e.g. "state = 'CA'") and order (e.g. "date DESC"). Use get_dataset first to see the column names. This returns the DATA, not a download link.

Quick Start

Add to your MCP client (Claude Desktop, Cursor, Windsurf, etc.):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "healthdata": {
      "url": "https://gateway.pipeworx.io/healthdata/mcp"
    }
  }
}

What this endpoint actually serves

tools/list at https://gateway.pipeworx.io/healthdata/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 1881+ 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/healthdata_search_datasets \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"query":"COVID-19 hospitalizations"}'

No account needed for the first calls. Inspect any tool: GET https://gateway.pipeworx.io/v1/tools/healthdata_search_datasets. 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": {
    "healthdata": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@pipeworx/mcp-healthdata"]
    }
  }
}

Or run it directly to confirm it starts:

npx -y @pipeworx/mcp-healthdata

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 Healthdata data" })

The gateway picks the right tool and fills the arguments automatically.

More

• Docs and guides
• pipeworx.io

License

MIT