Drug Shortage List MCP

drug-shortage-list-mcp

The FDA drug shortage list for AI assistants. Ask whether a drug is in shortage right now, by generic name, brand name or NDC, and get the live FDA status, availability and reason.

This is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server. It reads the FDA Drug Shortages database through the openFDA API at call time. It needs no API key.

Tools

Tool	What it returns
search_drug_shortages	FDA shortage listings for a generic name, brand name or active ingredient, grouped by product, with counts by status and availability, shortage reasons, companies, package presentations and dates. A brand name match is widened to every listing of the same generic product.
get_drug_shortage_by_ndc	FDA shortage status for one package NDC or product NDC, with related packages of the same product.
list_recent_drug_shortages	The FDA drug shortage list, most recently updated first, by status and therapeutic category.
count_drug_shortages	How many shortage listings there are now, by status, therapeutic category, shortage reason or distinct product.

Every result has structured JSON, a one-paragraph summary, as_of, source (the exact openFDA request), the FDA database page and more (a page on mcpstamp.com).

What it knows that your model does not

• Which drugs FDA lists as in shortage today. Shortages start and end every week, and openFDA refreshes the list daily.
• Package level detail. Each listing is one NDC from one company, with its own availability and update date.
• Whether a shortage was resolved or the product is being discontinued, with the date and the FDA note.

Install

Hosted (Claude.ai custom connector, ChatGPT developer mode)

Paste this URL. No token, no sign-up. It works now.

https://drug-shortage-list-mcp.lipmichal.workers.dev/mcp

Claude Code

claude mcp add --transport http drug-shortages https://drug-shortage-list-mcp.lipmichal.workers.dev/mcp

Claude Desktop

Claude Desktop adds remote servers under Settings, Connectors, Add custom connector. Paste the URL above.

Cursor

Add to ~/.cursor/mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "drug-shortages": { "url": "https://drug-shortage-list-mcp.lipmichal.workers.dev/mcp" }
  }
}

VS Code

Add to .vscode/mcp.json:

{
  "servers": {
    "drug-shortages": { "type": "http", "url": "https://drug-shortage-list-mcp.lipmichal.workers.dev/mcp" }
  }
}

Local stdio (after npm release)

The npm package is not published yet. After it is, run it locally with Node 20 or newer:

claude mcp add drug-shortages -- npx -y drug-shortage-list-mcp

Example prompts

• "Is Adderall still in shortage?"
• "Which oncology drugs are on the FDA shortage list right now?"
• "Is NDC 0641-6059-01 in shortage?"
• "How many drugs are in shortage in the US today?"
• "Was the clonazepam shortage resolved?"

Data sources

Full list with fetch dates in DATA_SOURCES.md.

• Shortage listings from the openFDA drug shortages endpoint, which publishes the FDA Drug Shortages database.

Limitations

• FDA lists shortages it has confirmed. A drug can be hard to find at one pharmacy without being on the FDA list, and the answer says so.
• openFDA states that its data are not validated for clinical use. Check with a pharmacist before changing any medication.
• Without a key, openFDA allows 240 requests per minute and 1,000 per day per IP address. The tool returns a clear error when the limit is reached.
• A search returns at most 100 listings per call. Totals still come from the full database.

More

More MCP servers that answer questions your assistant cannot answer alone are on mcpstamp.com.

Part of the Zovo MCP collection: https://mcp.zovo.one

Built by theluckystrike.

Development

npm install
npm test                              # builds, then runs the fixture tests and an offline stdio test
node scripts/stdio-transcript.mjs     # live stdio round trip, writes .live/stdio-transcript.jsonl

License

MIT