@pipeworx/mcp-census 0.1.0 → 0.1.1

package/LICENSE

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 MIT License
 
-Copyright (c) 2026 Pipeworx
+Copyright (c) 2026 Mojibake Inc.
 
 Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
 of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal

package/README.md

@@ -1,17 +1,49 @@
-# mcp-census
+# Census — US Census Bureau
 
-Census MCP — U.S. Census Bureau housing-relevant APIs.
+The official US Census Bureau data: decennial census, American Community Survey (ACS), economic census, population estimates, housing characteristics, geographic boundaries. National, state, county, place, tract, block-group, and ZCTA-level. Free, no key required for public datasets.
 
-Part of the [Pipeworx](https://pipeworx.io) open MCP gateway.
+Part of [Pipeworx](https://pipeworx.io) — an MCP gateway connecting AI agents to 1679+ live data sources.
 
-## Tools
+## Why this matters for AI agents
 
-| Tool | Description |
-|------|-------------|
+Demographics, housing characteristics, economic activity, geographic identifiers — Census is the authoritative source. If an agent is computing per-capita rates, comparing metros, looking up population, or working with FIPS codes, this is where it goes.
+
+Common flows:
+
+- **Population for an area.** ACS 1-year or 5-year estimates by state/county/place.
+- **Housing characteristics.** Median home value, occupancy, units, age — all in ACS.
+- **Geographic ID lookup.** Place name → FIPS code → boundary geometry.
+- **Economic Census** every 5 years for industry-level economic activity.
+
+Pair with [FRED](/docs/reference/fred) for time-series macro and [BLS](/docs/reference/bls) for labor.
+
+## Auth
+
+Most Census APIs are free and unauthenticated, with light rate limits (~500 calls/day per IP). For higher rates, get a key at https://api.census.gov/data/key_signup.html and pass via `_apiKey`.
+
+## Datasets worth knowing
+
+| Dataset | Cadence | Geography |
+|---|---|---|
+| Decennial Census (PL, DHC) | 10-year | Block-level and up |
+| ACS 5-year | Annually-rolling | Tract/BG (5-year smoothing) |
+| ACS 1-year | Annually | Places ≥65k population |
+| Population Estimates Program (PEP) | Annually | County-level |
+| Economic Census | 5-year | Industry × geography |
+
+ACS 5-year is what you usually want for current demographics — it's available at finer geographies than 1-year and updates yearly with rolling 5-year smoothing.
+
+## Common pitfalls
+
+- **Year-of-coverage vs release year.** ACS 5-year 2018-2022 was released in 2023. Don't conflate.
+- **Margins of error.** ACS includes MOE for every estimate. At small geographies (block group, small tract), MOEs can be larger than the estimate. Always carry MOE through to the user.
+- **Geography hierarchy.** State (`01`) → County (`01001`) → Tract (`01001020100`) → Block Group. The 11-digit tract code is state(2) + county(3) + tract(6).
+- **Place vs MSA.** "Denver" can mean the City and County of Denver, OR the Denver-Aurora-Lakewood Metropolitan Statistical Area (very different boundaries and populations). Disambiguate per use case.
+- **Population estimates lag the decennial.** Between censuses, PEP estimates are extrapolated and revised. The Census Bureau revises previous PEPs each year as they reconcile with births/deaths/migration data.
 
 ## Quick Start
 
-Add to your MCP client config:
+Add to your MCP client (Claude Desktop, Cursor, Windsurf, etc.):
 
 ```json
 {
@@ -23,12 +55,92 @@ Add to your MCP client config:
 }
 ```
 
-Or use the CLI:
+### What this endpoint actually serves
+
+`tools/list` at `https://gateway.pipeworx.io/census/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:
+
+```json
+{
+  "mcpServers": {
+    "pipeworx": {
+      "url": "https://gateway.pipeworx.io/mcp"
+    }
+  }
+}
+```
+
+Both URLs reach the same gateway and the same 1679+ 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
+
+```bash
+curl -X POST https://gateway.pipeworx.io/v1/tools/census_population \
+  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
+  -d '{"place":"Travis County, TX"}'
+```
+
+No account needed for the first calls. Inspect any tool: `GET https://gateway.pipeworx.io/v1/tools/census_population`. 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:
+
+```json
+{
+  "mcpServers": {
+    "census": {
+      "command": "npx",
+      "args": ["-y", "@pipeworx/mcp-census"]
+    }
+  }
+}
+```
+
+Or run it directly to confirm it starts:
 
 ```bash
-npx pipeworx use census
+npx -y @pipeworx/mcp-census
+```
+
+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 Census data" })
 ```
 
+The gateway picks the right tool and fills the arguments automatically.
+
+## More
+
+- [Docs and guides](https://pipeworx.io/docs)
+- [pipeworx.io](https://pipeworx.io)
+
 ## License
 
 MIT

package/bin/cli.js

@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env node
+//
+// Entry point for `npx @pipeworx/mcp-<slug>`.
+//
+// Packs ship as raw TypeScript (no build step — see publish-pack.sh for why:
+// tsx sidesteps every extensionless-import / bare-JSON-import edge case a
+// per-pack tsc build would have to solve one pack at a time). This file
+// registers tsx's ESM loader programmatically, then hands off to src/server.ts,
+// which wraps the pack's {tools, callTool} export in a stdio MCP server.
+//
+// Copied verbatim into every published pack repo by scripts/publish-pack.sh —
+// edit this file, not a per-pack copy.
+import { register } from 'tsx/esm/api';
+
+register();
+
+await import('../src/server.ts');

package/package.json

@@ -1,20 +1,32 @@
 {
   "name": "@pipeworx/mcp-census",
-  "version": "0.1.0",
+  "version": "0.1.1",
   "description": "Census MCP — U.S. Census Bureau housing-relevant APIs.",
   "type": "module",
   "main": "src/index.ts",
   "types": "src/index.ts",
+  "bin": {
+    "mcp-census": "bin/cli.js"
+  },
   "keywords": ["mcp", "mcp-server", "model-context-protocol", "pipeworx", "census"],
   "license": "MIT",
   "repository": {
     "type": "git",
-    "url": "https://github.com/pipeworx-io/mcp-census"
+    "url": "git+https://github.com/pipeworx-io/mcp-census.git"
   },
   "scripts": {
     "typecheck": "tsc --noEmit"
   },
+  "dependencies": {
+    "@modelcontextprotocol/sdk": "^1.30.0",
+    "tsx": "^4.19.0"
+  },
   "devDependencies": {
-    "typescript": "^5.7.0"
+    "typescript": "^5.9.3",
+    "@cloudflare/workers-types": "^4.20260405.1"
+  },
+  "pipeworx": {
+    "sourceHash": "v1-0227716c59b49153478c951e0a35f552187c6ba16814616198e56fd32494ab72",
+    "sourceCommit": "60f04b68c347e970c6be94a53439d1364061fc06"
   }
 }

package/server.json

@@ -1,9 +1,9 @@
 {
   "$schema": "https://static.modelcontextprotocol.io/schemas/2025-12-11/server.schema.json",
   "name": "io.github.pipeworx-io/census",
-  "title": "census",
+  "title": "Census",
   "description": "Census MCP — U.S. Census Bureau housing-relevant APIs.",
-  "version": "0.1.0",
+  "version": "0.1.1",
   "websiteUrl": "https://pipeworx.io/packs/census",
   "repository": {
     "url": "https://github.com/pipeworx-io/mcp-census",