---

Tools

Fourteen tools for querying FDA data across drugs, food, devices, animal/veterinary products, and recalls — plus an optional DataCanvas SQL surface for large result sets:

Tool	Description
openfda_drug_profile	One drug name → consolidated FDA profile: identity, label, adverse events, recalls, approval, shortage
openfda_search_adverse_events	Search adverse event reports across drugs, food, and devices
openfda_search_animal_events	Search adverse event reports for veterinary drugs and devices
openfda_search_drug_shortages	Search FDA drug shortage records — status, availability, therapeutic category, manufacturer
openfda_search_tobacco_reports	Search problem reports for tobacco products, e-cigarettes, and vaping devices
openfda_search_recalls	Search enforcement reports and recall actions across drugs, food, and devices
openfda_count_values	Aggregate and tally unique values for any field across any openFDA endpoint
openfda_describe_fields	Return searchable field paths for an openFDA endpoint, grouped by category
openfda_get_drug_label	Look up FDA drug labeling (package inserts / SPL documents)
openfda_search_drug_approvals	Search the Drugs@FDA database for NDA/ANDA application approvals
openfda_search_device_clearances	Search FDA device premarket notifications — 510(k) clearances and PMA approvals
openfda_lookup_ndc	Look up drugs in the NDC (National Drug Code) Directory
openfda_dataframe_query	Run read-only SQL over a result set staged on a DataCanvas (opt-in)
openfda_dataframe_describe	List tables and column schemas staged on a DataCanvas (opt-in)

openfda_drug_profile

Resolve one drug name to its FDA identity, then return a consolidated profile in a single call — replacing four or five chained lookups.

• Resolves a brand or generic name to canonical FDA identifiers once (generic name, NDC, RxCUI, SPL set ID), then keys every sub-query off that identity to avoid the identifier drift that breaks naive tool chaining
• Single-ingredient resolution: a single-drug query won't resolve to a combination product
• Sections: label highlights, adverse-event summary (top reactions, serious count), recall history, Drugs@FDA approval, and current shortage status
• Best-effort — a miss on any section returns null rather than failing the whole call; use the dedicated tool for a deep dive into any area

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openfda_search_adverse_events

Search adverse event reports across drugs, food, and devices. Use to investigate safety signals, find reports for a specific product, or explore reactions by demographics.

• Category selection: drug, food, or device — each returns different field schemas
• Elasticsearch query syntax for filtering by product, reaction, seriousness, date range
• Pagination via limit (up to 1000) and skip (up to 25000)
• Formatted output includes report ID, seriousness, patient demographics, reactions, drugs with characterization/indication/route, and all remaining fields

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openfda_count_values

Aggregate and tally unique values for any field across any openFDA endpoint. Returns ranked term-count pairs sorted by count descending.

• Works across all 20 openFDA endpoints (drugs, food, devices, animal/veterinary, tobacco, other)
• Use .exact suffix on field names for whole-phrase counting
• Optional search filter to scope the aggregation
• Returns up to 1000 terms per query

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openfda_search_recalls

Search enforcement reports and recall actions across drugs, food, and devices.

• Supports enforcement (all categories) and recall (devices only) endpoints
• Filter by classification (Class I/II/III), recalling firm, reason, status
• Formatted output includes recall number, classification, product description, reason, distribution pattern

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openfda_search_device_clearances

Search FDA device premarket notifications — 510(k) clearances and PMA approvals.

• Two pathways: 510k (174K+ records, most common) and pma (higher-risk devices)
• Filter by applicant, product code, advisory committee, device name
• Formatted output adapts to pathway: 510(k) shows K-number/clearance type, PMA shows supplement info

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openfda_get_drug_label

Look up FDA drug labeling (package inserts / SPL documents). Check indications, warnings, dosage, contraindications, active ingredients, or any structured label section.

• Search by brand name, generic name, manufacturer, or set ID
• Formatted output dynamically renders all label sections and openfda metadata present in the record
• Large sections are automatically truncated to keep output readable
• Default limit of 5 — labels are large documents

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openfda_search_drug_approvals

Search the Drugs@FDA database for drug application approvals (NDAs and ANDAs). Returns application details, sponsor info, and full submission history.

• Filter by brand name, sponsor, submission type, review priority
• Formatted output includes products with active ingredients, dosage forms, routes, and marketing status
• Full submission history with type, status, date, and review priority
• Pagination via limit (up to 1000) and skip (up to 25000)

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openfda_lookup_ndc

Look up drugs in the NDC (National Drug Code) Directory. Identify drug products by NDC code, find active ingredients, packaging details, or manufacturer info.

• Search by product NDC, brand name, generic name, manufacturer, or active ingredient
• Returns product details, active ingredients with strengths, and packaging information
• Sortable by listing expiration date or other fields

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openfda_search_animal_events

Search adverse event reports for veterinary drugs and devices submitted to the FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine (1.3M+ records).

• Filter by animal species, breed, drug name, VeDDRA reaction term, or seriousness
• Records include animal details (species, gender, age, weight), administered drugs, reactions, and outcomes
• Formatted output surfaces key clinical fields; remaining fields rendered via catch-all

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openfda_search_tobacco_reports

Search problem reports submitted to the FDA for tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, vaping products, cigarettes, and smokeless tobacco.

• Filter by product type, reported health problems (e.g. seizure, chest pain), product problems (e.g. battery explosion), or non-user involvement
• Formatted output surfaces products, health effects, product defects, and report counts

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openfda_search_drug_shortages

Search FDA drug shortage records (1,700+ entries, refreshed daily). Returns shortage status, availability notes, therapeutic category, dosage form, manufacturer, and timeline.

• Filter by status (Current, Resolved), therapeutic category, generic name, or manufacturer
• The openfda block carries brand_name, product_ndc, and rxcui for chaining into openfda_get_drug_label or openfda_lookup_ndc
• Pagination via limit (up to 1000) and skip (up to 25000)

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openfda_describe_fields

Return the searchable field paths for an openFDA endpoint, grouped by category with type and description. Use before constructing a search query to discover the correct dotted field paths.

• Covers all major endpoints: drug/event, drug/label, drug/shortages, drug/drugsfda, drug/ndc, drug/enforcement, food/event, food/enforcement, device/event, device/510k, device/pma, device/recall, device/enforcement, animalandveterinary/event, tobacco/problem
• Returns fields grouped by category (identifiers, dates, clinical fields, etc.) with data type and one-line description
• Complements the reactive field hints that appear in notice enrichment when a search returns empty

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openfda_dataframe_query · openfda_dataframe_describe

A DataCanvas SQL surface over staged result sets — opt-in, enabled with CANVAS_PROVIDER_TYPE=duckdb.

• With canvas enabled, the multi-row search tools page the full matched set (up to openFDA's 25,000-row ceiling) into a DuckDB table and return an inline preview plus a canvas_id and canvas_table. openfda_dataframe_query runs read-only SELECT (GROUP BY, SUM/COUNT, joins) across the staged rows; openfda_dataframe_describe lists the table and column schemas needed to write valid SQL.
• Scalar fields are stored as text (CAST for numeric math); nested openFDA blocks (openfda, patient, products, …) are JSON columns. Pass a canvas_id back into a search tool to accumulate result sets on one canvas for cross-table joins.
• Off by default — without CANVAS_PROVIDER_TYPE=duckdb the search tools return inline results exactly as before and the two dataframe tools report that canvas is disabled. Requires the optional @duckdb/node-api dependency; unsupported on Cloudflare Workers.

Features

Built on @cyanheads/mcp-ts-core:

• Declarative tool definitions — single file per tool, framework handles registration and validation
• Unified error handling across all tools
• Pluggable auth (none, jwt, oauth)
• Swappable storage backends: in-memory, filesystem, Supabase, Cloudflare KV/R2/D1
• Structured logging with optional OpenTelemetry tracing
• Runs locally (stdio/HTTP) or on Cloudflare Workers from the same codebase

openFDA-specific:

• Generic API client for all openFDA endpoints with retry (exponential backoff) and rate-limit awareness
• Automatic error normalization — 404 returns empty results, 429/5xx retries, 400 provides actionable messages
• Optional API key support — works without a key (1K requests/day), increases to 120K/day with a free key
• Optional DataCanvas spillover (CANVAS_PROVIDER_TYPE=duckdb) — stage large result sets as DuckDB tables and run SQL via openfda_dataframe_query

Getting Started

Public Hosted Instance

A public instance is available at https://openfda.caseyjhand.com/mcp — no installation required. Point any MCP client at it via Streamable HTTP:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "openfda-mcp-server": {
      "type": "streamable-http",
      "url": "https://openfda.caseyjhand.com/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Via bunx (no install)

Add to your MCP client config:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "openfda-mcp-server": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "bunx",
      "args": ["@cyanheads/openfda-mcp-server@latest"],
      "env": {
        "MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE": "stdio",
        "MCP_LOG_LEVEL": "info",
        "OPENFDA_API_KEY": "your-key-here"
      }
    }
  }
}

Or with npx (no Bun required):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "openfda-mcp-server": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@cyanheads/openfda-mcp-server@latest"],
      "env": {
        "MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE": "stdio",
        "MCP_LOG_LEVEL": "info",
        "OPENFDA_API_KEY": "your-key-here"
      }
    }
  }
}

Or with Docker:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "openfda-mcp-server": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "docker",
      "args": ["run", "-i", "--rm", "-e", "MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE=stdio", "ghcr.io/cyanheads/openfda-mcp-server:latest"]
    }
  }
}

For Streamable HTTP, set the transport and start the server:

MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE=http MCP_HTTP_PORT=3010 bun run start:http
# Server listens at http://localhost:3010/mcp

Prerequisites

• Bun v1.3.0 or higher.
• Optional: openFDA API key for higher rate limits (120K requests/day vs 1K/day).

Installation

1. Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/cyanheads/openfda-mcp-server.git

2. Navigate into the directory:

cd openfda-mcp-server

3. Install dependencies:

bun install

Configuration

All configuration is validated at startup via Zod schemas in src/config/server-config.ts. Key environment variables:

Variable	Description	Default
MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE	Transport: stdio or http	stdio
MCP_HTTP_PORT	HTTP server port	3010
MCP_AUTH_MODE	Authentication: none, jwt, or oauth	none
MCP_LOG_LEVEL	Log level (debug, info, warning, error, etc.)	info
LOGS_DIR	Directory for log files (Node.js only).	<project-root>/logs
STORAGE_PROVIDER_TYPE	Storage backend: in-memory, filesystem, supabase, cloudflare-kv/r2/d1	in-memory
OPENFDA_API_KEY	Free API key from open.fda.gov. Increases daily limit from 1K to 120K requests.	none
OPENFDA_BASE_URL	Base URL override for testing against a proxy or mock.	https://api.fda.gov
CANVAS_PROVIDER_TYPE	Set to duckdb to enable DataCanvas spillover — analytical SQL over staged result sets via openfda_dataframe_query. Requires the optional @duckdb/node-api dependency; unsupported on Cloudflare Workers.	none (disabled)
OTEL_ENABLED	Enable OpenTelemetry	false

Running the Server

Local Development

• Build and run the production version:

  # One-time build
  bun run rebuild
  
  # Run the built server
  bun run start:http
  # or
  bun run start:stdio
  

• Run checks and tests:

  bun run devcheck  # Lints, formats, type-checks, and more
  bun run test      # Runs the test suite
  

Project Structure

Directory	Purpose
src/index.ts	Entry point — createApp() with tool registration and service setup.
src/config/	Server-specific env var parsing and validation with Zod.
src/services/openfda/	openFDA API client with retry, rate-limit handling, and error normalization.
src/mcp-server/tools/definitions/	Tool definitions (*.tool.ts). Fourteen openFDA tools.

Development Guide

See CLAUDE.md for development guidelines and architectural rules. The short version:

• Handlers throw, framework catches — no try/catch in tool logic
• Use ctx.log for request-scoped logging
• Register new tools in src/mcp-server/tools/definitions/index.ts

Contributing

Issues and pull requests are welcome. Run checks and tests before submitting:

bun run devcheck
bun run test

License

This project is licensed under the Apache 2.0 License. See the LICENSE file for details.