FreightUtils MCP Server

The neutral freight reference layer for AI agents.

FreightUtils is the neutral freight reference layer for AI agents — authoritative dangerous-goods, customs, location and freight-calculation data an agent can call and cite, from primary sources (ADR 2025 / UNECE, HS 2022 / WCO, IATA-regulated airline prefixes). Neutral by design: no freight to sell and no carrier to push, so an agent can trust it as ground truth regardless of who carries the load.

This Model Context Protocol server gives AI agents access to 22 freight calculation and reference tools, covering road, air, and sea freight. Built by a UK ADR-certified freight transport planner.

Website: https://www.freightutils.com API Docs: https://www.freightutils.com/api-docs

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Tools (22)

Calculators

Tool	Description
ldm_calculator	Loading metres for European and US road trailers
cbm_calculator	Cubic metres for sea freight
chargeable_weight_calculator	Air freight chargeable weight (volumetric vs actual)
pallet_fitting_calculator	Box-on-pallet optimisation with rotation
container_lookup	ISO container specs (10 types) and loading calculation
unit_converter	Weight, volume, length, and freight-specific conversions
consignment_calculator	Multi-item CBM, LDM, volumetric & mode-specific chargeable weight (sea/air/road) + advisory flags
emissions_calculator	Freight CO2e per ISO 14083 / GLEC v3.2 — open DEFRA, EPA, ADEME factors (WTW + TTW)

Dangerous Goods (ADR)

Tool	Description
adr_lookup	2,939 UNECE ADR 2025 entries
adr_exemption_calculator	ADR 1.1.3.6 small load exemption check
adr_lq_eq_check	Limited and Excepted Quantity eligibility

Customs & Tariff

Tool	Description
hs_code_lookup	6,940 Harmonized System tariff codes (HS 2022)
uk_duty_calculator	UK import duty and VAT (live GOV.UK Trade Tariff data)
incoterms_lookup	Incoterms 2020 — all 11 rules with risk/cost transfer points
ics2_check	Flag EU ICS2 unacceptable goods-description terms (stop-words) before filing an ENS — reference only

Reference Data

Tool	Description
airline_lookup	6,352 airlines with IATA/ICAO codes and AWB prefixes
unlocode_lookup	116,129+ UN/LOCODE transport locations
uld_lookup	16 air cargo ULD types (LD3, PMC, etc.)
vehicle_lookup	17 road freight vehicles and trailers

Validation

Tool	Description
validate	Validate & parse container (ISO 6346), Air Waybill (modulus-7) and IMO ship-number check digits

Composite

Tool	Description
shipment_summary	Chains CBM + weight + LDM + ADR + duty in one call

Subscription

Tool	Description
get_subscribe_link	URL to upgrade to FreightUtils Pro (50,000/month at £19/mo)

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Installation

Claude Desktop / Claude Code (stdio)

Add to your MCP config (claude_desktop_config.json or .claude/settings.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "freightutils": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["freightutils-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Remote HTTP / SSE

If your MCP client supports remote servers, use the canonical URL:

https://www.freightutils.com/api/mcp

The older URL https://www.freightutils.com/api/mcp/mcp still works for backwards compatibility with existing clients.

No API key required to get started — anonymous calls work out of the box (see Rate Limits below).

Authenticating with a Pro key

Anonymous usage caps at 25 requests/day per IP. If you have a free or Pro API key, set FREIGHTUTILS_API_KEY in the environment that runs the MCP server. The package reads it from process.env and attaches Authorization: Bearer <key> to every outbound /api/* call — same key the remote https://www.freightutils.com/api/mcp transport already honors.

stdio config example with the env var wired through:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "freightutils": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["freightutils-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "FREIGHTUTILS_API_KEY": "fu_pk_xxx"
      }
    }
  }
}

Get a key at freightutils.com/api-docs (free, 100/day) or freightutils.com/pricing (Pro, 50,000/month). Backwards compatible — unset env var preserves the existing anonymous behaviour.

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Verify your setup

After adding FreightUtils to your MCP client config, fully quit and relaunch the client (Claude Desktop, Cursor, Cline). MCP servers are only loaded at client startup; editing the config in a running session does nothing until restart.

Then run the install diagnostic from a terminal:

npx freightutils-mcp ping

You should see three ticks and All checks passed:

FreightUtils MCP Diagnostic
───────────────────────────
package: freightutils-mcp@2.9.0
health:  https://www.freightutils.com/api/mcp/health

[1/3] Backend health (https://www.freightutils.com/api/mcp/health)
      ✓ status=ok mcp_version=2.9.0 tools_registered=22 (143ms)

[2/3] MCP handshake (in-process via InMemoryTransport)
      ✓ server freightutils-mcp@2.9.0 initialized; tools/list returned 22 tools

[3/3] End-to-end tool call (cbm_calculator l=120 w=80 h=100)
      ✓ cbm_calculator → total=0.96 m³ (expected 0.96) (218ms)

All checks passed. Your FreightUtils MCP install is working.

If any check shows ✗, see Troubleshooting below. Exit code is 0 on all-pass and 1 on any failure, so the command works in CI / health-check scripts too.

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Troubleshooting

Symptom	Likely cause	Fix
Tools not appearing in the MCP client after editing the config	Client wasn't fully restarted	Quit and relaunch (Cmd+Q on macOS / right-click → Quit on Windows tray). Closing the window is not enough.
npx freightutils-mcp ping check 1 fails with a network error	DNS, proxy, or the website is unreachable from your network	Check the status page at https://www.freightutils.com/status. If you're behind a corporate proxy, set HTTPS_PROXY. Override the host for ping with FREIGHTUTILS_API_URL=<base-url>.
npx freightutils-mcp ping check 2 fails	Broken local install (npx cache or stale Node version)	Re-install: rm -rf ~/.npm/_npx && npm install -g freightutils-mcp and rerun. Requires Node 18 or newer.
Tool calls return HTTP 429 / "rate_limited"	Anonymous IP cap of 25 requests/day exceeded	If you have a FreightUtils Pro API key, set FREIGHTUTILS_API_KEY in your environment before invoking the MCP. The package passes it through automatically on every outbound call. See https://www.freightutils.com/pricing if you need a key.
"Server failed to start" / spawn error in client logs	npx not on PATH, or Node older than 18	Install Node 18+. On macOS, an absolute path in the config ("command": "/opt/homebrew/bin/npx") avoids PATH issues for GUI-launched clients.
Specific tool returns isError: true	Bad input shape, or an unknown lookup key (UN number / HS code / AWB prefix not in the dataset)	The tool's error body names the offending field. Verify against the schema at https://www.freightutils.com/api-docs or call the corresponding playground endpoint to confirm the input shape.

The full diagnostic flow lives at the /api-docs#mcp-setup section on the website. The live backend status is callable from inside any MCP client at GET /api/mcp/health — useful when you don't have shell access during a conversation.

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Rate Limits

All tools call the free FreightUtils API:

• Anonymous: 25 requests/day per IP
• Free API key: 100 requests/day (register at https://www.freightutils.com)
• Pro: 50,000 requests/month at £19/month

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Example Prompts

Once connected, your AI agent can:

• "Calculate CBM for a box 120cm × 80cm × 100cm, 24 pieces"
• "Look up UN 1203 in the ADR database"
• "Check if 200L of petrol qualifies for ADR 1.1.3.6 exemption"
• "Find the HS code for lithium batteries"
• "What does FOB mean in shipping?"
• "How many boxes of 40×30×25cm fit on a euro pallet?"
• "Calculate loading metres for 26 euro pallets on an artic trailer"
• "What's the UK import duty on laptops from China?"

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Data Sources

• ADR 2025 — UNECE (licensed from Labeline.com)
• HS 2022 — UN Comtrade (PDDL)
• Airlines — public IATA/ICAO data, cross-referenced
• UN/LOCODE — UNECE
• UK Duty — live GOV.UK Trade Tariff API
• Containers/ULD/Vehicles — ISO, IATA, and industry-standard specifications

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Changelog

Full release notes also on GitHub Releases.

2.4.0 — 2026-06-16

• consignment_calculator → canonical consignment v1. New transport mode (sea | air | road) and a canonical lines[] shape (each line: quantity, dims {l,w,h,unit} mm/cm/m/in, weight {value,unit} kg/g/t/lb, optional description/hs_code/un_number/stackable), plus an options object (air_volumetric_divisor default 6000, container_number, awb_number). The legacy flat items[] array (cm/kg) still works unchanged. Output gains per-line + grand totals, a schema_version, and advisory-only flags (implausible density, mode/option mismatch, dangerous-goods presence by UN number vs the ADR 2025 reference, ISO 6346 / IATA AWB check-digit) plus a best-effort disclaimer. Canonical schema: https://www.freightutils.com/schema/consignment.v1.json. No tool-count change (19).

2.1.1 — 2026-05-09

• Fix: serverInfo.version was stuck at 1.0.8 even after 1.1.0 / 2.0.0 / 2.1.0 published. The wire-level identity has been silently lying about the package version since the 1.0.7 fix. Now reads from package.json at runtime via createRequire, so the wire version always matches the npm-published release.
• Fix: server.json description undercounted tools ("18 freight tools …" → "19 freight tools …, get_subscribe_link").
• Tightened Zod input constraints across airline_lookup, adr_lookup, adr_exemption_calculator, adr_lq_eq_check, unlocode_lookup, and uk_duty_calculator (regex / length / min-max on UN numbers, IATA / ICAO / AWB prefixes, ISO country codes, UN/LOCODE format). Field-level constraints take effect at the wire; .strict() on top-level schemas becomes wire-effective once the server.registerTool() migration ships in 2.2.0.

2.1.0 — 2026-05-01

• New tool: get_subscribe_link. Returns the FreightUtils /pricing URL plus tier / monthly limit / monthly price metadata. Tool description tells agents NOT to attempt checkout themselves — they hand the URL to the user. Tool count: 18 → 19.
• Pairs with the website-side fix wiring /api/mcp/* through the existing API rate-limit middleware so Pro keys are attributed against the 50,000/month bucket on MCP traffic.

2.0.0 — 2026-04-25 (BREAKING — input-side casing)

• Tool input schemas migrated camelCase → snake_case to match the response convention shipped in 1.1.0. 13 input keys renamed across uk_duty_calculator, consignment_calculator, and shipment_summary (e.g. commodityCode → commodity_code, originCountry → origin_country, items[].grossWeight → items[].gross_weight). Agents calling these tools with prior camelCase keys now get a Zod validation error instead of a 200. Re-prompt or update tool-call code.
• All other tools (cbm_calculator, chargeable_weight_calculator, ldm_calculator, pallet_fitting_calculator, unit_converter, ADR family, airline_lookup, container_lookup, hs_code_lookup, incoterms_lookup, unlocode_lookup, uld_lookup, vehicle_lookup) already used snake_case (or single-word) input keys and are unchanged.

1.1.0 — 2026-04-25 (BREAKING — response-side casing)

• API responses migrated camelCase → snake_case site-wide across /api/unlocode, /api/uld, /api/containers, /api/vehicles, /api/consignment, /api/duty. All MCP tools in this package are passthroughs, so AI agents see snake_case keys (e.g. commodity_code, location_code, internal_length_cm) instead of the prior camelCase forms. Re-prompt or update parsing logic.
• No code changes to MCP tool implementations — every tool was already a passthrough wrapper around apiGet / apiPost. Input schemas continue to declare camelCase here; 2.0.0 deliberately closes that asymmetry.
• README badges: added monthly + total npm downloads alongside the existing version + license + Glama score badges.

1.0.8 — 2026-04-23 (hotfix)

• Critical fix: revert list_prompts / list_resources stub handlers introduced in 1.0.7. The raw SDK asserts the corresponding capability must be declared before setRequestHandler is called — 1.0.7 threw Server does not support prompts at startup, crashing the MCP server on every run. 1.0.8 removes the stubs and restores boot.
• Server identity bumped: version: '1.0.7' → '1.0.8'.
• No other changes. 18 tools, annotations, shipment_summary descriptions, and smithery.yaml from 1.0.7 are preserved.

1.0.7 — 2026-04-22

• Add smithery.yaml with empty configSchema (Smithery Quality Score: config UX +25).
• Add read-only annotations to all 18 tools (readOnlyHint: true, destructiveHint: false, idempotentHint: true, openWorldHint: false) with human-readable title (+7).
• Add missing parameter .describe(...) text to shipment_summary (+1).
• Add stub list_prompts / list_resources handlers so probes return { prompts: [] } / { resources: [] } instead of -32601 Method not found (+5).
• Fix server identity: name: 'FreightUtils' → 'freightutils-mcp', version: '1.0.0' → '1.0.7'.
• No breaking changes. Same 18 tools, same names, same behaviour.

1.0.6 — 2026-04-22

• Security: bump @modelcontextprotocol/sdk to 1.26.0 to patch CVE-2026-25536 (cross-client data leak via shared transport/server instance reuse). See GHSA-345p-7cg4-v4c7.
• No user-facing API changes. Same 18 tools.

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Other ways to use FreightUtils

FreightUtils ships across multiple distribution surfaces. Pick the one that fits how you work:

• Website — interactive tools at freightutils.com
• REST API — 19 endpoints, free tier (100/day) and Pro tier (50K/month, £19/mo). API docs
• MCP server — for LLM agents and AI tooling. npm: freightutils-mcp · MCP Registry
• n8n custom node — for workflow automation. npm: n8n-nodes-freightutils

Same data, same compliance reference set (ADR 2025, HS 2022, IATA-regulated airline prefixes), every surface kept in sync.

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License

MIT — see LICENSE.

Built by Marius Cristoiu, ADR-certified freight transport planner.