openLCA MCP Server

An MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that connects AI assistants to a running openLCA instance. Developed and tested with Claude Desktop; compatible with any MCP client that supports stdio transport. Built by Below280, the UK partner for openLCA.

The server exposes 31 tools covering the full LCA workflow: exploring databases, building and editing models, running calculations (scenarios, sensitivity, Monte Carlo, contribution analysis), auditing and validating models, and extracting data quality assessments. All calculation patterns are tested against production ecoinvent databases.

The server works with both ecoinvent-family databases (ecoinvent, EN15804GD, HiQLCD, BAFU) and FLCAC-family databases (LCA Commons, US LCI, USEEIO). It asks which family you are using, or auto-detects from the flow property names.

Available on PyPI and the MCP Registry.

Install

Quick setup (PyPI)

pip install b280-olca-mcp

This installs the server and its dependencies (mcp, olca-ipc) in one step. The server runs from anywhere with python -m b280_olca_mcp.

Development setup (GitHub)

Clone the repository for the latest code, the React dashboard, or if you want to modify the server:

git clone https://github.com/Below280/B280-olca-MCP.git
cd B280-olca-MCP
pip install -r requirements.txt

The server entry point is b280_olca_mcp/server.py.

What it does

Someone using this MCP can say things like:

• 'Make me a model with 34 kWh UK electricity, 5 kg sodium hydroxide, and 34 kWh steam'
• 'Build an EPD model from this LCI'
• 'Run two scenarios, one with transport at 100 km and one at 500 km'
• 'Which processes contribute most to climate change in my system?'
• 'Vary the electricity and PET resin parameters by 10%'
• 'Validate my product system and check if the linking is correct'
• 'Run 1000 Monte Carlo iterations and show me the uncertainty'
• 'Help me connect to openLCA from R / Go / Rust'
• 'What can you do?' (the help tool)

The AI assistant handles the conversation, builds the tool calls, and presents results visually with charts, tables, and exportable data.

Connect your MCP client

The server uses stdio transport. Any MCP client that can spawn a local Python process will work.

Claude Desktop

In Claude Desktop, go to Settings > Developer > Edit Config. Add an openLCA entry to the mcpServers section.

If you installed via PyPI:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "openLCA": {
      "command": "python",
      "args": ["-m", "b280_olca_mcp"],
      "env": {
        "OLCA_PORT": "8080"
      }
    }
  }
}

If you cloned from GitHub:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "openLCA": {
      "command": "python",
      "args": ["C:/path/to/B280-olca-MCP/b280_olca_mcp/server.py"],
      "env": {
        "OLCA_PORT": "8080"
      }
    }
  }
}

On Windows, if Claude Desktop cannot find Python, use the full path to your Python executable.

Restart Claude Desktop after saving.

Cursor

Go to Settings > Tools & MCP > Add MCP Server. Choose stdio transport, set the command to python and the argument to -m b280_olca_mcp (PyPI) or the path to b280_olca_mcp/server.py (GitHub clone). Cursor picks up config changes without restarting.

VS Code

Add the server to .vscode/mcp.json in your workspace or user settings:

{
  "servers": {
    "openLCA": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "python",
      "args": ["-m", "b280_olca_mcp"],
      "env": {
        "OLCA_PORT": "8080"
      }
    }
  }
}

Note: VS Code uses servers as the root key, not mcpServers. If using GitHub Copilot, switch Copilot Chat to Agent mode.

ChatGPT

ChatGPT does not directly launch a local stdio server. A public Streamable HTTP endpoint remains the standard deployment route. For developer testing, OpenAI documents Secure MCP Tunnel, which can connect ChatGPT to a private stdio server without exposing it publicly.

Other MCP clients

Any client that spawns a local Python process over stdin/stdout should work. With PyPI: python -m b280_olca_mcp. With GitHub clone: python path/to/b280_olca_mcp/server.py.

Start it

1. Open your database in openLCA
2. Start the IPC server (Tools > Developer Tools > IPC Server > green play button, port 8080)
3. Restart your MCP client (or reconnect)
4. Ask something like 'what can you do?' or 'what's in my openLCA database?'

After creating or modifying anything, press the Refresh button in openLCA's toolbar to see changes in the GUI.

Data security

The MCP server runs locally and communicates with openLCA on localhost. The AI client (Claude Desktop or equivalent) sends tool results to its provider's servers for processing. This means process names, exchange data, parameter values, and impact results from your database will be in the conversation.

Do not connect a confidential client database through a personal or free-tier AI account. Use a business or enterprise account with appropriate data retention controls, and check your provider's data processing terms before connecting any database containing sensitive information.

Tools

Explore (11 tools)

Tool	Purpose
database_info	Counts of systems, processes, flows, methods, parameters. Auto-detects database family
set_database_family	Set ecoinvent or FLCAC naming conventions
list_systems	List/search product systems
list_methods	List/search impact assessment methods
search_processes	Find processes by name, location, or category
search_flows	Find flows by name and/or category folder
process_details	Full process info: exchanges, parameters, providers
system_parameters	List parameters for a product system
global_parameters	Look up database-level parameters
find_unit	Look up units and their flow properties
chemical_synonyms	PubChem synonym search to find database matches

Build (6 tools)

Tool	Purpose
create_flow	Create product, waste, or elementary flows
create_bridge	Create a bridge flow + process in one call
create_process	Build a process with exchanges, parameters, and providers
edit_process	Edit an existing process: add/update/remove exchanges and parameters
create_system	Create a product system from a process
delete_entity	Delete a process, flow, or product system (requires user confirmation)

Audit (5 tools)

Tool	Purpose
extract_model	Pull everything from a model folder for inspection
audit_model	Structural checks: missing qrefs, zero amounts, unit mismatches
validate_system	Mirrors openLCA's Validate button: linking, parameters, test calculation
get_system_links	Show which providers are linked for each exchange
data_quality	Extract pedigree matrices and uncertainty from a process

Calculate (8 tools)

Tool	Purpose
calculate	Baseline impact assessment
contribution_analysis	Process-level contribution breakdown per impact category
monte_carlo	Uncertainty simulation with statistics
inventory_flows	Raw elementary flow results (LCI level)
scenarios	Scenario calculations from conversational parameter values
scenarios_csv	Scenario calculations from a CSV file
sensitivity	Parameter sensitivity analysis
sensitivity_csv	Sensitivity analysis from a CSV file

Meta (1 tool)

Tool	Purpose
help	Show capabilities grouped by workflow, with optional topic filter

Tool annotations

Every tool carries MCP tool annotations (readOnlyHint, destructiveHint, idempotentHint, openWorldHint) so clients can decide whether to auto-approve or prompt for confirmation. Explore and Calculate tools are read-only. Build tools signal that they modify the database. delete_entity is marked destructive. CSV tools are marked as writing files to disk. chemical_synonyms is marked as reaching an external service (PubChem).

Resources

The server exposes four MCP resources that AI clients can read on demand:

Resource	URI	Purpose
Database info	lca://database/info	Live database overview
Assistant instructions	lca://knowledge/instructions	Operational rules, workflows, and conventions
IPC protocol reference	lca://knowledge/ipc-protocol	Complete JSON-RPC spec for all 60 IPC methods
openLCA resources	lca://knowledge/openlca-resources	Links to databases, docs, forums, and training

The IPC protocol reference enables AI clients to help users connect to openLCA from any programming language by generating client code from the protocol specification.

EPD model building

The server includes a guided workflow for building EN15804 EPD models from LCI data. The AI maps LCI items to lifecycle modules (A1-D), creates the folder structure, bridge processes, module processes, and product systems. Ask 'build an EPD from this LCI' to start.

Standalone scripts

For repeated analyses, the server recommends standalone Python scripts that run without AI tokens. After a scenario or sensitivity calculation, it offers to generate the CSV file needed to run the equivalent script from the openLCA-IPC-tools-python repository.

Related repositories

Repository	Description
openLCA-IPC-tools-python	Standalone Python scripts for scenarios, sensitivity, parameters, prospective LCA
openLCA-IPC-tools-r	R client for openLCA IPC (first R package for openLCA)
openLCA-IPC-tools-fortran	Fortran IPC client and batch calculator

About

Built by Below280 Limited, a UK LCA, EPD and CBAM consultancy and official UK partner for openLCA. The calculation patterns in this server are derived from production scripts used in EPD and LCA consulting work, tested against ecoinvent 3.10/3.11/3.12, EN15804GD, and US Federal LCA Commons (FLCAC) databases.

For issues: GitHub Issues or mcp-feedback@below280.com

Documentation

• Connecting AI to openLCA (full setup guide)
• openLCA scripting knowledge base
• openLCA Manual

Licence

MPL-2.0

mcp-name: io.github.Below280/b280-olca-mcp