Skip to main content

MCP Server for geospatial operations - geocoding, routing, spatial analysis

Project description

GIS MCP Server

PyPI version Python 3.11+ License: MIT CI

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server providing geospatial tools for AI agents. Enables Claude, GPT, and other LLMs to perform geocoding, routing, spatial analysis, and file operations.

Features

  • Geocoding: Convert addresses to coordinates and vice versa (via Nominatim/OSM or Pelias)
  • Batch Geocoding: Geocode multiple addresses in a single request (up to 10)
  • Elevation Data: Get altitude for points and elevation profiles along paths
  • Routing: Calculate routes between points with distance, duration, and geometry (via OSRM)
  • Spatial Analysis: Buffer, intersection, union, distance calculations
  • File I/O: Read/write Shapefiles, GeoJSON, GeoPackage
  • CRS Transformation: Convert between coordinate reference systems

Installation

# From PyPI (when published)
pip install gis-mcp-server

# From source
git clone https://github.com/matbel91765/gis-mcp-server.git
cd gis-mcp-server
pip install -e .

Quick Start

With Claude Desktop

Add to your claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "gis": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["gis-mcp-server"]
    }
  }
}

Direct Usage

# Run the server
gis-mcp-server

Available Tools

Geocoding

geocode

Convert an address to coordinates.

Input: "1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington DC"
Output: {lat: 38.8977, lon: -77.0365, display_name: "White House..."}

reverse_geocode

Convert coordinates to an address.

Input: lat=48.8566, lon=2.3522
Output: {display_name: "Paris, Île-de-France, France", ...}

batch_geocode

Geocode multiple addresses at once (max 10).

Input: addresses=["Paris, France", "London, UK", "Berlin, Germany"]
Output: {results: [...], summary: {total: 3, successful: 3, failed: 0}}

Elevation

get_elevation

Get altitude for a point.

Input: lat=48.8566, lon=2.3522
Output: {elevation_m: 35, location: {lat: 48.8566, lon: 2.3522}}

get_elevation_profile

Get elevations along a path.

Input: coordinates=[[2.3522, 48.8566], [2.2945, 48.8584]]
Output: {profile: [...], stats: {min: 28, max: 42, gain: 14}}

Geometry

distance

Calculate distance between two points.

Input: lat1=48.8566, lon1=2.3522, lat2=51.5074, lon2=-0.1278
Output: {distance: {meters: 343556, kilometers: 343.56, miles: 213.47}}

buffer

Create a buffer zone around a geometry.

Input: geometry={type: "Point", coordinates: [2.3522, 48.8566]}, distance_meters=1000
Output: {geometry: {type: "Polygon", ...}, area_km2: 3.14}

spatial_query

Perform spatial operations (intersection, union, contains, within, etc.).

Input: geometry1={...}, geometry2={...}, operation="intersection"
Output: {geometry: {...}}

transform_crs

Transform coordinates between CRS.

Input: geometry={...}, source_crs="EPSG:4326", target_crs="EPSG:3857"
Output: {geometry: {...}}

Routing

route

Calculate route between two points.

Input: start_lat=48.8566, start_lon=2.3522, end_lat=48.8606, end_lon=2.3376
Output: {distance: {...}, duration: {...}, geometry: {...}, steps: [...]}

isochrone

Calculate area reachable within a time limit.

Input: lat=48.8566, lon=2.3522, time_minutes=15, profile="driving"
Output: {geometry: {type: "Polygon", ...}}

Files

read_file

Read geospatial files (Shapefile, GeoJSON, GeoPackage).

Input: file_path="data/cities.shp"
Output: {type: "FeatureCollection", features: [...]}

write_file

Write features to geospatial files.

Input: features={...}, file_path="output.geojson", driver="GeoJSON"
Output: {file_path: "...", feature_count: 10}

Configuration

Environment variables:

Variable Default Description
NOMINATIM_URL https://nominatim.openstreetmap.org Nominatim API URL
NOMINATIM_USER_AGENT gis-mcp-server/1.0.0 User agent for Nominatim
OSRM_URL https://router.project-osrm.org OSRM API URL
OSRM_PROFILE driving Default routing profile
PELIAS_URL (empty) Pelias geocoding API URL
PELIAS_API_KEY (empty) Pelias API key (optional)
OPEN_ELEVATION_URL https://api.open-elevation.com Open-Elevation API URL
GIS_DEFAULT_CRS EPSG:4326 Default CRS
GIS_TEMP_DIR /tmp/gis-mcp Temporary directory

Response Format

All tools return a consistent JSON structure:

{
  "success": true,
  "data": { ... },
  "metadata": {
    "source": "nominatim",
    "confidence": 0.95
  },
  "error": null
}

Rate Limits

  • Nominatim: 1 request/second (enforced automatically)
  • OSRM Demo: Best effort, consider self-hosting for production

Development

# Install dev dependencies
pip install -e ".[dev]"

# Run tests
pytest

# Run with coverage
pytest --cov=src/gis_mcp --cov-report=html

# Type checking
mypy src/gis_mcp

# Linting
ruff check src/gis_mcp

Architecture

src/gis_mcp/
├── server.py      # MCP server entry point
├── config.py      # Configuration management
├── utils.py       # Common utilities
└── tools/
    ├── geocoding.py   # geocode, reverse_geocode, batch_geocode
    ├── elevation.py   # get_elevation, get_elevation_profile
    ├── routing.py     # route, isochrone
    ├── geometry.py    # buffer, distance, spatial_query, transform_crs
    └── files.py       # read_file, write_file

License

MIT License - see LICENSE for details.

Contributing

Contributions welcome! Please read the contributing guidelines before submitting PRs.

Roadmap

  • Pelias geocoding support (higher accuracy)
  • Elevation/terrain data
  • Batch geocoding
  • Valhalla routing integration (native isochrones)
  • PostGIS spatial queries
  • Real-time traffic data
  • ESRI FileGDB full support

Project details


Download files

Download the file for your platform. If you're not sure which to choose, learn more about installing packages.

Source Distribution

gis_mcp_server-1.1.0.tar.gz (56.5 kB view details)

Uploaded Source

Built Distribution

If you're not sure about the file name format, learn more about wheel file names.

gis_mcp_server-1.1.0-py3-none-any.whl (24.9 kB view details)

Uploaded Python 3

File details

Details for the file gis_mcp_server-1.1.0.tar.gz.

File metadata

  • Download URL: gis_mcp_server-1.1.0.tar.gz
  • Upload date:
  • Size: 56.5 kB
  • Tags: Source
  • Uploaded using Trusted Publishing? No
  • Uploaded via: twine/6.2.0 CPython/3.11.9

File hashes

Hashes for gis_mcp_server-1.1.0.tar.gz
Algorithm Hash digest
SHA256 d59a7c251ee6cdd84fd47c5d838289ade130843123f3e2bd472d03be1c537e11
MD5 74db769c6118cee1cce58da4a8e5f64a
BLAKE2b-256 d33b870e99089200f0c629175c37c8ae50153f52268857e431ee22d49bcb554c

See more details on using hashes here.

File details

Details for the file gis_mcp_server-1.1.0-py3-none-any.whl.

File metadata

  • Download URL: gis_mcp_server-1.1.0-py3-none-any.whl
  • Upload date:
  • Size: 24.9 kB
  • Tags: Python 3
  • Uploaded using Trusted Publishing? No
  • Uploaded via: twine/6.2.0 CPython/3.11.9

File hashes

Hashes for gis_mcp_server-1.1.0-py3-none-any.whl
Algorithm Hash digest
SHA256 b7fa91640965de2d4e98d65d204569e1326040a5866758a6e72d857513f8167f
MD5 9fcfca1f7a036e325301af8f49c6a176
BLAKE2b-256 7ce12a2e640519b91046fe2119752b7c52c7decc222096c1ee9c298eddef6f51

See more details on using hashes here.

Supported by

AWS Cloud computing and Security Sponsor Datadog Monitoring Depot Continuous Integration Fastly CDN Google Download Analytics Pingdom Monitoring Sentry Error logging StatusPage Status page