ontario-data-mcp 0.1.6

MCP server for Ontario Open Data Catalogue

ontario-data-mcp

MCP server for searching, downloading, and analyzing datasets from Ontario's Open Data Catalogue. Caches data locally in DuckDB for fast SQL queries, statistical analysis, and geospatial operations.

Installation

With Claude Desktop

Add to your claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ontario-data": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["ontario-data-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Config file location:

• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
• Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

With Claude Code

claude mcp add ontario-data -- uvx ontario-data-mcp

To auto-approve all tool calls (no confirmation prompts), add to your Claude Code settings:

{
  "permissions": {
    "allow": ["mcp:ontario-data:*"]
  }
}

All 23 read-only tools are annotated as such. The only destructive tool is cache_manage, which removes local cached data (no remote mutations).

With VS Code

Add to .vscode/mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ontario-data": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["ontario-data-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

From Source

git clone https://github.com/sprine/ontario-data-mcp
cd ontario-data-mcp
uv sync
uv run ontario-data-mcp

Tools

Discovery (6 tools)

Tool	Description
search_datasets	Search for datasets by keyword
list_organizations	List Ontario government ministries with dataset counts
list_topics	List all tags/topics in the catalogue
get_popular_datasets	Get popular or recently updated datasets
search_by_location	Find datasets covering a specific geographic area
find_related_datasets	Find datasets related by tags and organization

Metadata (4 tools)

Tool	Description
get_dataset_info	Get full metadata for a dataset including all resources
list_resources	List all files in a dataset with formats and sizes
get_resource_schema	Get column schema and sample values for a datastore resource
compare_datasets	Compare metadata side-by-side for multiple datasets

Retrieval & Caching (4 tools)

Tool	Description
download_resource	Download a resource and cache it locally in DuckDB (returns staleness info if already cached)
cache_info	Cache statistics + list all cached datasets with staleness
cache_manage	Remove single resource, clear all, or refresh (action enum)
refresh_cache	Re-download cached resources with latest data

Querying (4 tools)

Tool	Description
query_resource	Query a resource via CKAN Datastore API (remote)
sql_query	Run SQL against the CKAN Datastore (remote)
query_cached	Run SQL against locally cached data in DuckDB
preview_data	Quick preview of first N rows of a resource

Data Quality (3 tools)

Tool	Description
check_data_quality	Analyze nulls, type consistency, duplicates, outliers
check_freshness	Check if a dataset is current vs. its update schedule
profile_data	Statistical profile using DuckDB SUMMARIZE

Geospatial (3 tools)

Tool	Description
load_geodata	Cache a geospatial resource (SHP, KML, GeoJSON) into DuckDB
spatial_query	Run spatial queries against cached geospatial data
list_geo_datasets	Find datasets containing geospatial resources

Prompts

Context-aware guided workflow prompts:

• explore_topic — Guided exploration of a topic (fetches live catalogue context)
• data_investigation — Deep dive into a specific dataset: schema, quality, statistics
• compare_data — Side-by-side analysis of multiple datasets

Resources

• ontario://cache/index — List all locally cached datasets with freshness info
• ontario://dataset/{dataset_id} — Full metadata for a specific dataset
• ontario://portal/stats — Overview statistics about the Ontario Data Catalogue
• ontario://guides/duckdb-sql — DuckDB SQL reference with tips for Ontario data analysis

Environment Variables

Variable	Default	Purpose
LOG_LEVEL	WARNING	Python logging level
ONTARIO_DATA_CACHE_DIR	~/.cache/ontario-data	DuckDB storage + log file location
ONTARIO_DATA_TIMEOUT	30	HTTP timeout in seconds
ONTARIO_DATA_RATE_LIMIT	10	Max CKAN requests per second

How It Works

1. Search the Ontario Data Catalogue using CKAN API tools
2. Download resources into a local DuckDB database for fast access
3. Query cached data with full DuckDB SQL (time series, correlations, pivots, window functions)
4. Analyze with statistical profiling, data quality checks, and geospatial queries

Data is cached at ~/.cache/ontario-data/ontario_data.duckdb. No API keys required — the Ontario Data Catalogue is fully public.

Development

uv sync
uv run python -m pytest tests/ -v

License

MIT