openroute-mcp 0.0.0

MCP server to help plan routes using https://openrouteservice.org, for activities such as hiking or mountain biking.

🗺️ OpenRoute MCP

Model Context Protocol (MCP) server to help plan routes using OpenRouteService.org, for activities such as hiking or mountain biking.

[!CAUTION]

DISCLAIMER: The routes generated by this service are provided for informational purposes only and are not guaranteed to be safe, legal, or suitable for your intended use. Generated routes may:

• Cross private property or restricted areas
• Include paths that are closed, dangerous, or poorly maintained
• Not reflect current trail conditions, weather hazards, or seasonal closures
• Contain errors in elevation, distance, or difficulty estimates

Always verify routes independently using official maps, local authorities, and current conditions before attempting any journey. Users assume all risks and responsibilities for their safety and compliance with local laws and regulations.

[!TIP]

Copy the whole GPX file returned as part of the tool call results, and use a service such as gpx.studio to load the generated GPX file on a map.

🛠️ Available tools

• 📍 Find possible coordinates for a location
  • Arguments:
    • location (string): location to get coordinates for
  • Returns: list of 10 coordinates with available description to enable the agent figure out the right one
• 🗺️ Create a route from a starting location to a destination, optionally with waypoints
  • Arguments:
    • route_type (string): Type of route, e.g. "driving-car", "cycling-mountain", "cycling-regular", "foot-hiking"
    • from_coordinates (list[float]): Starting location as [longitude, latitude]
    • from_coordinates (list[float]): Destination location as [longitude, latitude]
    • waypoints (list[list[float]]): optional list of waypoints coordinates as [[lon, lat], ...]
  • Returns:
    • the route as a GPX string
    • a resource file containing the route GPX (e.g. route://foot-hiking-98.gpx)
    • a resource file containing a PNG image visualization of the route (e.g. route://foot-hiking-98.png)
    • a resource file containing a HTML interactive visualization of the route (e.g. route://foot-hiking-98.html) that can be directly opened with your browser
• 📌 Search for Points of Interest (POIs) in an area
  • Arguments:
    • bounding_box_coordinates (list[list[float]]): coordinates defining a bounding box as [[min_lon, min_lat], [max_lon, max_lat]]
    • filters_name (list[string]): optional list of names to filter POIs, e.g. ["Gas station", "Restaurant"]
  • Returns: found POIs information
• 🔎 Search for known routes close to a given start and end coordinates, this enables to suggest waypoints to go through known trails when creating a route (only working in Switzerland for now).
  • Arguments:
    • route_type (string): Type of route, e.g. "driving-car", "cycling-mountain", "cycling-regular", "foot-hiking"
    • from_coordinates (list[float]): Starting location as [longitude, latitude]
    • from_coordinates (list[float]): Destination location as [longitude, latitude]
  • Returns: known trails trace and description when available to help the agent build a nice route

🗃️ Available Resources

• 🚏 Route file
  • URL pattern: route://{filename}
  • Type: GPX file (.gpx)
  • Description: Returns a previously generated GPX route by filename.
  • Produced by: create_route_from_to tool

🔌 Connect client to MCP server

Follow the instructions of your client, and use the /mcp URL of your deployed server (e.g. http://localhost:8888/mcp)

For example, for GitHub Copilot in VSCode, to add a new MCP server through the VSCode UI:

• Open side panel chat (ctrl+shift+i or cmd+shift+i), and make sure the mode is set to Agent in the bottom right
• Open command palette (ctrl+shift+p or cmd+shift+p), and search for MCP: Open User Configuration, this will open a mcp.json file

⌨️ Use stdio transport

[!IMPORTANT]

Login with GitHub to openrouteservice.org and get an API key that you can provide through the OPENROUTESERVICE_API_KEY environment variable.

OPENROUTESERVICE_API_KEY=YYY uvx openroute-mcp --stdio

In VSCode mcp.json file you should have:

{
  "servers": {
    "openroute-mcp": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "openroute-mcp"
      ],
      "env": {
        "OPENROUTESERVICE_API_KEY": "YOUR_API_KEY"
      }
    }
  }
}

[!IMPORTANT]

Click on Start just on top of "openroute-mcp" to start the connection to the MCP server.

You can click the wrench and screwdriver button 🛠️ (Configure Tools...) to enable/disable specific tools

📡 Use streamable HTTP server

Connect to a running streamable HTTP MCP server.

In VSCode mcp.json you should have the following:

{
  "servers": {
    "openroute-mcp-http": {
      "url": "http://localhost:8888/mcp",
      "type": "http"
    }
  }
}

[!CAUTION]

The routes created on a public MCP server will be publicly available to anyone.

More details available in the VSCode MCP official docs.

🧑‍💻 Development

Checkout the CONTRIBUTING.md page for more details on running in development and contributing.