ausdata-mcp

mcp-name: io.ausdata/ausdata-mcp

MCP server for the Australian public data API. Plug into Claude Code, Cursor, Windsurf, or any other MCP client and get one-call access to 100+ curated Australian government datasets across 9 sources.

Install

Add to your MCP client config:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ausdata": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "ausdata-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "AUSDATA_API_KEY": "ak_xxx"
      }
    }
  }
}

Get a free API key at https://ausdata.io (500 calls/month on the free tier, no credit card).

Tools exposed

| Tool | What it does | |---|---| | search_datasets | Plain-English search across the catalog. "unemployment NSW" → dataset IDs to call. | | list_datasets | List curated datasets for a given source (abs, rba, ato, …). | | describe_dataset | Schema + filter dictionary for one dataset before you get_data it. | | get_data | Generic accessor by source + dataset_id. Search first, fetch second. | | releases | Upcoming + recent statistical release calendar across all sources. | | real_wages | Wage Price Index minus CPI, quarterly. The Greg Jericho chart in one call. | | real_cash_rate | RBA cash rate minus CPI — the real policy stance. | | economic_dashboard | Cash rate, CPI, unemployment, wage growth, lending — in one response. | | cost_of_living | ABS Selected Living Cost Indexes by household type. | | youth_unemployment | 15-24 unemployment rate, state-level. | | trade_balance | Goods + services trade balance, monthly. | | housing_affordability | House prices vs household disposable income, indexed. | | gender_pay_context | WGEA gender pay gap by industry / employer-size context. | | energy_snapshot | AEMO NEM dispatch + price snapshot, current trading interval. | | health | API reachability check. Useful for debugging. |

Example agent prompts

Once the MCP is connected, try asking your agent:

• "What's the latest RBA cash rate and how does it compare to a year ago?"
• "Show me the real wages trend since 2019."
• "Search for AU housing approval data and pull the last 2 years for NSW."

Configuration

| Env var | Purpose | Default | |---|---|---| | AUSDATA_API_KEY | Bearer token | required | | AUSDATA_API_URL | Override the API base URL | https://api.ausdata.io | | AUSDATA_TIMEOUT | Per-request timeout (ms) | 30000 |

Errors

Every tool returns MCP-formatted errors that AI agents can read and recover from:

• Missing key → Set AUSDATA_API_KEY in your MCP config. Get a free key at https://ausdata.io
• 401 → reauth hint
• 403 → upgrade hint
• 429 → retry-after seconds
• 5xx → "try again, status page is at..."

The ausdata.io ecosystem

Part of a family of MCP servers + a hosted API for Australian public data:

• Sister MCPs (free, MIT): abs · rba · ato · apra · aihw · asic · aemo · au-weather · wgea
• Hosted API + cross-source endpoints: ausdata.io
• Python SDK: pip install ausdataio · Node MCP: npx -y ausdata-mcp

License

MIT — see LICENSE.

This client is independent of the upstream data; each response carries attribution metadata for the underlying ABS / RBA / APRA / AIHW / etc. source under their respective CC-BY licenses.

Development

npm install
npm run build
npm test
npm run lint

Source lives in src/. Tool definitions are in src/tools/. The HTTP routing layer is src/client.ts — it does NOT parse responses, that's the API server's job.