node-red-contrib-leafengines

Node-RED nodes for LeafEngines Agricultural Intelligence API. Connect your agricultural automation workflows to soil analysis, crop recommendations, weather data, carbon credit calculations, and more.

Features

• 20+ Agricultural Intelligence Endpoints - Soil, water, weather, crop, carbon, and AI analysis
• Tier-Based Access Control - Automatically respects Free, Starter, Pro, and Enterprise rate limits
• Offline-First Architecture - Built-in caching with formal uncertainty quantification
• MCP Protocol Support - Compatible with Claude Desktop and other MCP agents
• Visual Workflow Builder - Drag-and-drop agricultural intelligence automation

Installation

Method 1: Node-RED Palette Manager (Recommended)

1. Open Node-RED (usually at http://localhost:1880)
2. Go to Menu → Manage Palette
3. Click Install tab
4. Search for node-red-contrib-leafengines
5. Click Install

Method 2: npm CLI

# Install globally for all Node-RED instances
npm install -g node-red-contrib-leafengines

# Or install locally to your Node-RED user directory
cd ~/.node-red
npm install node-red-contrib-leafengines

Method 3: Manual Installation

cd ~/.node-red
npm install https://github.com/soilsidekickpro/node-red-contrib-leafengines.git

Quick Start

1. Get Your API Key

1. Visit soilsidekickpro.com/podcast for podcast-exclusive access
2. Request your sandbox API key (ak_sandbox_*)
3. Receive key via email (typically within a few hours)

2. Configure LeafEngines

1. Drag a LeafEngines Config node to your flow
2. Double-click to configure:
   • Name: Your configuration name
   • API Key: Your ak_sandbox_* key
   • API URL: https://[project].supabase.co/functions/v1
   • Tier: Select your subscription tier

3. Create Your First Soil Analysis Flow

[inject] → [LeafEngines Soil] → [debug]

Configure the LeafEngines Soil node:

• Configuration: Select your config node
• County FIPS: Enter a 5-digit FIPS code (e.g., 48453 for Napa County, CA)
• Output Format: Choose Full Analysis, Summary Only, or Minimal Data

4. Deploy and Test

1. Click Deploy
2. Click the inject node button
3. Check debug panel for soil analysis results

Available Nodes

Configuration Nodes

• LeafEngines Config - API key management and connection settings

Specialized Data Nodes

• LeafEngines Soil - USDA soil composition by county FIPS (Free tier)
• LeafEngines Weather - Live weather and soil fusion data (Starter tier)
• LeafEngines Water - EPA water quality monitoring and analytics (Starter tier)
• LeafEngines Crop - AI crop recommendations, planting calendars, and plant identification (Starter/Pro tier)
• LeafEngines Carbon - Carbon credit estimation with practice change analysis (Pro tier)
• LeafEngines Prescription - Variable-rate prescription generation (Pro tier)

Optimization Nodes

• LeafEngines Batch - Batch multiple API calls into single requests (optimizes rate limits)
• LeafEngines Query - Generic node for any LeafEngines endpoint

Coming Soon Nodes

• LeafEngines Environmental - Environmental impact scoring and risk assessment
• LeafEngines Satellite - Google Earth Engine satellite integration
• LeafEngines AI Chat - Advanced conversational AI (Enterprise tier)
• LeafEngines Visual - Visual crop analysis and diagnostics

Example Flows

1. Automated Soil Health Monitoring

// Flow: Daily soil analysis with alerting
[schedule: daily 8am] → [LeafEngines Soil] → [function: check thresholds] → [switch: alert if needed] → [email/sms alert]

2. Irrigation Optimization

// Flow: Smart irrigation scheduling
[weather forecast] → [LeafEngines Soil] → [LeafEngines Water] → [function: calculate irrigation] → [sprinkler controller]

3. Carbon Credit Reporting

// Flow: Automated carbon credit calculation
[field sensor data] → [LeafEngines Carbon] → [function: format report] → [Google Sheets] → [email report]

4. Variable-Rate Application

// Flow: Real-time prescription generation
[GPS position] → [LeafEngines Soil] → [LeafEngines Prescription] → [function: format for equipment] → [sprayer controller]

5. Batch-Optimized Field Analysis

// Flow: Comprehensive analysis with batch optimization
[field parameters] → [prepare batch requests] → [LeafEngines Batch] → [combine results] → [field health score] → [report]

6. Carbon Credit Automation

// Flow: Automated carbon credit reporting
[field data] → [LeafEngines Carbon] → [practice change analysis] → [report generator] → [regulatory submission]

API Endpoints by Tier

Free Tier (2 endpoints)

• get-soil-data - USDA soil composition
• county-lookup - Geographic resolution

Starter Tier ($149/mo, 8 endpoints)

• All Free tier endpoints plus:
• territorial-water-quality - EPA water monitoring
• multi-parameter-planting-calendar - Planting optimization
• live-agricultural-data - Weather/soil fusion
• environmental-impact-engine - Risk scoring
• safe-identification - Plant ID with toxic lookalike warnings

Pro Tier ($499/mo, 7 endpoints)

• All Starter tier endpoints plus:
• agricultural-intelligence - AI crop recommendations
• carbon-credit-calculator - Carbon credit estimation
• generate-vrt-prescription - Variable-rate prescriptions
• leafengines-query - Natural language interface

Enterprise Tier ($1,999/mo, 3 endpoints)

• All Pro tier endpoints plus:
• gpt5-chat - Advanced conversational AI
• visual-crop-analysis - Visual diagnostics
• geo-consumption-analytics - Geographic pattern analysis

Rate Limits & Batch Optimization

Standard Rate Limits

| Tier | Requests/Minute | Requests/Day | Concurrent | Batch Size | |------|----------------|--------------|------------|------------| | Free | 10 | 1,000 | 2 | 5 | | Starter | 30 | 5,000 | 5 | 10 | | Pro | 100 | 25,000 | 10 | 25 | | Enterprise | 500 | 100,000 | 25 | 50 |

Effective Rate Limits with Batching

| Tier | Individual Calls | With Batching (5 calls/batch) | Improvement | |------|------------------|--------------------------------|-------------| | Free | 10/min | 50/min | 5x | | Starter | 30/min | 150/min | 5x | | Pro | 100/min | 500/min | 5x | | Enterprise | 500/min | 2,500/min | 5x |

Batch Optimization Tip: A single POST containing multiple JSON-RPC calls counts as 1 rate-limited request. The LeafEngines Batch node automatically optimizes multiple API calls into single batch requests.

Batch Optimization Examples

1. Soil + Water + Weather Analysis (3 calls) → 1 batch request (66% reduction)
2. Multi-County Comparison (5 counties) → 1 batch request (80% reduction)
3. Full Field Analysis (8 endpoints) → 2 batch requests (75% reduction)

See examples/batch-optimization.json for a complete implementation.

MCP Protocol Integration

LeafEngines implements the Model Context Protocol (MCP), enabling AI agents to discover and invoke agricultural intelligence tools natively.

Claude Desktop Configuration

Add to your claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "leafengines": {
      "transport": "streamable-http",
      "url": "https://[project].supabase.co/functions/v1/mcp-server",
      "headers": {
        "x-api-key": "ak_sandbox_your_key_here"
      }
    }
  }
}

OpenClaw Integration

LeafEngines appears as a discoverable MCP server in OpenClaw. Agents can:

• Discover available tools via tools/list
• Invoke tools with typed parameters
• Batch multiple operations in single requests

Data Integrity Guarantees

LeafEngines provides formal data integrity guarantees:

1. Provenance Tracking - Chain of custody from source to decision
2. Formal Uncertainty - Calibrated confidence intervals on all outputs
3. Cryptographic Integrity - SHA-256 validation of cached data
4. Temporal Consistency - Data staleness bounds per data type
5. Compliance-Ready Audit Trail - SOC 2-aligned logging

Performance Benchmarks

| Endpoint | P50 Latency | P95 Latency | Cache Hit Rate | |----------|-------------|-------------|----------------| | get-soil-data | 12ms | 45ms | 94% | | county-lookup | 8ms | 32ms | 97% | | territorial-water-quality | 85ms | 210ms | 78% | | carbon-credit-calculator | 45ms | 120ms | 85% |

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

1. "Invalid API key" error

   • Verify your key starts with ak_
   • Check for typos or extra spaces
   • Ensure you're using the correct tier configuration

2. "Network error: No response received"

   • Check your internet connection
   • Verify the API URL is correct
   • Check firewall/network restrictions

3. Rate limit errors

   • Check your tier's rate limits
   • Implement batch operations for multiple calls
   • Add delay nodes between calls if needed

4. "County FIPS must be 5 digits"

   • Use 5-digit FIPS codes only
   • Find codes at: EPA FIPS Code Search

Debug Mode

Enable detailed logging:

# Start Node-RED with debug logging
node-red --verbose

# Or set environment variable
export DEBUG=node-red-contrib-leafengines*
node-red

Contributing

We welcome contributions! The LeafEngines Contributor Program provides API access and recognition for developers who extend the platform.

Contribution Tracks

1. Integration Developer - Build Node-RED nodes, n8n workflows, Zapier actions
2. Data Connector - Add new data source adapters
3. Domain Expert - Crop-specific model validation, regional calibration
4. Security Researcher - Responsible disclosure, penetration testing

See CONTRIBUTING.md for details.

Support

• Technical Support: [email protected]
• Enterprise Sales: [email protected]
• Contributor Program: [email protected]
• API Documentation: soilsidekickpro.com/api-docs
• GitHub Issues: github.com/soilsidekickpro/node-red-contrib-leafengines/issues

License

MIT License - see LICENSE file for details.

Acknowledgments

• USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service for soil data
• EPA for water quality monitoring data
• Google Earth Engine for satellite imagery
• Anthropic for Model Context Protocol specification
• Node-RED community for the amazing low-code platform

Podcast Listeners: Visit soilsidekickpro.com/podcast for exclusive Founders Series API keys with lifetime preferential pricing.