Congress.gov API

What is congress_gov_mcp?

congress_gov_mcp is an unofficial Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that allows users to interact with real-time data from the Congress.gov API. The Congress.gov API is the official API for the United States Congress, providing access to legislative information.

How to use congress_gov_mcp?

There are two primary ways to install and use congress_gov_mcp:

Installing via Smithery

This is the recommended method for automatic installation with Claude Desktop. Run the following command:

npx -y @smithery/cli install @AshwinSundar/congress_gov_mcp --client claude

Manual Installation

1. Prerequisites:

   • Install uv (a Python package installer).
   • Obtain a Congress.gov API key from api.congress.gov/sign-up.
   • Install a client that supports MCP Integrations, such as Claude Desktop or Claude Code.

2. Initial Setup:

   • Clone the congress_gov_mcp repository.
   • Navigate into the cloned directory.
   • Install dependencies using uv sync.
   • Create a .env file from .env.template.
   • Add your Congress.gov API key to the .env file: CONGRESS_GOV_API_KEY="your-api-key-here".

3. Client Configuration:

   • Claude Desktop: Add the mcpServers configuration to your claude_desktop_config.json file, specifying the command and args to run the server.py script using uv.
   • Claude Code: Add the mcpServers configuration to your .mcp.json file, similar to Claude Desktop.

Key Features of congress_gov_mcp

• Real-time Data Access: Interact with the official Congress.gov API to retrieve up-to-date legislative information.
• Comprehensive API Coverage: Supports a wide range of Congress.gov API endpoints, including:
  • Bills (by congress, type, number, with sub-endpoints for actions, amendments, committees, cosponsors, etc.)
  • Amendments (by congress, type, number, with sub-endpoints)
  • Summaries
  • Congressional members (by bioguideId, with sub-endpoints for sponsored/cosponsored legislation)
  • Committees, committee reports, and committee prints
  • Committee meetings and hearings
  • House votes
  • Congressional Record (daily and bound)
  • House and Senate communications and requirements
  • Nominations
  • CRS reports
  • Treaties
• MCP Server: Functions as an MCP server, enabling integration with MCP-compatible clients like Claude Desktop and Claude Code.
• Easy Installation: Provides both automated (Smithery) and manual installation instructions.

Use Cases of congress_gov_mcp

• Legislative Research: Developers and researchers can programmatically access and analyze legislative data from the U.S. Congress.
• Application Development: Build applications that require real-time information about bills, amendments, members, and other congressional activities.
• Data Analysis: Perform data analytics on legislative trends, voting records, and committee activities.
• Staying Informed: Create custom tools or dashboards to monitor congressional proceedings and stay informed about legislative developments.

FAQ about congress_gov_mcp

Q: What is the Congress.gov API? A: The Congress.gov API is the official API provided by the United States Congress for accessing legislative information.

Q: Do I need an API key to use congress_gov_mcp? A: Yes, you need a Congress.gov API key, which can be obtained from api.congress.gov/sign-up.

Q: What is MCP? A: MCP stands for Model Context Protocol, which is a protocol that allows language models and other clients to interact with external tools and services.

Q: Which clients are supported by congress_gov_mcp? A: congress_gov_mcp is designed to work with MCP-compatible clients such as Claude Desktop and Claude Code.

Q: How can I contribute to congress_gov_mcp? A: The project is open source on GitHub, and contributions are welcome. Refer to the repository for details on contributing.

Congress.gov MCP server

Ever wonder what our (US) Congress is up to? Tired of reading the news to find out? Ask the US Congress API yourself.

Unofficial MCP server for the Congress.gov API

Installation

Installing via Smithery

To install congress_gov_mcp for Claude Desktop automatically via Smithery:

npx -y @smithery/cli install @AshwinSundar/congress_gov_mcp --client claude

Manual Installation

Prerequisites

1. Install uv. The easiest way on macOS and Linux is:

   curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh
   

2. Get a Congress.gov API key.

3. Install Claude Desktop, Claude Code, or another client that supports MCP Integrations

Initial Setup

1. Complete Prerequisites

2. Clone this repository, and cd in:

   git clone http://github.com/AshwinSundar/congress_gov_mcp
   

   cd congress_gov_mcp
   

3. Install dependencies:

   uv sync
   

4. Create a .env file from the template:

   cp .env.template .env
   

5. Add your Congress.gov API key to the .env file:

congress_gov_mcp/.env

CONGRESS_GOV_API_KEY="your-api-key-here"

Client Configuration

Claude Desktop

1. Complete Prerequisites

2. Copy the absolute path to your uv installation:

which uv

2. Add the following to your Claude Desktop configuration file, inside the mcpServers block:

   macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

   Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "congress_gov_mcp": {
      "command": "/absolute_path/to/uv",
      "args": [
        "run",
        "/absolute_path_to/congress_gov_mcp/server.py"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Claude Code

1. Complete Prerequisites

2. Add the following to .mcp.json in the directory you are running Claude Code in, inside the mcpServers block:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "congress_gov_mcp": {
      "command": "uv",
      "args": [
        "run",
        "/absolute_path_to/congress_gov_mcp/server.py"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Roadmap

• api.congress.gov
  • /bill
    • /{congress}
    • /{congress}/{billType}
    • /{congress}/{billType}/{billNumber}
      • /actions
      • /amendments
      • /committees
      • /cosponsors
      • /relatedbills
      • /subjects
      • /summaries
      • /text
      • /titles
  • /amendment
    • /{congress}
    • /{congress}/{amendmentType}
    • /{congress}/{amendmentType}/{amendmentNumber}
      • /actions
      • /cosponsors
      • /amendments
      • /text
  • /summaries
    • /{congress}
    • /{congress}/{billType}
  • /congress
    • /{congress}
    • /current
  • /member
    • /{bioguideId}
      • /sponsored-legislation
      • /cosponsored-legislation
  • /committee
    • /{systemCode}
      • /bills
      • /reports
      • /nominations
      • /meetings
      • /hearings
      • /house-communication
      • /senate-communication
  • /committee-report
    • /{congress}
    • /{congress}/{reportType}
    • /{congress}/{reportType}/{reportNumber}
      • /text
  • /committee-print
    • /{congress}
    • /{congress}/{printType}
    • /{congress}/{printType}/{printNumber}
      • /text
  • /committee-meeting
    • /{congress}
    • /{congress}/{chamber}
      • /meetings
  • /hearing
    • /{congress}
    • /{congress}/{chamber}
    • /{congress}/{chamber}/{hearingNumber}
  • /house-vote
    • /{congress}
    • /{congress}/{session}
    • /{congress}/{session}/{rollCallNumber}
  • /congressional-record
    • /{volume}
    • /{volume}/{pagePrefix}
    • /{volume}/{pagePrefix}/{pageNumber}
  • /daily-congressional-record
    • /{volume}
    • /{volume}/{issue}
  • /bound-congressional-record
    • /{year}
    • /{year}/{month}
    • /{year}/{month}/{day}
  • /house-communication
    • /{congress}
    • /{congress}/{communicationType}
    • /{congress}/{communicationType}/{communicationNumber}
  • /house-requirement
    • /{congress}
    • /{congress}/{requirementNumber}
  • /senate-communication
    • /{congress}
    • /{congress}/{communicationType}
    • /{congress}/{communicationType}/{communicationNumber}
  • /nomination
    • /{congress}
    • /{congress}/{nominationNumber}
      • /actions
      • /hearings
  • /crsreport
    • /{productCode}
  • /treaty
    • /{congress}
    • /{congress}/{treatyNumber}
      • /actions
      • /committees