Openfec MCP Server - install, status & alternatives [2026]

01 · Install Openfec MCP Server

before you install - you'll need

Set MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE before connecting. FEC_API_KEY is optional or environment-specific per the README.

Claude Code

claude mcp add cyanheads-openfec-mcp-server --transport http https://openfec.caseyjhand.com/mcp

Claude Desktop / Cursor / VS Code - add to config

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "cyanheads-openfec-mcp-server": {
      "url": "https://openfec.caseyjhand.com/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Same JSON for Cursor. For VS Code, rename the top-level key from `mcpServers` to `servers`.

Using another client? Same JSON, different key

Claude Desktop · mcpServers

Cursor · mcpServers

VS Code · servers

Windsurf · mcpServers

Zed · context_servers

Cline · mcpServers

Roo Code · mcpServers

Continue · mcpServers

LibreChat · mcpServers

Gemini CLI · mcpServers

Codex CLI · mcp_servers

Full setup guides: every client.

02 · Evidence

https://openfec.caseyjhand.com/mcp

transport: streamable-http

endpoint alive - responded to MCP initialize · probed 2026-09-17

Security posture

What to check before giving this server access to your agent - from the registry, GitHub, and our own probes. We don't score safety; we show what's verifiable.

runs as local process (stdio) - runs on your machine with your user's permissions · remote - your agent's requests go to openfec.caseyjhand.com

endpoint auth accepted our unauthenticated MCP initialize - no credentials needed to connect

license Apache-2.0 - declared in the repository

npm package @cyanheads/openfec-mcp-server - published under the repo owner's npm scope (@cyanheads)

registry namespace io.github.cyanheads is GitHub-verified and matches the repo owner

03 · What Openfec MCP Server can do

Prose above is summarized from the project's README and registry record - no invented capabilities.

What you can build

With this server connected, an agent can find federal candidates by name, state, office, party, or cycle, find political committees by name, type, candidate affiliation, or state, get pre-aggregated committee financial totals for one committee, or rank committees of one entity type, and search itemized individual contributions or aggregate breakdowns by size, state, employer, or occupation.

Capability map

Tools grouped from the project's README - what Openfec MCP Server lets an agent do.

Openfec

12 tools - e.g. Find federal candidates by name, state, office, party, or cycle.; Find political committees by name, type, candidate affiliation, or state.; Get pre-aggregated committee financial totals for one…

openfec_search_candidates · openfec_search_committees · openfec_get_committee_totals · openfec_search_contributions · openfec_search_disbursements · openfec_search_expenditures…

Recipient

2 tools - e.g. Aggregate by payee name; Aggregate by recipient committee ID

by_recipient · by_recipient_id

Single

1 tool - e.g. One committee's totals, one row per two-year cycle it filed

single

Entity

1 tool - e.g. Every committee of one type - presidential, pac, party, pac-party, house-senate, ie-only

by_entity_type

Itemized

1 tool - e.g. Individual contribution records with keyset cursor pagination

itemized

Size

1 tool - e.g. Aggregate breakdowns by contribution size range

by_size

State

1 tool - e.g. Geographic breakdown of contributions

by_state

Employer

1 tool - e.g. Top employer aggregates

by_employer

Latest releases

v0.8.0 · 2026-08-31

OpenFEC input validation · Direct candidate and committee lookups now reject search-only filters, and totals scope requires totals to be enabled (#25) · Resolved Schedule A/B/E and election endpoints reject unsupported…

v0.7.2 · 2026-08-25

mcp-ts-core ^0.12.3 - SDK v2 on the wire · Tool inputs are strict: an unrecognized argument key is rejected by name instead of silently dropped · Advertised schemas move to JSON Schema 2020-12 with…

v0.7.1 · 2026-07-26

Prompt sequence fixes: committee totals, coordinated expenditures, cycle pinning · openfec_money_trail and openfec_campaign_analysis now chain openfec_get_committee_totals and openfec_search_coordinated_expenditures…

04 · Who maintains Openfec MCP Server

openfec-mcp-server is maintained by cyanheads. We track 125 MCP servers from cyanheads - 119 actively maintained, 1,816 combined GitHub stars, oldest repo from Dec 2024. Full record: all servers from cyanheads.

05 · Facts

repository: github.com/cyanheads/openfec-mcp-server
category: finance - ranked #111 of 318 actively-maintained finance servers as of 2026-09-18.
release cadence: 9 releases in the last 90 days (latest 2026-08-31)
registry: io.github.cyanheads/openfec-mcp-server (active, first published 2026-04-05 · 27 versions)
packages: npm:@cyanheads/openfec-mcp-server · npm:@cyanheads/openfec-mcp-server

06 · Openfec MCP Server FAQ

Is Openfec MCP Server still maintained?

Yes - as of 2026-09-18, its last commit was 2026-08-31 and it shipped 9 releases in the last 90 days. We re-verify nightly.

What can Openfec MCP Server do?

With this server connected, an agent can find federal candidates by name, state, office, party, or cycle, find political committees by name, type, candidate affiliation, or state, get pre-aggregated committee financial totals for one committee, or rank committees of one entity type, and search itemized individual contributions or aggregate breakdowns by size, state, employer, or occupation.

How do I install Openfec MCP Server?

Run `npx -y @cyanheads/openfec-mcp-server`. The README documents 2 environment variables (MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE, FEC_API_KEY) to set first. Set MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE before connecting. FEC_API_KEY is optional or environment-specific per the README. You can also paste the ready-made client config above.

Does Openfec MCP Server require authentication?

No - the endpoint accepted our unauthenticated MCP initialize when probed on 2026-09-17; you can connect without credentials.

07 · Alternatives to Openfec MCP Server

Alternatives to Openfec MCP Server

Maintained finance servers if Openfec MCP Server isn't the fit.

Pairs well with

Servers that cover what Openfec MCP Server doesn't - only shown when the pairing reason fits the companion.

More finance MCP servers · Toolkit MCP Server · Open Markets · Equibles · Yahoo Finance (danishashko) · Financial Modeling Prep (fmpsdk)

More TypeScript MCP servers · Openlibrary MCP Server · Openstates MCP Server · Openstreetmap MCP Server · Orcid MCP Server · Osv Advisory MCP Server · see all