A modular Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that provides unified access to multiple astronomical datasets through a clean, extensible architecture.
Astro MCP becomes available to MCP clients through the astro mcp mcp server. A modular Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that provides unified access to multiple astronomical datasets through a clean, extensible architecture.
A modular Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that provides unified access to multiple astronomical datasets through a clean, extensible architecture.
Once connected, the assistant can call these 12 tools directly:
search_objects — Find astronomical objects (DESI)astroquery_query — Universal queries across 40+ astronomical servicesget_spectrum_by_id — Retrieve detailed spectral data (DESI)list_astroquery_services — Show all available astronomical databasesget_astroquery_service_details — Detailed service informationsearch_astroquery_services — Find services by criteriapreview_data — Inspect saved files with structure analysislist_files — Manage saved data across all sourcesfile_statistics — Storage usage and organization infoconvert_to_fits — Convert data to FITS formatTesting — The Testing tool exposed by this serverContributing — 1. Fork the repository 2. Create a feature branch (git checkout -b feature/new-capability) 3. Add your data source or tool following the existing patterns 4The server is distributed via PyPI as sparclclient, so most clients can run it without a manual build step. Add it to your MCP client's configuration and restart the client to pick it up — the copy-paste configs for Claude Desktop, Claude Code and Cursor are on this page.
Developer-tool servers are usually the first ones people connect, because they turn "help me with this code" into an assistant that can actually read the repo and act on it. Astro MCP sits in that group, and the shape of its toolset — search_objects, astroquery_query, get_spectrum_by_id among others — tells you what it is really for. Worth comparing against the other developer tools servers in this directory before you commit to one, since several overlap in scope but differ sharply in setup cost and permissions.
| Tool | What it does |
|---|---|
| search_objects | Find astronomical objects (DESI) |
| astroquery_query | Universal queries across 40+ astronomical services |
| get_spectrum_by_id | Retrieve detailed spectral data (DESI) |
| list_astroquery_services | Show all available astronomical databases |
| get_astroquery_service_details | Detailed service information |
| search_astroquery_services | Find services by criteria |
| preview_data | Inspect saved files with structure analysis |
| list_files | Manage saved data across all sources |
| file_statistics | Storage usage and organization info |
| convert_to_fits | Convert data to FITS format |
| Testing | The Testing tool exposed by this server. |
| Contributing | 1. Fork the repository 2. Create a feature branch (git checkout -b feature/new-capability) 3. Add your data source or tool following the existing patterns 4. Write tests for new functionality 5. Update documentation and |
{
"mcpServers": {
"astro-mcp": {
"command": "/path/to/conda/envs/mcp/bin/python",
"args": ["/path/to/astro_mcp/server.py"],
"cwd": "/path/to/astro_mcp",
"env": {}
}
}
}Configuration as documented by the project. Restart the client after saving.
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