Federal MCP Server

Search and trace US federal rules across the Federal Register, eCFR, and Regulations.gov.

Remote serverstreamable-http

What is the Federal MCP server?

Search and trace US federal rules across the Federal Register, eCFR, and Regulations.gov. Exposed over MCP by the federal mcp server, that capability becomes something an assistant can invoke while it works, not something you go and do afterwards.

What it actually does

  • Declarative tool and resource definitions — single file per primitive, framework handles registration and validation
  • Unified error handling — handlers throw, framework catches, classifies, and formats; typed error contracts with recovery hints
  • Pluggable auth: none, jwt, oauth
  • Swappable storage backends: in-memory, filesystem, Supabase, Cloudflare KV/R2/D1
  • Structured logging with optional OpenTelemetry tracing
  • STDIO and Streamable HTTP transports

Adding it to your client

Being a remote server, there is no local install. You register the endpoint with your client, authorise it once, and the tools appear.

Its toolset

Everything the assistant can do here goes through one of these:

  • regulations_search_rules — Federal Register
  • regulations_get_document — Federal Register
  • regulations_browse_cfr — eCFR
  • regulations_get_cfr_section — eCFR
  • regulations_get_docket — Regulations.gov
  • regulations_find_comments — Regulations.gov
  • regulations_list_open_comments — Federal Register (+ Reg.gov enrich)
  • Prerequisites — The Prerequisites tool exposed by this server
  • Installation — The Installation tool exposed by this server

Configuration

You will need 7 environment variables: MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE, MCP_LOG_LEVEL, REGULATIONS_GOV_API_KEY, FEDERAL_REGISTER_BASE_URL, ECFR_BASE_URL, REGULATIONS_GOV_BASE_URL, ECFR_MIRROR_PATH. The server will not start without them, which is usually why the tools fail to appear on a first run. Keep credentials in your client's env block or a secrets manager rather than in a file you might commit.

  • Bun v1.3 or higher (or Node.js v24+). - Optional: a free api.data.gov key for the Regulations.gov tools (regulations_get_docket, regulations_find_comments, and comment counts in regulations_list_open_comments). The Federal Register and eCFR tools need no key. The shared key allows 1,000 requests/hour.

Caveats

  • Your data travels to the provider's service, so the usual questions apply about what you send and what they retain.
  • With 9 tools registered it takes up a noticeable share of the context window; turn it off in projects that never touch Federal.
  • Missing credentials fail quietly in some clients — if no tools show up, check the environment block first.
  • MCP clients confirm each tool call by default. Leave that on until you have watched what the federal mcp server does with a few real requests.

When to reach for it

This sits in the file and storage access group, where several servers overlap in what they claim to do but differ sharply once you actually set them up. Federal's toolset — regulations_search_rules, regulations_get_document, regulations_browse_cfr and 6 more — is a fair guide to whether it matches your workflow. It is maintained by cyanheads; worth a glance at recent repository activity before you build anything load-bearing on it.

We check each listing at SyncDev against the project's documentation before it goes live — if something here drifts out of date, it is a bug worth reporting.

Available tools

ToolWhat it does
regulations_search_rulesFederal Register
regulations_get_documentFederal Register
regulations_browse_cfreCFR
regulations_get_cfr_sectioneCFR
regulations_get_docketRegulations.gov
regulations_find_commentsRegulations.gov
regulations_list_open_commentsFederal Register (+ Reg.gov enrich)
PrerequisitesThe Prerequisites tool exposed by this server.
InstallationThe Installation tool exposed by this server.

How to install the Federal MCP server

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "federal-regulations-mcp-server": {
      "type": "streamable-http",
      "url": "https://federal-regulations.caseyjhand.com/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Configuration as documented by the project. Restart the client after saving.

Configuration

  • Bun v1.3 or higher (or Node.js v24+). - Optional: a free api.data.gov key for the Regulations.gov tools (regulations_get_docket, regulations_find_comments, and comment counts in regulations_list_open_comments). The Federal Register and eCFR tools need no key. The shared key allows 1,000 requests/hour.
VariableDescriptionRequired
MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPEConfiguration value read at startup.Optional
MCP_LOG_LEVELConfiguration value read at startup.Optional
REGULATIONS_GOV_API_KEYCredential the server authenticates with.Yes
FEDERAL_REGISTER_BASE_URLEndpoint or connection string the server talks to.Yes
ECFR_BASE_URLEndpoint or connection string the server talks to.Yes
REGULATIONS_GOV_BASE_URLEndpoint or connection string the server talks to.Yes
ECFR_MIRROR_PATHFilesystem location the server is allowed to use.Optional

Example prompts to try

  • Use Federal to regulations search rules.
  • Use Federal to regulations get document.
  • Use Federal to regulations browse cfr.

Frequently asked questions

It connects Federal to MCP-compatible AI assistants such as Claude and Cursor, exposing 9 tools (regulations_search_rules, regulations_get_document, regulations_browse_cfr, and more) that the assistant can call on your behalf. Instead of copying data back and forth by hand, the assistant works with Federal directly.