pophive

PopHIVE MCP Server exposes a collection of MCP tools and datasets that give you access to near real-time public health data through standardized MCP prompts, resources, and utilities. You can use the MCP tools to filter datasets by state, date range, demographics, and conditions; compare metrics across states; analyze time series trends; search across datasets for keywords; and retrieve a catalog of all available datasets. The server maps these capabilities to a consistent API so clients like Claude Desktop or other MCP-enabled applications can run analyses and pull data from PopHIVE datasets such as immunizations, respiratory surveillance, chronic diseases, and hospital capacity. This makes it suitable for epidemiologists, public health researchers, and policy analysts who need up-to-date health indicators with flexible querying and analysis prompts.

Prerequisites:

• Node.js 18+
• npm or yarn

Option 2: Manual Installation

1. Clone the repository and install dependencies:

git clone <repository-url>
cd pophive-mcp-server
npm install

2. Configure environment (optional):

# Create .env file for custom configuration
echo "DATA_CACHE_DIR=./data" > .env
echo "UPDATE_FREQUENCY=daily" >> .env

3. Test the server:

npm test

4. Start the server:

npm start

Optionally, to build an extension or use a different deployment method, follow the Desktop Extension or packaging steps in the README as needed.

Environment variables and configuration:

• DATA_CACHE_DIR controls where cached data files are stored. Default is ./data.
• UPDATE_FREQUENCY determines how often the server refreshes datasets (hourly, daily, weekly).
• NODE_ENV can be used to switch between development and production behavior.

MCP client configuration tip:

• When adding the server to an MCP client like Claude Desktop, use the following example to reference the local server: { "mcpServers": { "pophive": { "command": "node", "args": ["server/index.js"], "cwd": "/path/to/pophive-mcp-server" } } }

Common issues:

• Ensure Node.js 18+ is installed and npm install has completed successfully.
• If the server fails to start, check logs for missing environment variables or data path permissions.
• For Desktop Extensions, make sure the DXT tooling and extension packaging steps are followed if you plan to distribute via Claude Desktop.