adsb

The ADS-B MCP Server exposes typical ADS-B feeder data through the Model Context Protocol so you can query real-time aircraft positions, callsigns, altitudes, and tracking information, along with receiver statistics and range data. It also provides search capabilities to find aircraft by callsign, hex code, or flight number, and exposes range/coverage information for your feeder setup. Once running, you can connect MCP clients (including Claude Desktop, MCP Inspector, or your own MCP client) to send tool requests such as get_aircraft_data, get_receiver_stats, or search operations to retrieve structured responses suitable for LLM-assisted analysis. The server is designed to work with standard readsb/tar1090 style endpoints, and can be pointed at a feeder running on your network.

In addition to the server itself, the repository includes tools to help you test and integrate with Claude Desktop and other MCP clients. The MCP Inspector allows you to test all MCP tools via a web interface, while the MCP Bundle (adsb-mcp-server.mcpb) lets you distribute a self-contained package with all dependencies. A simple Node.js client is also included for interactive testing from the command line. These utilities enable end-to-end verification of your connection to the ADS-B feeder and quick experimentation with MCP tool capabilities.

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18.0 or higher
• npm (comes with Node.js)
• Access to an ADS-B feeder

Install and build

1. Clone the repository:

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/dirkhh/adsb-mcp-server.git
cd adsb-mcp-server

2. Install dependencies:

npm install

3. Build the project:

npm run build

4. Run the MCP server (example):

# Ensure your feeder is accessible, then start the server
node dist/src/readsb_mcp_server.js --base-url http://adsb-feeder.local:8080

Optional steps for distribution

• Create an MCP bundle for easy distribution:

npm run build
mcpb pack .

The bundle will be created as adsb-mcp-server.mcpb.

Note: The exact base URL to pass to the server should reflect your ADS-B feeder host and port. The server expects the feeder REST endpoints typically exposed by readsb/tar1090 (e.g., /data/aircraft.json, /data/stats.json).

• Base URL configuration: set --base-url to point to your ADS-B feeder API (e.g., http://localhost:8080 or http://feeder.local:8080). The server exposes endpoints compatible with standard readsb/tar1090 data feeds.
• If you run in a container or on a different network, ensure port 8080 (or your feeder port) is accessible from the MCP client.
• When using Claude Desktop, you can use the automatic setup script to generate the correct configuration and merge it with existing Claude Desktop settings.
• The MCP Inspector can help you validate tool outputs before connecting to Claude Desktop.
• If you encounter issues, verify feeder accessibility (curl http://adsb-feeder.local:8080/data/aircraft.json) and check the server logs for connectivity or parsing errors.