OpenFDA
Provides access to FDA drug information including labels, safety data, adverse events, and manufacturer details through the OpenFDA API.
Integrates with the FDA's OpenFDA API to provide access to drug information, safety data, adverse event reports, and manufacturer details through eight specialized search and retrieval tools with robust error handling and NDC format validation.
What it does
- Search drug information by brand or generic name
- Retrieve adverse event reports and side effects
- Find all brand versions of generic drugs
- Get drug safety warnings and contraindications
- Search drugs by manufacturer
- Validate NDC (National Drug Code) formats
Best for
About OpenFDA
OpenFDA is a community-built MCP server published by ythalorossy that provides AI assistants with tools and capabilities via the Model Context Protocol. Access FDA drug info, faers data, and adverse event reports with OpenFDA’s robust tools for faers, vaers, and NDC valida It is categorized under developer tools, analytics data.
How to install
You can install OpenFDA in your AI client of choice. Use the install panel on this page to get one-click setup for Cursor, Claude Desktop, VS Code, and other MCP-compatible clients. This server runs locally on your machine via the stdio transport.
License
OpenFDA is released under the MIT license. This is a permissive open-source license, meaning you can freely use, modify, and distribute the software.
OpenFDA MCP Server
A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for querying drug information from the OpenFDA API.
Features
- Retrieve drug label information by brand name
- Retrieve drug information by generic (active ingredient) name
- Get all brand versions of a generic drug
- Get adverse event (side effect) reports for a drug (by brand or generic name)
- Retrieve all drugs manufactured by a specific company
- Get comprehensive drug safety information (warnings, contraindications, interactions, precautions, etc.)
- Normalize and validate NDC (National Drug Code) formats
- Helpful error messages and suggestions for failed queries
-
Set up your OpenFDA API Key
The MCP server requires an OpenFDA API key to access the OpenFDA API.
Create a.envfile in the root of your project and add the following line:OPENFDA_API_KEY=your_openfda_api_key_hereNote: Never commit your real API key to version control.
You can obtain an API key from OpenFDA API Key Registration. -
Example MCP Server Configuration
If you are integrating this server with a larger MCP system, your configuration might look like:
{ "mcpServers": { "openfda": { "command": "npx", "args": ["@ythalorossy/openfda"], "env": { "OPENFDA_API_KEY": "************" }, "timeout": 60000 } } }Replace the asterisks with your actual API key, or ensure it is loaded from your
.envfile.
Want to run it local?
git clone https://github.com/ythalorossy/openfda.git
cd openfda
npm install
Usage
First, build the project:
npm run build
Then, start the server from the build folder:
node build/index.js
Key Points:
- The build step (
npm run build) compiles your source files into the build/ directory. - You should run the compiled output (e.g.,
build/bin/index.js), not the source file (bin/index.js), unless your project is set up to run directly from source.
Configuration
Create a .env file for any required environment variables.
License
MIT
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