io.github.cyanheads/noaa-marine-mcp-server

Official8 toolsLive

by cyanheads · TypeScript

Find NOAA tide stations and NDBC buoys, fetch tide predictions, currents, and live conditions.

This MCP server provides access to NOAA marine data. It finds NOAA tide stations and NDBC buoys and fetches tide predictions, water levels, tidal currents, and live buoy conditions via Model Context Protocol. It supports STDIO or Streamable HTTP transport.

🛠️ Key Features

NOAA tide station discovery
NDBC buoy discovery
Tide predictions and water level retrieval
Tidal current retrieval
Live buoy conditions

🚀 Use Cases

Marine and oceanography applications needing NOAA-derived tide and buoy data
Developer workflows that require live marine conditions
Agent tooling for locating relevant NOAA stations/buoys and pulling time-based data

⚡ Developer Benefits

Model Context Protocol integration (MCP server)
TypeScript-oriented project topics
7 available tools for data access

⚠️ Limitations

Limited to NOAA tide stations and NDBC buoys and related marine data described above
Tooling availability is limited to 7 tools as provided by the source data

Topics

ai-agentsai-toolsbuoycyanheadsmarinemcpmcp-servermodel-context-protocolnoaaoceanographytidestypescript

Captured live from the server via tools/list.

noaa_marine_find_stations

Find CO-OPS tide, water-level and current stations and NDBC buoys near a location, by name, or by station ID, returning a unified list with source, data capabilities, coordinates, and — for NDBC — the physical platform class. This is the required first step for resolving a place name, a coordinate pair, or a bare station number to the station IDs the data tools take: CO-OPS tide and water-level IDs are numeric (e.g. 9447130 for Seattle), CO-OPS current IDs are alphanumeric (e.g. ACT4176), and NDBC buoy IDs are 5-character alphanumeric codes (e.g. 46041). Two axes are reported separately — capabilities and type name the data products a station serves (tide, current, water_level, met, current_profile, water_quality), while platform is the NDBC physical classification (buoy, fixed, oilrig, dart, tao, usv, other) that CO-OPS stations do not carry. Supply latitude and longitude together for a proximity search, or query for a name-or-ID substring matched against both sources, or state for CO-OPS coverage in one state; the filters combine, and results lead with an exact ID match unless a proximity search is ordering them by distance. A search that matches nothing is a success with total_found: 0 carrying an echo of the filters that were applied, and a search whose catalogs did not all answer says which source is missing. CO-OPS prediction stations carry a third axis as well, prediction_class, which says what a station can actually answer: a tide station is either reference, serving both hilo and the 6-minute curve, or subordinate, serving hilo only, while a current station carries its class per depth bin in bins[] — a harmonic or subordinate bin serves the normal flood/ebb/slack series, and a weak_and_variable bin may instead answer noaa_marine_get_currents with a coverage statement and no events, or report that CO-OPS publishes no predictions for it at all, so prefer a harmonic bin when one is in range.

Parameters8

latitude	number	optional	Center latitude in decimal degrees for proximity search. Required together with longitude — supplying only one is rejected rather than silently ignored. Optionally pair with radius_km.
longitude	number	optional	Center longitude in decimal degrees for proximity search. Required together with latitude — supplying only one is rejected rather than silently ignored. Optionally pair with radius_km.
radius_km	number	optional	Search radius in kilometers when latitude/longitude are provided. Defaults to 100 km.
query	string	optional	Station name or station ID substring to match, case-insensitive, on both sources. E.g. "seattle", "puget sound", "9447130", "46041". A station whose ID matches exactly is returned ahead of name matches, unless latitude/longitude were supplied — a proximity search orders by distance instead. Blank or whitespace-only values are treated as omitted.
state	string	optional	Filter by 2-letter US state or territory code. Applies to CO-OPS stations only — providing it restricts results to CO-OPS and excludes NDBC buoys (which carry no state). A station matches on its own catalog code, or — when its catalog rows carry none, as with every current station — on the state of the nearest state-bearing CO-OPS tide or water-level station within 25 km, which can be wrong on waters shared across a state or national border. E.g. "WA", "CA", "PR".
source	string	optional	Data source to search: coops (tide/water-level/current stations), ndbc (buoys), or all (default).
types	array	optional	Filter by data capability or NDBC platform class. Every returned station matches at least one requested value — a capability value against its capabilities list, or buoy against its platform class. Omit to return all stations.
limit	integer	optional	Maximum number of stations to return. Defaults to 20.

Raw schema

{
  "type": "object",
  "properties": {
    "latitude": {
      "description": "Center latitude in decimal degrees for proximity search. Required together with longitude — supplying only one is rejected rather than silently ignored. Optionally pair with radius_km.",
      "type": "number",
      "minimum": -90,
      "maximum": 90
    },
    "longitude": {
      "description": "Center longitude in decimal degrees for proximity search. Required together with latitude — supplying only one is rejected rather than silently ignored. Optionally pair with radius_km.",
      "type": "number",
      "minimum": -180,
      "maximum": 180
    },
    "radius_km": {
      "default": 100,
      "description": "Search radius in kilometers when latitude/longitude are provided. Defaults to 100 km.",
      "type": "number",
      "minimum": 1,
      "maximum": 1000
    },
    "query": {
      "description": "Station name or station ID substring to match, case-insensitive, on both sources. E.g. \"seattle\", \"puget sound\", \"9447130\", \"46041\". A station whose ID matches exactly is returned ahead of name matches, unless latitude/longitude were supplied — a proximity search orders by distance instead. Blank or whitespace-only values are treated as omitted.",
      "type": "string"
    },
    "state": {
      "description": "Filter by 2-letter US state or territory code. Applies to CO-OPS stations only — providing it restricts results to CO-OPS and excludes NDBC buoys (which carry no state). A station matches on its own catalog code, or — when its catalog rows carry none, as with every current station — on the state of the nearest state-bearing CO-OPS tide or water-level station within 25 km, which can be wrong on waters shared across a state or national border. E.g. \"WA\", \"CA\", \"PR\".",
      "type": "string",
      "enum": [
        "AL",
        "AK",
        "AZ",
        "AR",
        "CA",
        "CO",
        "CT",
        "DE",
        "FL",
        "GA",
        "HI",
        "ID",
        "IL",
        "IN",
        "IA",
        "KS",
        "KY",
        "LA",
        "ME",
        "MD",
        "MA",
        "MI",
        "MN",
        "MS",
        "MO",
        "MT",
        "NE",
        "NV",
        "NH",
        "NJ",
        "NM",
        "NY",
        "NC",
        "ND",
        "OH",
        "OK",
        "OR",
        "PA",
        "RI",
        "SC",
        "SD",
        "TN",
        "TX",
        "UT",
        "VT",
        "VA",
        "WA",
        "WV",
        "WI",
        "WY",
        "DC",
        "PR",
        "VI",
        "GU",
        "AS",
        "MP"
      ]
    },
    "source": {
      "default": "all",
      "description": "Data source to search: coops (tide/water-level/current stations), ndbc (buoys), or all (default).",
      "type": "string",
      "enum": [
        "coops",
        "ndbc",
        "all"
      ]
    },
    "types": {
      "description": "Filter by data capability or NDBC platform class. Every returned station matches at least one requested value — a capability value against its capabilities list, or buoy against its platform class. Omit to return all stations.",
      "type": "array",
      "items": {
        "type": "string",
        "enum": [
          "tide",
          "current",
          "water_level",
          "met",
          "current_profile",
          "water_quality",
          "buoy"
        ],
        "description": "Filter value. Six are data capabilities, matched against a station's capabilities list: tide (CO-OPS tide predictions → noaa_marine_get_tide_predictions), current (CO-OPS tidal-current predictions → noaa_marine_get_currents), water_level (CO-OPS observed water levels → noaa_marine_get_water_level, and their verified monthly means → noaa_marine_get_monthly_means), met (NDBC meteorological → noaa_marine_get_conditions), current_profile (NDBC observed ocean-current depth profile → noaa_marine_get_current_profile; note this is a different data product and source than CO-OPS `current`), water_quality (NDBC sub-surface water-column sensors → noaa_marine_get_ocean_observations). The seventh, buoy, is a physical-platform filter (NDBC platform class equals buoy), not a data capability — use it to select buoy-class platforms regardless of what data they serve."
      }
    },
    "limit": {
      "default": 20,
      "description": "Maximum number of stations to return. Defaults to 20.",
      "type": "integer",
      "minimum": 1,
      "maximum": 200
    }
  },
  "$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema",
  "additionalProperties": false
}

noaa_marine_get_tide_predictions

High and low tide predictions for a CO-OPS tide station over a date range. The default hilo interval returns the time, height, and tide type (H for high, L for low) of each event, while the 6-minute interval returns the detailed tide curve. Most tide stations are subordinate — CO-OPS derives their high and low events as offsets from a reference station and publishes no 6-minute curve for them — so interval="6min" reaches only a reference station, and a subordinate station comes back as subordinate_no_6min naming the reference station to ask instead; the prediction_class on a noaa_marine_find_stations tide row says which kind a station is before the call. Datum defaults to MLLW, mean lower low water, the standard for US nautical charts, and the date range is limited to 1 year per request. A range whose predictions fit the response budget is returned whole; a longer one is returned as a page of leading rows, and rows_matched, rows_returned, and next_offset then report how much matched and which offset reaches the rest, so a year of events is read by walking offset rather than by splitting the range. Use noaa_marine_find_stations first to resolve a station name or location to a numeric station ID.

Parameters9

station_id	string	required	CO-OPS tide station ID (numeric, e.g. "9447130" for Seattle). Obtain from noaa_marine_find_stations with types=["tide"].
begin_date	string	required	Start date, YYYYMMDD or YYYY-MM-DD, e.g. "20240601" or "2024-06-01".
end_date	string	required	End date (inclusive), YYYYMMDD or YYYY-MM-DD, e.g. "20240607" or "2024-06-07".
datum	string	optional	Datum the predicted heights are referenced to. MLLW (default) is the US nautical chart datum, and MHHW (mean higher high water) is the flooding reference; MHW, MTL, MSL, MLW, and DTL (diurnal tide level) are the other tidal planes. NAVD is NAVD88 and reads only where the station has an NAVD88 tie. STND is the station's own datum and is the plane that works where no tidal datum exists. CRD applies at Columbia River stations only. A datum this station does not carry comes back as datum_unavailable naming the ones it does.
time_zone	string	optional	Time zone for returned timestamps. lst_ldt = local standard/daylight time (default); gmt = UTC; lst = local standard time year-round.
units	string	optional	Unit system for heights: english = feet; metric = meters.
interval	string	optional	Prediction interval: hilo (default) returns only high and low tide events; 6min returns a continuous prediction curve at 6-minute intervals, and is served only by a reference station — a subordinate station has no 6-minute curve.
offset	integer	optional	Row offset into the matched prediction series, for reading a range whose rows do not fit one response. 0 (default) starts at the first row; pass the next_offset from a previous call to continue. An offset past the last row returns an empty page rather than an error.
limit	integer	optional	Maximum prediction rows to return on this page, for a caller that wants fewer than the response budget allows. Omit for the largest page that fits; a value larger than the budget allows does not widen the page.

Raw schema

{
  "type": "object",
  "properties": {
    "station_id": {
      "type": "string",
      "pattern": "^[A-Za-z0-9_-]{1,20}$",
      "description": "CO-OPS tide station ID (numeric, e.g. \"9447130\" for Seattle). Obtain from noaa_marine_find_stations with types=[\"tide\"]."
    },
    "begin_date": {
      "type": "string",
      "pattern": "^(\\d{8}|\\d{4}-\\d{2}-\\d{2})$",
      "description": "Start date, YYYYMMDD or YYYY-MM-DD, e.g. \"20240601\" or \"2024-06-01\"."
    },
    "end_date": {
      "type": "string",
      "pattern": "^(\\d{8}|\\d{4}-\\d{2}-\\d{2})$",
      "description": "End date (inclusive), YYYYMMDD or YYYY-MM-DD, e.g. \"20240607\" or \"2024-06-07\"."
    },
    "datum": {
      "default": "MLLW",
      "description": "Datum the predicted heights are referenced to. MLLW (default) is the US nautical chart datum, and MHHW (mean higher high water) is the flooding reference; MHW, MTL, MSL, MLW, and DTL (diurnal tide level) are the other tidal planes. NAVD is NAVD88 and reads only where the station has an NAVD88 tie. STND is the station's own datum and is the plane that works where no tidal datum exists. CRD applies at Columbia River stations only. A datum this station does not carry comes back as datum_unavailable naming the ones it does.",
      "type": "string",
      "enum": [
        "MLLW",
        "MHHW",
        "MHW",
        "MTL",
        "MSL",
        "MLW",
        "DTL",
        "NAVD",
        "STND",
        "CRD"
      ]
    },
    "time_zone": {
      "default": "lst_ldt",
      "description": "Time zone for returned timestamps. lst_ldt = local standard/daylight time (default); gmt = UTC; lst = local standard time year-round.",
      "type": "string",
      "enum": [
        "lst_ldt",
        "gmt",
        "lst"
      ]
    },
    "units": {
      "default": "english",
      "description": "Unit system for heights: english = feet; metric = meters.",
      "type": "string",
      "enum": [
        "english",
        "metric"
      ]
    },
    "interval": {
      "default": "hilo",
      "description": "Prediction interval: hilo (default) returns only high and low tide events; 6min returns a continuous prediction curve at 6-minute intervals, and is served only by a reference station — a subordinate station has no 6-minute curve.",
      "type": "string",
      "enum": [
        "hilo",
        "6min"
      ]
    },
    "offset": {
      "default": 0,
      "description": "Row offset into the matched prediction series, for reading a range whose rows do not fit one response. 0 (default) starts at the first row; pass the next_offset from a previous call to continue. An offset past the last row returns an empty page rather than an error.",
      "type": "integer",
      "minimum": 0,
      "maximum": 9007199254740991
    },
    "limit": {
      "description": "Maximum prediction rows to return on this page, for a caller that wants fewer than the response budget allows. Omit for the largest page that fits; a value larger than the budget allows does not widen the page.",
      "type": "integer",
      "minimum": 1,
      "maximum": 9007199254740991
    }
  },
  "required": [
    "station_id",
    "begin_date",
    "end_date"
  ],
  "$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema",
  "additionalProperties": false
}

noaa_marine_get_water_level

Observed water level, real-time or historical, for a CO-OPS water-level station, paired with tide predictions for the same period so the residual (observed − predicted) shows storm surge when positive and anomalous drawdown when negative. The interval selects the cadence: 6min (default) is the full curve, hourly and high_low cover months to a year of the same series at far fewer rows, and daily_mean serves Great Lakes stations only. Each interval carries its own CO-OPS range ceiling — 31 days for 6min, 365 for hourly and high_low, 3655 for daily_mean — rejected locally before the call, and only 6min and hourly report a residual. Observations and predictions are fetched independently, so when the prediction series is empty, predictions_status says whether CO-OPS has none for this station and range or the prediction fetch failed — the observed series returns either way, and residual_summary is present only when both series are and the cadence supports the join. A sensor outage leaves slots with no reading; those slots are dropped and counted in gaps_dropped, so the observed series is continuous across the range only when that count is absent. A range whose rows fit the response budget is returned whole; a longer one returns the leading rows, with rows_matched, rows_returned, and next_offset reporting how much matched and which offset reaches the rest. Use noaa_marine_find_stations first to resolve a station name or location to a valid station ID.

Parameters9

station_id	string	required	CO-OPS water-level station ID (numeric, e.g. "9447130" for Seattle). Obtain from noaa_marine_find_stations with types=["water_level"].
begin_date	string	required	Start date, YYYYMMDD or YYYY-MM-DD, e.g. "20240601" or "2024-06-01".
end_date	string	required	End date (inclusive), YYYYMMDD or YYYY-MM-DD, e.g. "20240601" or "2024-06-01".
datum	string	optional	Datum the observed heights are referenced to. MLLW (default) is the US nautical chart datum, and MHHW (mean higher high water) is the flooding reference; MHW, MTL, MSL, and MLW are the other tidal planes. NAVD is NAVD88 and reads only where the station has an NAVD88 tie. STND is the station's own datum and is the plane that works where no tidal datum exists. IGLD and LWD apply at Great Lakes stations only, CRD at Columbia River stations only, and LWI and HWI are lunitidal intervals rather than heights. A datum this station does not carry comes back as datum_unavailable naming the ones it does.
time_zone	string	optional	Time zone for returned timestamps. lst_ldt = local standard/daylight time (default); gmt = UTC; lst = local standard time year-round. Overridden to lst on interval="daily_mean", which CO-OPS serves in local standard time only and otherwise stamps every row a day off.
units	string	optional	Unit system: english = feet; metric = meters.
interval	string	optional	Observed cadence. 6min (default) is the full curve, 31 days per request, the only one carrying a quality flag. hourly is hourly heights, 365 days per request, and reports a residual against the hourly prediction series. high_low is the observed high and low waters with their H/HH/L/LL classification, 365 days per request, and reports no residual because observed extremes do not fall on predicted extreme times. daily_mean is the daily mean water level, 3655 days per request, published at Great Lakes stations only and with no paired prediction series; a coastal station comes back as great_lakes_only.
offset	integer	optional	Row offset into the matched observation series, for reading a range whose rows do not fit one response. 0 (default) starts at the first row; pass the next_offset from a previous call to continue. An offset past the last row returns an empty page rather than an error.
limit	integer	optional	Maximum observation rows to return on this page, for a caller that wants fewer than the response budget allows. Omit for the largest page that fits; a value larger than the budget allows does not widen the page.

Raw schema

{
  "type": "object",
  "properties": {
    "station_id": {
      "type": "string",
      "pattern": "^[A-Za-z0-9_-]{1,20}$",
      "description": "CO-OPS water-level station ID (numeric, e.g. \"9447130\" for Seattle). Obtain from noaa_marine_find_stations with types=[\"water_level\"]."
    },
    "begin_date": {
      "type": "string",
      "pattern": "^(\\d{8}|\\d{4}-\\d{2}-\\d{2})$",
      "description": "Start date, YYYYMMDD or YYYY-MM-DD, e.g. \"20240601\" or \"2024-06-01\"."
    },
    "end_date": {
      "type": "string",
      "pattern": "^(\\d{8}|\\d{4}-\\d{2}-\\d{2})$",
      "description": "End date (inclusive), YYYYMMDD or YYYY-MM-DD, e.g. \"20240601\" or \"2024-06-01\"."
    },
    "datum": {
      "default": "MLLW",
      "description": "Datum the observed heights are referenced to. MLLW (default) is the US nautical chart datum, and MHHW (mean higher high water) is the flooding reference; MHW, MTL, MSL, and MLW are the other tidal planes. NAVD is NAVD88 and reads only where the station has an NAVD88 tie. STND is the station's own datum and is the plane that works where no tidal datum exists. IGLD and LWD apply at Great Lakes stations only, CRD at Columbia River stations only, and LWI and HWI are lunitidal intervals rather than heights. A datum this station does not carry comes back as datum_unavailable naming the ones it does.",
      "type": "string",
      "enum": [
        "MLLW",
        "MHHW",
        "MHW",
        "MTL",
        "MSL",
        "MLW",
        "NAVD",
        "STND",
        "IGLD",
        "LWD",
        "CRD",
        "LWI",
        "HWI"
      ]
    },
    "time_zone": {
      "default": "lst_ldt",
      "description": "Time zone for returned timestamps. lst_ldt = local standard/daylight time (default); gmt = UTC; lst = local standard time year-round. Overridden to lst on interval=\"daily_mean\", which CO-OPS serves in local standard time only and otherwise stamps every row a day off.",
      "type": "string",
      "enum": [
        "lst_ldt",
        "gmt",
        "lst"
      ]
    },
    "units": {
      "default": "english",
      "description": "Unit system: english = feet; metric = meters.",
      "type": "string",
      "enum": [
        "english",
        "metric"
      ]
    },
    "interval": {
      "default": "6min",
      "description": "Observed cadence. 6min (default) is the full curve, 31 days per request, the only one carrying a quality flag. hourly is hourly heights, 365 days per request, and reports a residual against the hourly prediction series. high_low is the observed high and low waters with their H/HH/L/LL classification, 365 days per request, and reports no residual because observed extremes do not fall on predicted extreme times. daily_mean is the daily mean water level, 3655 days per request, published at Great Lakes stations only and with no paired prediction series; a coastal station comes back as great_lakes_only.",
      "type": "string",
      "enum": [
        "6min",
        "hourly",
        "high_low",
        "daily_mean"
      ]
    },
    "offset": {
      "default": 0,
      "description": "Row offset into the matched observation series, for reading a range whose rows do not fit one response. 0 (default) starts at the first row; pass the next_offset from a previous call to continue. An offset past the last row returns an empty page rather than an error.",
      "type": "integer",
      "minimum": 0,
      "maximum": 9007199254740991
    },
    "limit": {
      "description": "Maximum observation rows to return on this page, for a caller that wants fewer than the response budget allows. Omit for the largest page that fits; a value larger than the budget allows does not widen the page.",
      "type": "integer",
      "minimum": 1,
      "maximum": 9007199254740991
    }
  },
  "required": [
    "station_id",
    "begin_date",
    "end_date"
  ],
  "$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema",
  "additionalProperties": false
}

noaa_marine_get_monthly_means

Verified monthly means for a CO-OPS water-level station, one row per station-month: the month's highest and lowest water, its tidal datums (MHHW, MHW, MSL, MTL, MLW, MLLW, DTL), tidal ranges (GT, MN, DHQ, DLQ), and lunitidal intervals (HWI, LWI) — the record a sea-level or tidal-range trend over years to decades is read from. Heights are relative to the requested datum in the requested units. A value CO-OPS publishes no figure for is omitted rather than reported as zero; a Great Lakes station carries only highest, msl, and lowest. A range may span up to 73,000 days, checked before the call, and CO-OPS verifies this product monthly, for the prior month, so a window ending on or after the first day of the prior month can fail with verified_data_lag. A range whose months fit the response budget is returned whole; a longer one returns the leading months, with rows_matched, rows_returned, and next_offset reporting how many matched and which offset reaches the rest. Use noaa_marine_find_stations with types=["water_level"] first to resolve a station name or location to a station ID.

Parameters7

station_id	string	required	CO-OPS water-level station ID (numeric, e.g. "9447130" for Seattle). Obtain from noaa_marine_find_stations with types=["water_level"].
begin_date	string	required	Start date, YYYYMMDD or YYYY-MM-DD, e.g. "19750101" or "1975-01-01". The month it falls in is the first month returned.
end_date	string	required	End date (inclusive), YYYYMMDD or YYYY-MM-DD, e.g. "20251231" or "2025-12-31". The month it falls in is the last month returned.
datum	string	optional	Datum the monthly heights are referenced to. MLLW (default) is the US nautical chart datum; MHHW, MHW, MTL, MSL, and MLW are the other tidal planes. NAVD is NAVD88 and reads only where the station has an NAVD88 tie. STND is the station's own datum and reads any station. IGLD and LWD apply at Great Lakes stations only, which carry no tidal datum, and CRD at Columbia River stations only. A datum this station does not carry comes back as datum_unavailable.
units	string	optional	Unit system for the heights: english = feet; metric = meters. The lunitidal intervals are hours either way.
offset	integer	optional	Month offset into the matched series, for reading a range whose months do not fit one response. 0 (default) starts at the first month; pass the next_offset from a previous call to continue. An offset past the last month returns an empty page rather than an error.
limit	integer	optional	Maximum months to return on this page, for a caller that wants fewer than the response budget allows. Omit for the largest page that fits; a value larger than the budget allows does not widen the page.

Raw schema

{
  "type": "object",
  "properties": {
    "station_id": {
      "type": "string",
      "pattern": "^[A-Za-z0-9_-]{1,20}$",
      "description": "CO-OPS water-level station ID (numeric, e.g. \"9447130\" for Seattle). Obtain from noaa_marine_find_stations with types=[\"water_level\"]."
    },
    "begin_date": {
      "type": "string",
      "pattern": "^(\\d{8}|\\d{4}-\\d{2}-\\d{2})$",
      "description": "Start date, YYYYMMDD or YYYY-MM-DD, e.g. \"19750101\" or \"1975-01-01\". The month it falls in is the first month returned."
    },
    "end_date": {
      "type": "string",
      "pattern": "^(\\d{8}|\\d{4}-\\d{2}-\\d{2})$",
      "description": "End date (inclusive), YYYYMMDD or YYYY-MM-DD, e.g. \"20251231\" or \"2025-12-31\". The month it falls in is the last month returned."
    },
    "datum": {
      "default": "MLLW",
      "description": "Datum the monthly heights are referenced to. MLLW (default) is the US nautical chart datum; MHHW, MHW, MTL, MSL, and MLW are the other tidal planes. NAVD is NAVD88 and reads only where the station has an NAVD88 tie. STND is the station's own datum and reads any station. IGLD and LWD apply at Great Lakes stations only, which carry no tidal datum, and CRD at Columbia River stations only. A datum this station does not carry comes back as datum_unavailable.",
      "type": "string",
      "enum": [
        "MLLW",
        "MHHW",
        "MHW",
        "MTL",
        "MSL",
        "MLW",
        "NAVD",
        "STND",
        "IGLD",
        "LWD",
        "CRD"
      ]
    },
    "units": {
      "default": "english",
      "description": "Unit system for the heights: english = feet; metric = meters. The lunitidal intervals are hours either way.",
      "type": "string",
      "enum": [
        "english",
        "metric"
      ]
    },
    "offset": {
      "default": 0,
      "description": "Month offset into the matched series, for reading a range whose months do not fit one response. 0 (default) starts at the first month; pass the next_offset from a previous call to continue. An offset past the last month returns an empty page rather than an error.",
      "type": "integer",
      "minimum": 0,
      "maximum": 9007199254740991
    },
    "limit": {
      "description": "Maximum months to return on this page, for a caller that wants fewer than the response budget allows. Omit for the largest page that fits; a value larger than the budget allows does not widen the page.",
      "type": "integer",
      "minimum": 1,
      "maximum": 9007199254740991
    }
  },
  "required": [
    "station_id",
    "begin_date",
    "end_date"
  ],
  "$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema",
  "additionalProperties": false
}

noaa_marine_get_currents

Tidal current predictions for a CO-OPS current station: max flood and ebb speeds, slack times, and the station's mean flood and ebb bearings. These are forecast predictions from CO-OPS, distinct from noaa_marine_get_current_profile, which returns NDBC observed ocean-current measurements binned by depth. The default MAX_SLACK interval is the practical planning view, showing when currents peak and when slack water occurs, and a 6-minute interval returns the continuous curve for detailed analysis, each row carrying its own flood/ebb/slack sense. A station can publish predictions for several depth bins at different depths: bin selects one, omitting it takes the CO-OPS default of the shallowest bin, and the bin and its depth are echoed on every response — read bins[] on a noaa_marine_find_stations current row for the bins a station actually has. A station whose currents CO-OPS will not predict as discrete events answers with an empty list and its own wording in the notice rather than an error. Both intervals are bounded by response size: a range whose rows fit is returned whole, a longer one returns the leading rows with rows_matched, rows_returned, and next_offset reporting how much matched and which offset reaches the rest, and offset and limit walk whichever series the interval selects. Current station IDs are alphanumeric (e.g. ACT4176), distinct from the numeric tide and water-level IDs, and the date range is limited to 1 year per request — use noaa_marine_find_stations with types=["current"] to obtain a valid current station ID.

Parameters9

station_id	string	required	CO-OPS current station ID (alphanumeric, e.g. "ACT4176"). Obtain from noaa_marine_find_stations with types=["current"].
begin_date	string	required	Start date, YYYYMMDD or YYYY-MM-DD, e.g. "20240601" or "2024-06-01".
end_date	string	required	End date (inclusive), YYYYMMDD or YYYY-MM-DD, e.g. "20240607" or "2024-06-07".
time_zone	string	optional	Time zone for returned timestamps. lst_ldt = local standard/daylight time (default); gmt = UTC; lst = local standard time year-round.
units	string	optional	Unit system: english = knots for speed and feet for the echoed depth; metric = cm/s for speed (not m/s) and meters for the echoed depth.
interval	string	optional	Prediction interval: MAX_SLACK (default) returns max flood, max ebb, and slack water events — ideal for passage planning. 6min returns a continuous current curve.
bin	integer	optional	Depth bin to predict for, taken from the bins[] array on a noaa_marine_find_stations current row (e.g. 15, 10 or 1 at PUG1515). Omit to take the CO-OPS default, which is the shallowest bin. A bin the station does not publish comes back as bin_unavailable naming the bins it does.
offset	integer	optional	Row offset into the matched prediction series — the max/slack events on the MAX_SLACK interval, the 6-minute curve on 6min — for reading a range whose rows do not fit one response. 0 (default) starts at the first row; pass the next_offset from a previous call to continue. An offset past the last row returns an empty page rather than an error.
limit	integer	optional	Maximum prediction rows to return on this page — max/slack events or 6-minute rows, whichever the interval selects — for a caller that wants fewer than the response budget allows. Omit for the largest page that fits; a value larger than the budget allows does not widen the page.

Raw schema

{
  "type": "object",
  "properties": {
    "station_id": {
      "type": "string",
      "pattern": "^[A-Za-z0-9_-]{1,20}$",
      "description": "CO-OPS current station ID (alphanumeric, e.g. \"ACT4176\"). Obtain from noaa_marine_find_stations with types=[\"current\"]."
    },
    "begin_date": {
      "type": "string",
      "pattern": "^(\\d{8}|\\d{4}-\\d{2}-\\d{2})$",
      "description": "Start date, YYYYMMDD or YYYY-MM-DD, e.g. \"20240601\" or \"2024-06-01\"."
    },
    "end_date": {
      "type": "string",
      "pattern": "^(\\d{8}|\\d{4}-\\d{2}-\\d{2})$",
      "description": "End date (inclusive), YYYYMMDD or YYYY-MM-DD, e.g. \"20240607\" or \"2024-06-07\"."
    },
    "time_zone": {
      "default": "lst_ldt",
      "description": "Time zone for returned timestamps. lst_ldt = local standard/daylight time (default); gmt = UTC; lst = local standard time year-round.",
      "type": "string",
      "enum": [
        "lst_ldt",
        "gmt",
        "lst"
      ]
    },
    "units": {
      "default": "english",
      "description": "Unit system: english = knots for speed and feet for the echoed depth; metric = cm/s for speed (not m/s) and meters for the echoed depth.",
      "type": "string",
      "enum": [
        "english",
        "metric"
      ]
    },
    "interval": {
      "default": "MAX_SLACK",
      "description": "Prediction interval: MAX_SLACK (default) returns max flood, max ebb, and slack water events — ideal for passage planning. 6min returns a continuous current curve.",
      "type": "string",
      "enum": [
        "MAX_SLACK",
        "6min"
      ]
    },
    "bin": {
      "description": "Depth bin to predict for, taken from the bins[] array on a noaa_marine_find_stations current row (e.g. 15, 10 or 1 at PUG1515). Omit to take the CO-OPS default, which is the shallowest bin. A bin the station does not publish comes back as bin_unavailable naming the bins it does.",
      "type": "integer",
      "minimum": -9007199254740991,
      "maximum": 9007199254740991
    },
    "offset": {
      "default": 0,
      "description": "Row offset into the matched prediction series — the max/slack events on the MAX_SLACK interval, the 6-minute curve on 6min — for reading a range whose rows do not fit one response. 0 (default) starts at the first row; pass the next_offset from a previous call to continue. An offset past the last row returns an empty page rather than an error.",
      "type": "integer",
      "minimum": 0,
      "maximum": 9007199254740991
    },
    "limit": {
      "description": "Maximum prediction rows to return on this page — max/slack events or 6-minute rows, whichever the interval selects — for a caller that wants fewer than the response budget allows. Omit for the largest page that fits; a value larger than the budget allows does not widen the page.",
      "type": "integer",
      "minimum": 1,
      "maximum": 9007199254740991
    }
  },
  "required": [
    "station_id",
    "begin_date",
    "end_date"
  ],
  "$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema",
  "additionalProperties": false
}

noaa_marine_get_conditions

Live marine conditions from an NDBC buoy: wave height, period and direction, wind speed, gust and direction, sea-surface temperature, air temperature, barometric pressure, and dew point. All values are SI units — wind in m/s, wave height in m, pressure in hPa, temperatures in °C — except TIDE, which is in feet, and VIS, in nautical miles, both rarely populated at offshore buoys; a numeric field is null when the buoy sensor did not report a value, which is normal offshore. Row cadence varies by station from 5 to 60 minutes, so observed_at can be that old, and NDBC writes each block of columns on its own cycle, so any block can resolve from an earlier row within 90 minutes of observed_at. Waves carry their own waves_observed_at, null when no wave sample falls inside that window, and any other block read from an earlier row is named with its measurement time in the response notice. Use noaa_marine_find_stations with source="ndbc" and types=["met"] to find station IDs near a location, since met-flagged stations are the ones most likely to serve live conditions: roughly a third of active NDBC stations report neither meteorological nor current data, most of those have no observation file, and omitting the types filter surfaces station IDs this tool cannot read.

Parameters1

station_id

string

required

NDBC buoy station ID (5-character alphanumeric, e.g. "46041" for Cape Elizabeth). Obtain from noaa_marine_find_stations with source="ndbc" and types=["met"].

Raw schema

{
  "type": "object",
  "properties": {
    "station_id": {
      "type": "string",
      "pattern": "^[A-Za-z0-9_-]{1,20}$",
      "description": "NDBC buoy station ID (5-character alphanumeric, e.g. \"46041\" for Cape Elizabeth). Obtain from noaa_marine_find_stations with source=\"ndbc\" and types=[\"met\"]."
    }
  },
  "required": [
    "station_id"
  ],
  "$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema",
  "additionalProperties": false
}

noaa_marine_get_current_profile

Observed ocean-current depth profile from an NDBC ADCP buoy — the most recent measurement of current speed and direction at each depth bin, returning depth in meters, direction in degrees true (the direction the current flows toward), and speed in cm/s. It is distinct from noaa_marine_get_currents, which returns CO-OPS tidal-current predictions of max flood, ebb and slack rather than these observed acoustic-Doppler measurements. A depth bin is reported whenever NDBC gives it a depth, and its direction or speed is null when the sensor did not report that component. Use noaa_marine_find_stations with source="ndbc" and types=["current_profile"] to find station IDs, since most NDBC stations serve no ADCP profile and an unfiltered search returns IDs this tool cannot read.

Parameters1

station_id

string

required

NDBC station ID (5-character alphanumeric, e.g. "44033"). Obtain from noaa_marine_find_stations with source="ndbc" and types=["current_profile"].

Raw schema

{
  "type": "object",
  "properties": {
    "station_id": {
      "type": "string",
      "pattern": "^[A-Za-z0-9_-]{1,20}$",
      "description": "NDBC station ID (5-character alphanumeric, e.g. \"44033\"). Obtain from noaa_marine_find_stations with source=\"ndbc\" and types=[\"current_profile\"]."
    }
  },
  "required": [
    "station_id"
  ],
  "$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema",
  "additionalProperties": false
}

noaa_marine_get_ocean_observations

Live sub-surface oceanographic observations from an NDBC station's water-quality sensors: at each reported depth, water temperature, conductivity, salinity, dissolved oxygen as both saturation percent and concentration in ppm, chlorophyll, turbidity, pH, and redox potential. This is the water-column counterpart to noaa_marine_get_conditions, which returns surface meteorological and wave data — use this tool for what the water is doing below the surface, that one for weather and sea state at the buoy. It returns the most recent observation as one reading per reported depth, and most stations report a single depth while some report several at the same time; sensor coverage is sparse, most stations populating only water temperature and salinity, and any value the station did not report comes back null rather than a fabricated zero, as do latitude and longitude for a station absent from the NDBC active-stations list. Sub-surface sensors are on only a subset of NDBC stations, so find one with noaa_marine_find_stations using source="ndbc" and types=["water_quality"], which filters on NDBC's own water-quality catalog flag — the flag and actual .ocean availability drift, so this tool reads any station that serves the file and returns observations_not_found for one that does not.

Parameters1

station_id

string

required

NDBC station ID (5-character alphanumeric, e.g. "44033" or "TIBC1"). Obtain from noaa_marine_find_stations with source="ndbc" and types=["water_quality"].

Raw schema

{
  "type": "object",
  "properties": {
    "station_id": {
      "type": "string",
      "pattern": "^[A-Za-z0-9_-]{1,20}$",
      "description": "NDBC station ID (5-character alphanumeric, e.g. \"44033\" or \"TIBC1\"). Obtain from noaa_marine_find_stations with source=\"ndbc\" and types=[\"water_quality\"]."
    }
  },
  "required": [
    "station_id"
  ],
  "$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema",
  "additionalProperties": false
}

README.md25 KBView on GitHub

@cyanheads/noaa-marine-mcp-server

Find NOAA tide stations and NDBC buoys, fetch tide predictions, water levels, tidal currents, and live buoy conditions via MCP. STDIO or Streamable HTTP.

8 Tools • 1 Resource

MCP SDK TypeScript

Public Hosted Server: https://noaa-marine.caseyjhand.com/mcp

Overview

US tide, current, and buoy data from NOAA CO-OPS and NDBC. Find tide, water-level, and current stations plus NDBC buoys, then fetch tide predictions, observed water levels, tidal currents, and live buoy conditions from any MCP client. Runs as a stdio process, a local Streamable HTTP server, or the public hosted endpoint above.

Tools

Tool	Description
`noaa_marine_find_stations`	Find CO-OPS tide/water-level/current stations and NDBC buoys by location, name, state, or data capability.
`noaa_marine_get_tide_predictions`	High/low tide predictions or a 6-minute curve for a CO-OPS tide station.
`noaa_marine_get_water_level`	Observed water level at a 6-minute, hourly, high/low, or daily-mean cadence, paired with predictions and a storm-surge residual summary.
`noaa_marine_get_monthly_means`	Verified monthly tidal datums and extremes for a CO-OPS water-level station — the record for sea-level and tidal-range trends.
`noaa_marine_get_currents`	CO-OPS tidal current predictions — max flood/ebb/slack events or a 6-minute curve.
`noaa_marine_get_conditions`	Live NDBC buoy conditions: waves, wind, sea-surface and air temperature, pressure.
`noaa_marine_get_current_profile`	Observed ocean-current depth profile from an NDBC ADCP buoy.
`noaa_marine_get_ocean_observations`	Sub-surface water-column observations (temperature, salinity, oxygen, and more) from an NDBC station.

Resources

Resource	Description
`noaa-marine://station/{station_id}`	Metadata for a CO-OPS or NDBC station by ID: name, coordinates, source, data capabilities, and — for NDBC — physical platform class.

All resource data is also reachable via tools — use noaa_marine_find_stations to discover station IDs before accessing the resource.

Capability reference

`noaa_marine_find_stations` _tool

Filter by proximity (latitude/longitude + radius_km, default 100 km, max 1000 km), name/ID substring (matched against both sources; an exact ID match sorts first), US state/territory (CO-OPS only), source (coops/ndbc/all), or types: data capabilities (tide, current, water_level, met, current_profile, water_quality) or NDBC platform class (buoy)
A CO-OPS station whose catalog rows carry no state code — every current station, and some tide and water-level stations — reports and filters on the state of the nearest state-bearing tide or water-level station within 25 km, marked state_derived: true; that state can be wrong on waters shared across a state or national border. A station with no such neighbor shows its own non-code catalog value (e.g. FM) if it publishes one, which no state filter matches
Returns up to limit (default 20, max 200) unified stations with source, coordinates, distance, data capabilities, and — for NDBC — physical platform class (buoy, fixed, oilrig, dart, tao, usv, other)
CO-OPS prediction stations also carry prediction_class, a third axis beside capability and platform: a tide station is reference (serving hilo and the 6-minute curve) or subordinate (hilo only, with reference_id naming where its offsets come from), while a current station reports its class per depth bin in bins[] alongside each bin's number and catalog depth in feet — the bin numbers noaa_marine_get_currents takes as bin
total_found and truncated report the full match count before the limit is applied
Zero matches is a success with total_found: 0, carrying a notice derived from the filters that were applied and an echo of the applied search
A catalog that fails to load is reported as an unread source alongside the results; when every needed catalog fails, that is a typed sources_unavailable error rather than an empty search, whose recovery names the couple-of-minutes wait when the CO-OPS catalog was throttled
Station lists are cached in-memory with a 6-hour TTL — first call after startup may be slightly slower
Typed incomplete_coordinates error when only one of latitude/longitude is supplied

`noaa_marine_get_tide_predictions` _tool

hilo (default, high/low events) or 6min continuous curve; up to 1 year per request, with begin_date/end_date as YYYYMMDD or YYYY-MM-DD
A range whose rows fit the response budget returns whole; a longer one returns the leading rows as a page, with rows_matched, rows_returned, page_offset, and next_offset on both consumption surfaces. Walk it with offset; limit lowers a page and never raises it past the byte bound, and an offset past the last row is an empty page rather than an error
6min is served by reference stations only — a subordinate station's high and low events are offsets from a reference station and it has no 6-minute curve, so the request is refused before the upstream call as a typed subordinate_no_6min naming hilo and that reference station
Ten datums, matching what the CO-OPS predictions product accepts: MLLW (default, US nautical chart), MHHW, MHW, MTL, MSL, MLW, DTL, NAVD (NAVD88, where the station has a tie), STND (the station's own datum), CRD (Columbia River only)
A datum the station does not carry is a typed datum_unavailable naming the planes it does, not a report that the station ID was wrong; a Great Lakes station, which publishes no prediction series at any datum, is no_predictions pointing at noaa_marine_get_water_level
Time zone (lst_ldt default, gmt, lst) and units (english default feet, metric meters)
Typed date_range_exceeded, invalid_date_range, station_not_found, no_predictions, datum_unavailable, subordinate_no_6min, and upstream_throttled errors — the last a retryable RateLimited for the HTTP 403 CO-OPS answers a burst of requests with, whose recovery says to wait a couple of minutes

`noaa_marine_get_water_level` _tool

interval selects the cadence: 6min (default) the full curve, hourly hourly heights, high_low the observed high and low waters with their H/HH/L/LL classification, daily_mean the daily mean at Great Lakes stations only. The interval is echoed in the output
begin_date/end_date as YYYYMMDD or YYYY-MM-DD. Per-interval CO-OPS range ceilings, rejected locally before the call: 31 days for 6min, 365 for hourly and high_low, 3,655 for daily_mean. A coarser cadence is not automatically a smaller response — a year of hourly rows outweighs a month of 6-minute ones — so the ceiling bounds the request and the response budget bounds the page
Quality flags (p preliminary, v verified) on 6min only: CO-OPS sends no flag with the coarser products, and quality is omitted rather than defaulted to preliminary, which would label verified data unverified. Sensor sigma on 6min and hourly
Thirteen datums, matching what the CO-OPS water-level product accepts: MLLW (default, US nautical chart), MHHW, MHW, MTL, MSL, MLW, NAVD (NAVD88, where the station has a tie), STND (the station's own datum), IGLD and LWD (Great Lakes only), CRD (Columbia River only), LWI and HWI (lunitidal intervals)
A datum the station does not carry is a typed datum_unavailable whose recovery names the planes that do read it — STND, IGLD, LWD at a Great Lakes station, MLLW/STND where an NAVD88 tie is missing — rather than sending the caller back to re-verify an ID noaa_marine_find_stations just returned
A sensor outage leaves slots with no reading; they are dropped and counted in gaps_dropped, so rows_matched always counts only the slots that carried a value and continuous coverage across the range is only implied when that count is absent
Paired tide predictions at the interval matching the observed cadence, fetched in parallel — the observed series returns either way, and predictions_status says whether an empty prediction series means CO-OPS has none or the fetch failed. Not fetched at all on daily_mean, which has no paired series
residual_summary (max surge, max drawdown) only when both series are present, computed from the finite observed/predicted pairs across the whole matched series rather than the returned page. Each side clamps at zero, so a window that stayed above prediction reports max_drawdown: 0 and one that stayed below reports max_surge: 0. Reported on 6min and hourly only — observed high and low waters do not occur at the predicted extreme times, so a high_low join would rest on a small fraction of the events, and daily_mean has no paired series at all; the notice says which applies
A range whose rows fit the response budget returns whole; a longer one returns the leading rows as a page, with rows_matched, rows_returned, page_offset, and next_offset on both consumption surfaces. Observations carry the offset and the paired predictions follow by time window, so a page's two series always describe one span even after gap rows shorten the observed one
daily_mean is requested in local standard time whatever time_zone was passed — CO-OPS serves that product in LST only and silently shifts any other zone by a day
Typed date_range_exceeded, invalid_date_range, station_not_found, no_data, datum_unavailable, great_lakes_only (daily_mean at a coastal station), verified_data_lag, and upstream_throttled errors — verified_data_lag for an hourly, high_low, or daily_mean window ending on or after the first day of the prior month, which CO-OPS may not have verified yet since it verifies the coarser products monthly for the prior month (an earlier window it answers the same way is no_data, since waiting cannot help it), and upstream_throttled for the HTTP 403 CO-OPS answers a burst of requests with (a 403 on the paired prediction fetch alone leaves predictions_status: "unavailable" instead, with a notice naming the wait)

`noaa_marine_get_monthly_means` _tool

One row per station-month of the CO-OPS monthly_mean product: the month's highest and lowest water, its tidal datums (mhhw, mhw, msl, mtl, mlw, mllw, dtl), ranges (gt, mn, dhq, dlq), lunitidal intervals in hours (hwi, lwi), and CO-OPS's inferred code passed through verbatim — a code (0, 1, 11 observed), not a boolean
Heights are relative to the requested datum — eleven reference planes: MLLW (default), MHHW, MHW, MTL, MSL, MLW, NAVD, STND, IGLD and LWD (Great Lakes only), CRD (Columbia River only) — in english feet or metric meters. The ranges (gt, mn, dhq, dlq) are differences between two planes, so they read the same under every datum. A value CO-OPS publishes as an empty string is omitted, never zeroed — a Great Lakes station at IGLD carries only highest, msl, and lowest
begin_date/end_date as YYYYMMDD or YYYY-MM-DD, spanning up to 73,000 days (the ceiling CO-OPS names), rejected locally before the call. The months the two dates fall in are the first and last returned; CO-OPS answers one month past end_date, and that month is dropped
A range whose months fit the response budget returns whole; a longer one — decades of months — returns the leading months as a page with rows_matched, rows_returned, page_offset, and next_offset. Walk it with offset; an offset past the last month is an empty page rather than an error
Typed invalid_date_range, date_range_exceeded, station_not_found, datum_unavailable, verified_data_lag, no_data, and upstream_throttled errors. CO-OPS answers an unpublished window with one sentence whatever the cause, so a window ending on or after the first day of the prior month is verified_data_lag and any earlier one is no_data
Returns the monthly record, not a trend — fitting one is left to the caller

`noaa_marine_get_currents` _tool

MAX_SLACK (default): max flood, max ebb, and slack events only — the actionable view for passage planning
6min: continuous current curve, each row carrying its own flood/ebb/slack sense plus the station mean flood or ebb bearing that sense implies (a station constant, not an instantaneous heading)
Both intervals are bounded by response size: a range whose rows fit the response budget returns whole; a longer one returns the leading rows as a page, with rows_matched, rows_returned, page_offset, and next_offset on both surfaces. offset and limit walk whichever series the interval selects — the max/slack events or the 6-minute curve
Units english (knots for speed, feet for the echoed depth, default) or metric (cm/s for speed, meters for depth) — CO-OPS publishes metric current speed in cm/s, the unit noaa_marine_get_current_profile also reports
bin selects one of a station's depth bins; omit it for the CO-OPS default, the shallowest. The bin CO-OPS answered with and its depth are echoed on every response, and a bin the station does not publish is a typed bin_unavailable naming the bins it does
A station whose currents CO-OPS will not predict as discrete events returns an empty list plus CO-OPS's own wording in the notice, not an error
Current station IDs are alphanumeric (e.g. ACT4176), distinct from numeric tide/water-level IDs
Up to 1 year per request, with begin_date/end_date as YYYYMMDD or YYYY-MM-DD; typed date_range_exceeded, invalid_date_range, station_not_found, no_predictions, predictions_unavailable, bin_unavailable, and upstream_throttled (the HTTP 403 CO-OPS answers a burst of requests with) errors

`noaa_marine_get_conditions` _tool

Wave height/period/direction, wind speed/gust/direction, sea-surface and air temperature, dew point, barometric pressure
All values SI except tide_ft (feet) and visibility_nmi (nautical miles), both rarely populated at offshore buoys
Every sensor field is nullable — null when the buoy did not report, never a fabricated value. latitude/longitude are null for a station absent from the NDBC catalog, and observed_at is always a valid instant
NDBC writes each block of columns on its own cycle, so a block resolves from the most recent row within 90 minutes that carried it: waves report their own waves_observed_at, and any other block read from an earlier row is named with its measurement time in the response notice. Row cadence runs 5–60 minutes depending on the station
Typed buoy_not_found and no_sensor_data errors

`noaa_marine_get_current_profile` _tool

Depth (m), direction (degrees true, flow-toward), and speed (cm/s) per bin, shallowest first
Observed NDBC ADCP measurement — distinct from noaa_marine_get_currents, a CO-OPS tidal-current prediction
Most NDBC stations serve no ADCP profile; use find_stations with types: ["current_profile"] to discover ones that do
Direction or speed is null per bin when the sensor did not report that component; typed profile_not_found and no_current_data errors

`noaa_marine_get_ocean_observations` _tool

Water temperature, conductivity, salinity, dissolved oxygen (% and ppm), chlorophyll, turbidity, pH, and redox potential per depth
Water-column counterpart to noaa_marine_get_conditions (surface weather and sea state)
Sensor coverage is sparse — most stations report only temperature and salinity; unreported values are null, never a fabricated zero
Find candidates with find_stations using source="ndbc" and types: ["water_quality"], NDBC's own water-quality catalog flag — a strong hint, not a guarantee, so expect observations_not_found on a flagged station serving no .ocean file

`noaa-marine://station/{station_id}` _resource

Station record as application/json — name, coordinates, source, capabilities, state (with state_derived, resolved as on noaa_marine_find_stations), the CO-OPS prediction_class (with reference_id or per-bin bins[], exactly as on noaa_marine_find_stations), and (NDBC) platform class
station_id comes from noaa_marine_find_stations
Typed station_not_found when both catalogs were read and neither carries the ID, and source_unavailable when a catalog could not be read — a station only the unread catalog carries is never reported as nonexistent. When the unread CO-OPS catalog was throttled (HTTP 403), the recovery names the couple-of-minutes wait
Cached with a 6-hour TTL (cacheHint)

Features

Built on @cyanheads/mcp-ts-core: stdio and Streamable HTTP transports, pluggable auth (none / jwt / oauth), swappable storage (in-memory, filesystem, Supabase, Cloudflare KV/R2/D1), structured logging with optional OpenTelemetry tracing.

CO-OPS / NDBC-specific:

In-memory station cache (6-hour TTL) for CO-OPS and NDBC station lists — discovery is fast after first startup
CO-OPS and NDBC integrated in a unified station model — find_stations fans out across both sources in parallel
NDBC fixed-width text parser normalizes MM (missing sensor data) to null, never passes it through as a string
Paired water-level and prediction fetches for storm-surge residual computation
CO-OPS application= courtesy parameter sent on every request (configurable via NOAA_APPLICATION_ID)

Agent-friendly output:

Datum echoed on every tide/water-level response so agents state units and reference correctly without assumptions
total_found on find_stations shows the count before the limit slice, so agents know whether to re-query
All NDBC sensor fields explicitly nullable — agents don't fabricate missing readings
Typed station source (coops | ndbc) plus a data-capability type and (NDBC only) a platform class — agents branch on data, not string parsing

Getting started

No API key required. Both NOAA CO-OPS and NDBC are open, keyless data sources.

Public Hosted Instance

Connect directly via Streamable HTTP — no install, no API key:

json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "noaa-marine": {
      "type": "streamable-http",
      "url": "https://noaa-marine.caseyjhand.com/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Self-Hosted / Local

Add the following to your MCP client configuration file:

json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "noaa-marine": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "bunx",
      "args": ["@cyanheads/noaa-marine-mcp-server@latest"],
      "env": {
        "MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE": "stdio",
        "MCP_LOG_LEVEL": "info"
      }
    }
  }
}

Or with npx (no Bun required):

json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "noaa-marine": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@cyanheads/noaa-marine-mcp-server@latest"],
      "env": {
        "MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE": "stdio",
        "MCP_LOG_LEVEL": "info"
      }
    }
  }
}

Or with Docker:

json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "noaa-marine": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "docker",
      "args": [
        "run", "-i", "--rm",
        "-e", "MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE=stdio",
        "ghcr.io/cyanheads/noaa-marine-mcp-server:latest"
      ]
    }
  }
}

For Streamable HTTP, set the transport and start the server:

MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE=http MCP_HTTP_PORT=3010 bun run start:http
# Server listens at http://localhost:3010/mcp

Prerequisites

Bun v1.4.0 or higher (or Node.js v24+).
No external API keys needed — NOAA CO-OPS and NDBC are fully open.

Installation

Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/cyanheads/noaa-marine-mcp-server.git

Navigate into the directory:

cd noaa-marine-mcp-server

Install dependencies:

bun install

Configure environment:

cp .env.example .env
# edit .env if needed (all vars optional)

Configuration

Variable	Description	Default
`NOAA_APPLICATION_ID`	Courtesy identifier sent as `application=` on CO-OPS requests.	`noaa-marine-mcp-server`
`MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE`	Transport: `stdio` or `http`.	`stdio`
`MCP_HTTP_PORT`	Port for HTTP server.	`3010`
`MCP_AUTH_MODE`	Auth mode: `none`, `jwt`, or `oauth`.	`none`
`MCP_SESSION_MODE`	HTTP session mode: `auto`, `stateful`, or `stateless`. The server declares `stateless` in `src/index.ts`; set this to override.	`stateless`
`MCP_LOG_LEVEL`	Log level (RFC 5424).	`info`
`LOGS_DIR`	Directory for log files (Node.js only).	`<project-root>/logs`
`OTEL_ENABLED`	Enable OpenTelemetry instrumentation.	`false`

See .env.example for the full list of optional overrides.

Running the server

Local development

Build and run:

bun run rebuild

bun run start:stdio
# or
bun run start:http

Run checks and tests:

bun run devcheck   # Lint, format, typecheck, security
bun run test       # Vitest test suite
bun run lint:mcp   # Validate MCP definitions against spec

Docker

docker build -t noaa-marine-mcp-server .
docker run --rm -p 3010:3010 noaa-marine-mcp-server

The Dockerfile defaults to HTTP transport, stateless session mode, and logs to /var/log/noaa-marine-mcp-server. OpenTelemetry peer dependencies are installed by default — build with --build-arg OTEL_ENABLED=false to omit them.

Project structure

Path	Purpose
`src/index.ts`	`createApp()` entry point — registers tools, resource, and initializes services.
`src/config/`	`NOAA_APPLICATION_ID` env var parsing with Zod.
`src/services/coops/`	CO-OPS Tides & Currents API client: station list cache, data fetch, error detection.
`src/services/ndbc/`	NDBC buoy service: active stations XML parser, realtime text parser.
`src/mcp-server/tools/`	Eight tool definitions (`*.tool.ts`).
`src/mcp-server/resources/`	Station metadata resource (`noaa-marine-station.resource.ts`).
`tests/`	Vitest tests mirroring `src/`.
`docs/`	Design doc and directory tree.

Development guide

See CLAUDE.md/AGENTS.md for development guidelines and architectural rules. The short version:

Handlers throw, framework catches — no try/catch in tool logic
Use ctx.log for request-scoped logging
Register tools and resources in src/index.ts directly (no barrels for this server)
Wrap external API calls: validate raw → normalize to domain type → return output schema; never fabricate missing fields
NDBC MM values must normalize to null, not be passed through as strings

Contributing

Issues are welcome. Run checks and tests before submitting:

bun run devcheck
bun run test

License

Apache-2.0 — see LICENSE for details.

Install

Tools (8)

noaa_marine_find_stationsnoaa_marine_get_tide_predictionsnoaa_marine_get_water_levelnoaa_marine_get_monthly_meansnoaa_marine_get_currentsnoaa_marine_get_conditionsnoaa_marine_get_current_profilenoaa_marine_get_ocean_observations

Configuration

Environment variables

NOAA_APPLICATION_IDdefault noaa-marine-mcp-server

Courtesy identifier sent as application= on CO-OPS requests. Defaults to noaa-marine-mcp-server.

MCP_LOG_LEVELdefault info

Sets the minimum log level for output (e.g., 'debug', 'info', 'warn').

MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPEdefault http

Selects the HTTP transport.

MCP_HTTP_HOSTdefault 127.0.0.1

The hostname for the HTTP server.

MCP_HTTP_PORTdefault 3010

The port to run the HTTP server on.

MCP_HTTP_ENDPOINT_PATHdefault /mcp

The endpoint path for the MCP server.

MCP_AUTH_MODEdefault none

Authentication mode to use: 'none', 'jwt', or 'oauth'.

Add to VS Code Add to Cursor

claude_desktop_config.json

json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "noaa-marine-mcp-server": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@cyanheads/noaa-marine-mcp-server@0.6.1"
      ],
      "env": {
        "NOAA_APPLICATION_ID": "noaa-marine-mcp-server",
        "MCP_LOG_LEVEL": "info"
      }
    }
  }
}

🛠️ Key Features

🚀 Use Cases

⚡ Developer Benefits

⚠️ Limitations

Topics

noaa_marine_find_stations

noaa_marine_get_tide_predictions

noaa_marine_get_water_level

noaa_marine_get_monthly_means

noaa_marine_get_currents

noaa_marine_get_conditions

noaa_marine_get_current_profile

noaa_marine_get_ocean_observations

@cyanheads/noaa-marine-mcp-server

Overview

Tools

Resources

Capability reference

noaa_marine_find_stations tool

noaa_marine_get_tide_predictions tool

noaa_marine_get_water_level tool

noaa_marine_get_monthly_means tool

noaa_marine_get_currents tool

noaa_marine_get_conditions tool

noaa_marine_get_current_profile tool

noaa_marine_get_ocean_observations tool

noaa-marine://station/{station_id} resource

Features

Getting started

Public Hosted Instance

Self-Hosted / Local

Prerequisites

Installation

Configuration

Running the server

Local development

Docker

Project structure

Development guide

Contributing

License

Install

Configuration

Related servers

`noaa_marine_find_stations` _tool

`noaa_marine_get_tide_predictions` _tool

`noaa_marine_get_water_level` _tool

`noaa_marine_get_monthly_means` _tool

`noaa_marine_get_currents` _tool

`noaa_marine_get_conditions` _tool

`noaa_marine_get_current_profile` _tool

`noaa_marine_get_ocean_observations` _tool

`noaa-marine://station/{station_id}` _resource