PermitStack MCP Server

MCP (Model Context Protocol) server for the PermitStack building permit API.

Lets Claude and other AI agents natively search 117M+ U.S. building permits across 8,000+ cities in 48 states and DC.

What does this do?

Once installed, you can ask Claude things like:

• "Find solar permits in Austin from the last 30 days"
• "What work has been done at 123 Main St, Boston?"
• "Which contractors pulled the most HVAC permits in Phoenix last year?"
• "Show me new construction permits over $500K in Miami-Dade"

Claude will call the PermitStack API directly and give you structured results.

Installation

You'll need a free PermitStack API key. Get one in 2 minutes — the free tier gives you 100 requests per day.

Claude Desktop

Add to your claude_desktop_config.json:

macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "permitstack": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "permitstack-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "PERMITSTACK_API_KEY": "pk_your_key_here"
      }
    }
  }
}

Restart Claude Desktop. You should see the PermitStack tools available.

Programmatic use

npm install -g permitstack-mcp
PERMITSTACK_API_KEY=pk_... permitstack-mcp

Any MCP-compatible client can connect over stdio.

Available tools

Tool	Description
search_permits	Filter by city, category, date, value, contractor
get_permit	Fetch a single permit by number
get_property_history	All permits for an address
search_contractors	Find contractors by name/location
get_contractor_permits	All permits by a specific contractor
get_coverage	List supported jurisdictions
get_permit_trend	Monthly permit counts and valuation for a city/state/category (Developer plan or above)
get_permit_totals	Category breakdown over a trailing window (Developer plan or above)
get_busiest_cities	Rank the busiest cities in a state, optionally by trade (Developer plan or above)

Data

• 117M+ permits across 8,000+ U.S. cities in 48 states and DC (887 active data sources spanning counties + statewide datasets), plus 75 historical archive sources
• Daily refresh from official city open-data portals
• AI-enriched descriptions for structured category/scope/systems

Full coverage list: https://permit-stack.com/coverage.html

Pricing

• Free: 100 requests/day
• Indie: $29/mo (1,000 req/day)
• Hobbyist: $39/mo (2,500 req/day)
• Developer: $79/mo (10,000 req/day — webhooks, contractor phone/email, 50,000-row exports)
• Business: $149/mo (100,000 req/day — /v1/permits/sync change feed, owner mailing address where published)
• Scale: $499/mo (500,000 req/day)
• Enterprise: custom (contact us for higher volume + bulk exports)

See https://permit-stack.com/pricing/ for details.

Links

• 🌐 Homepage: https://permit-stack.com
• 📖 API Docs: https://api.permit-stack.com/docs
• 🐍 Python SDK: https://pypi.org/project/permitstack/
• 💬 Support: support@permit-stack.com

License

Apache-2.0. See LICENSE for details.