Prerequisites

• Node.js 18 or later
• A free Congress.gov API key (sign up here)

Add to your MCP client

Add this to your MCP client's configuration file (e.g. claude_desktop_config.json for Claude Desktop, .cursor/mcp.json for Cursor):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "legismcp": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "legismcp"],
      "env": {
        "CONGRESS_API_KEY": "your-key-here"
      }
    }
  }
}

Replace your-key-here with your Congress.gov API key. Get a free key at api.congress.gov/sign-up.

Or run directly

You can also run it directly from the command line:

CONGRESS_API_KEY=your-key npx legismcp

This starts the MCP server using stdio transport. Your MCP client connects to it automatically.