exchange rates mcp server

Public Hosted Server: https://exchange-rates.caseyjhand.com/mcp

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Tools

Eight tools for working with ECB FX rate data — currency lookup and disambiguation, point-in-time rates and conversions, historical time-series retrieval, and SQL analytics over the DataCanvas workspace that long time-series calls produce. Five are advertised by default; the three fx_dataframe_* tools need CANVAS_PROVIDER_TYPE=duckdb, and the destructive one among them additionally needs FX_ENABLE_CANVAS_DROP=true.

The three fx_dataframe_* tools require DataCanvas. With CANVAS_PROVIDER_TYPE unset (the default) they are not advertised in tools/list at all, so a client never sees a tool it cannot call; the HTTP landing page still lists them as disabled cards hinting CANVAS_PROVIDER_TYPE=duckdb, so operators can tell they exist. In that mode fx_get_timeseries returns every range inline:

Tool	Description
fx_list_currencies	List all ~30 ECB-supported ISO 4217 currencies with full names. Use before converting to disambiguate "dollars" (USD vs AUD vs CAD vs HKD vs SGD).
fx_get_rates	Snapshot of all available rates for a base currency at latest or a historical date. Optional symbols filter for smaller responses; listing the base itself returns a rate of 1 for it.
fx_get_rate	Exchange rate for a single currency pair at latest or a historical date. Surfaces date_snapped when a weekend/holiday request returns the prior business-day rate.
fx_convert_currency	Convert an amount between any two currencies at latest or a historical rate. Cross-rates are triangulated through EUR. Returns converted amount, rate used, rate date, and whether the date was snapped.
fx_get_timeseries	Historical daily rates for a currency pair over a date range, never including a date outside it. Short ranges (≤90 days) are returned inline; when DataCanvas is enabled, long ranges spill to it with a canvas_id for SQL follow-up.
fx_dataframe_describe	List DataCanvas tables and their columns from a prior fx_get_timeseries call. Required first step before fx_dataframe_query. Needs CANVAS_PROVIDER_TYPE=duckdb.
fx_dataframe_query	Run a read-only SQL SELECT against a DataCanvas table produced by fx_get_timeseries. Supports aggregations, GROUP BY, window functions, and JOINs across multiple registered tables. Needs CANVAS_PROVIDER_TYPE=duckdb.
fx_dataframe_drop	Permanently remove one staged table or view from a DataCanvas. Deletes staged analytical data only — ECB rate data is untouched and the series can be re-staged. Needs CANVAS_PROVIDER_TYPE=duckdb and FX_ENABLE_CANVAS_DROP=true; disabled otherwise.

fx_list_currencies

Enumerate all supported currencies before converting or querying.

• Returns [{ code, name }] for all ~30 ECB-scoped currencies
• ECB coverage fluctuates as currencies enter/exit scope — always call this tool to validate user-supplied codes rather than hard-coding a list

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fx_get_rates

Full rates snapshot for a base currency in one call.

• Returns all available quote currencies at a given date (default: latest)
• Optional symbols parameter narrows the response to specific quote currencies
• Naming the base currency in symbols is valid — it is answered locally with a rate of 1 rather than sent upstream, which keeps a self-quote from failing
• Useful for seeding bulk comparison workflows or discovering what's available

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fx_get_rate

Point-in-time exchange rate for a single pair.

• Returns the rate, the actual rate date, and date_snapped: true when the API silently moved a weekend/holiday request to the prior business day
• Cross-rates (neither side EUR) are triangulated in a single API call — no extra round trip
• A same-currency pair returns a rate of 1 without a self-quote reaching the API, but still reports the publication date the ECB actually had for that currency, so rate_date and date_snapped read the same as for any other pair
• Use fx_convert_currency when you need the converted amount; use this tool when you only need the rate number

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fx_convert_currency

Convert an amount between any two currencies.

• Handles EUR ↔ any, any ↔ EUR, and cross-rate (USD → JPY via EUR) in one upstream call
• Returns quote_amount, rate, rate_date, date_snapped, plus rate_type and source provenance on every response
• Historical conversions supported back to 1999-01-04 (ECB launch date)

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fx_get_timeseries + fx_dataframe_describe / fx_dataframe_query

Historical rate series and DataCanvas SQL analytics.

fx_get_timeseries returns a date-keyed series (business days only — ECB publishes once per business day):

• Short ranges (≤ FX_TIMESERIES_CANVAS_THRESHOLD_DAYS, default 90 days) → inline rates map + metadata
• Long ranges, when DataCanvas is enabled → first N rows inline + canvas_id, table_name, and spilled: true — the full series is registered as a DuckDB-backed table. Without CANVAS_PROVIDER_TYPE=duckdb a long range comes back inline with spilled: false and a notice saying the threshold was crossed but no canvas was configured
• Requesting the same currency on both sides returns a rate of 1 on each publication day in the range, taken from the ECB's real calendar rather than a synthetic Mon–Fri loop

The response never carries a date outside the requested range. Frankfurter snaps a range that opens on a weekend or bank holiday back to the prior publication day; those rows are dropped, so start_date and end_date always sit inside the window you asked for. A range covering only non-publication days therefore returns an empty rates map with rate_count: 0 and a notice explaining that the ECB published nothing in that window — distinguishable from an error.

Once a canvas_id is in hand:

1. fx_dataframe_describe — list the tables and columns on the canvas (required before fx_dataframe_query)
2. fx_dataframe_query — run arbitrary SQL SELECT against the registered table; supports aggregations, GROUP BY, window functions, JOINs across tables from multiple fx_get_timeseries calls

The canvas uses a session-scoped TTL. To continue working with a prior series, call fx_get_timeseries again with the same parameters to obtain a fresh canvas_id.

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Resources and prompts

Type	Name	Description
Resource	fx://currencies	All supported currencies as a stable reference document. Injectable context for clients that support resources.
Resource	fx://rates/latest/{base}	Latest rates snapshot for a base currency as a stable URI.

All resource data is also reachable via tools. Use fx_list_currencies or fx_get_rates for programmatic access.

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Features

Built on @cyanheads/mcp-ts-core:

• Declarative tool and resource definitions — single file per primitive, framework handles registration and validation
• Unified error handling — handlers throw, framework catches, classifies, and formats
• Typed error contracts with recovery hints — unsupported_currency, date_out_of_range, canvas_not_found, missing_table, invalid_query
• Pluggable auth: none, jwt, oauth
• Structured logging with optional OpenTelemetry tracing
• STDIO and Streamable HTTP transports

ECB FX–specific:

• Keyless access via Frankfurter — a Cloudflare-fronted ECB proxy; no API keys required
• Cross-rate triangulation: any pair works — USD → JPY is one upstream call, cross-rated through EUR on Frankfurter's side
• Weekend/holiday date semantics: date_snapped flag surfaces when the API returns a different date than requested
• ECB data covers ~30 major currencies from 1999-01-04 to present; fx_list_currencies always reflects the live set
• Identity pairs never surface an upstream rejection: fx_get_rate, fx_get_rates, and fx_get_timeseries all return a rate of 1 for a currency against itself, dated to the days the ECB actually published for that currency rather than to the calendar dates requested
• DataCanvas integration: when enabled, fx_get_timeseries spills long ranges to DuckDB for aggregations and trend analysis
• Rate provenance on every response: rate_type: "ECB reference (mid-market)" and source: "ECB via Frankfurter" — explicitly mid-market, not tradeable bid/ask

Agent-friendly output:

• Rate provenance on every response — rate_type, source, rate_date, and date_snapped so agents can reason about trust and freshness
• Structured error contracts — typed reason fields (unsupported_currency, date_out_of_range, invalid_query, …) let callers branch on failure type, not string parsing
• Discriminated DataCanvas output — spilled: true plus canvas_id signal when a time-series was staged for SQL follow-up rather than returned inline
• Success-path notice enrichment — explains an empty series or a long range that stayed inline, so a legitimate zero-result never reads as a failure

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Getting started

Public Hosted Instance

A public instance is available at https://exchange-rates.caseyjhand.com/mcp — no installation required. Point any MCP client at it via Streamable HTTP:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "exchange-rates-mcp-server": {
      "type": "streamable-http",
      "url": "https://exchange-rates.caseyjhand.com/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Self-Hosted / Local

No API key required — Frankfurter is keyless. Add the following to your MCP client configuration file:

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

Or with npx (no Bun required):

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

Or with Docker:

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

To enable DataCanvas for long time-series SQL analytics — which also registers fx_dataframe_describe and fx_dataframe_query, skipped from tools/list otherwise — add CANVAS_PROVIDER_TYPE=duckdb:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "exchange-rates-mcp-server": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "bunx",
      "args": ["@cyanheads/exchange-rates-mcp-server@latest"],
      "env": {
        "MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE": "stdio",
        "CANVAS_PROVIDER_TYPE": "duckdb"
      }
    }
  }
}

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 v1.3.0 or higher (or Node.js v24+).
• No API key — Frankfurter is free and keyless.

Installation

1. Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/cyanheads/exchange-rates-mcp-server.git

1. Navigate into the directory:

cd exchange-rates-mcp-server

1. Install dependencies:

bun install

1. Configure environment:

cp .env.example .env
# edit .env as needed (all vars are optional — no keys required)

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Configuration

All configuration is validated at startup via Zod schemas. Environment variables:

Variable	Description	Default
FRANKFURTER_BASE_URL	Frankfurter API base URL. Override for local testing or a self-hosted instance.	https://api.frankfurter.dev/v1
FX_TIMESERIES_CANVAS_THRESHOLD_DAYS	Day range above which fx_get_timeseries spills to DataCanvas, when one is configured.	90
FX_ENABLE_CANVAS_DROP	Enable the destructive fx_dataframe_drop tool. Off by default: the tool stays listed with its enable hint but is uncallable.	false
CANVAS_PROVIDER_TYPE	Canvas engine. Set to duckdb to enable DataCanvas for fx_get_timeseries long-range spillover and to register the three fx_dataframe_* tools. At none they are skipped from tools/list.	none
MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE	Transport: stdio or http.	stdio
MCP_HTTP_PORT	Port for HTTP server.	3010
MCP_SESSION_MODE	HTTP session mode: auto, stateful, or stateless. .env.example and the Dockerfile both set stateless — no handler here asks the client for input mid-call, so nothing needs a session to resume.	auto (resolves to stateful)
MCP_AUTH_MODE	Auth mode: none, jwt, or oauth.	none
MCP_LOG_LEVEL	Log level (RFC 5424: debug, info, notice, warning, error).	info
OTEL_ENABLED	Enable OpenTelemetry instrumentation.	false

See .env.example for the full list of optional overrides including storage, session, and telemetry vars.

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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, changelog sync
  bun run test       # Vitest test suite
  bun run lint:mcp   # Validate MCP definitions against spec
  

Docker

docker build -t exchange-rates-mcp-server .
docker run --rm -p 3010:3010 exchange-rates-mcp-server

The Dockerfile defaults to HTTP transport, stateless session mode, and logs to /var/log/exchange-rates-mcp-server. OpenTelemetry peer dependencies are installed by default — build with --build-arg OTEL_ENABLED=false to omit them. DuckDB native binaries are pre-built in the build stage and copied to production, keeping the production image free of build tools.

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Project structure

Directory	Purpose
src/index.ts	createApp() entry point — registers tools, resources, and canvas accessor.
src/config/	Server-specific environment variable parsing and validation with Zod.
src/mcp-server/tools/	Tool definitions (*.tool.ts) — fx_* tools.
src/mcp-server/resources/	Resource definitions — fx://currencies and fx://rates/latest/{base}.
src/services/frankfurter/	Frankfurter HTTP client, retry logic, and domain types.
src/services/canvas/	Module-level DataCanvas accessor for fx_get_timeseries spillover.
tests/	Unit and integration tests mirroring src/.
docs/	Design document and idea notes.

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Development guide

See CLAUDE.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, ctx.state for tenant-scoped storage
• Register new tools and resources via the barrels in src/mcp-server/*/definitions/index.ts
• Wrap external API calls: validate raw → normalize to domain type → return output schema; never fabricate missing fields
• ECB rates are mid-market reference rates — preserve the rate_type provenance in every response

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Contributing

Issues and pull requests are welcome. Run checks and tests before submitting:

bun run devcheck
bun run test

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License

Apache-2.0 — see LICENSE for details.