# OpenPublica (remote · api.openpublica.com)

Search US local-government meetings: AI summaries, transcripts, and adopted plan documents.

- Trust score: 77/100 (medium)
- Change this week: +4
- Registry status: active
- Liveness: live
- Owner verified: no
- Last scored: 2026-09-24

## Components

- remote · `api.openpublica.com`: 77/100 (this document), [markdown](https://verifymcp.io/servers/com-openpublica-civic-meetings/api.md), [page](https://verifymcp.io/servers/com-openpublica-civic-meetings/api)

## Channel facts

- Endpoint: `https://api.openpublica.com/mcp`
- Transports: `streamable-http`
- Auth: `none`
- Version: `1.0.0`

## Trust breakdown

How this component scores in each security and reliability category. Every signal is checked automatically against the live server, and we only credit what we can confirm. Scores are 0–100 per category. Scoring method: https://verifymcp.io/docs/scoring (what has changed: https://verifymcp.io/docs/scoring/changelog)

Scored 2026-09-24.

- **Endpoint Security**: 57/100
  - The endpoint's TLS certificate is valid, in date, and uses a strong key.
  - Authorisation not fully verified: no authorisation is required to call this server, and 15 tool(s) never declared a destructiveHint. The MCP spec treats an absent hint as destructive by default, so we cannot call this surface safe.
  - HTTPS is enforced; there's no plaintext access path.
  - HSTS check failed: the Strict-Transport-Security header is absent.
  - DNSSEC check failed: this domain isn't protected by DNSSEC.
- **Transport & Reachability**: 100/100
  - Verified streamable-http transport via a live MCP handshake.
- **Schema Quality & AI Usability**: 82/100
  - 100% of prompts and resources have a non-trivial description (not blank, and not just the item's name).
  - AI-judged instruction clarity (excellent).
  - Context-footprint check failed: tool/resource definitions use about 2913 tokens (~194/item across 15 items; 15 tools + 0 resources), over budget; trim descriptions and params.
  - Usage-examples check failed: none of the tools include examples.
- **Stability & Change Management**: 90/100
  - Stability observed for 27 of 30 days with no destabilising changes; credit accrues until the full window elapses.
- **Tool Coverage**: 100/100
  - 100% of tools have a non-trivial description (not blank, and not just the tool's name).
  - 100% of tool parameters carry a description.
  - Structured output schemas are declared (73% of tools); any adoption earns full credit.
- **Tool Safety**: 100/100
  - No prompt-injection markers were found in the server instructions, tool names or descriptions we captured.
  - We read all 15 captured tool definition(s), and no name or description among them implies an irreversible operation.
  - An AI judge read all 16 captured unit(s) of tool text and found none that tries to manipulate the model reading it.
- **Capabilities**: 60/100
  - Spec-recency check failed: implements MCP spec 2025-06-18; the latest is 2026-07-28.

## Install

### How do I install the OpenPublica MCP server?

OpenPublica is a hosted endpoint at https://api.openpublica.com/mcp, so there is nothing to install locally. Ready-made configuration for Claude, Cursor, VS Code, Codex and 5 more is on this page, copied from each client's own documentation.

### Claude

```bash
claude mcp add --transport http com-openpublica-civic-meetings 'https://api.openpublica.com/mcp'
```

### Cursor

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "com-openpublica-civic-meetings": {
      "url": "https://api.openpublica.com/mcp"
    }
  }
}
```

### VS Code

```json
{
  "servers": {
    "com-openpublica-civic-meetings": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://api.openpublica.com/mcp"
    }
  }
}
```

### Codex

```toml
[mcp_servers.com-openpublica-civic-meetings]
url = "https://api.openpublica.com/mcp"
```

### opencode

```json
{
  "$schema": "https://opencode.ai/config.json",
  "mcp": {
    "com-openpublica-civic-meetings": {
      "type": "remote",
      "url": "https://api.openpublica.com/mcp",
      "enabled": true
    }
  }
}
```

### OpenClaw

```bash
openclaw mcp add com-openpublica-civic-meetings --url 'https://api.openpublica.com/mcp' --transport streamable-http
```

### Hermes

```yaml
mcp_servers:
  com-openpublica-civic-meetings:
    url: "https://api.openpublica.com/mcp"
```

### Netclaw

```json
{
  "McpServers": {
    "com-openpublica-civic-meetings": {
      "Transport": "http",
      "Url": "https://api.openpublica.com/mcp"
    }
  }
}
```

### Vellum

```bash
assistant mcp add com-openpublica-civic-meetings -t streamable-http -u 'https://api.openpublica.com/mcp'
```

### Other

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "com-openpublica-civic-meetings": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://api.openpublica.com/mcp"
    }
  }
}
```

The mcpServers block is a cross-client convention. Remote transports vary, so check your client's docs.

## Changelog

Every change recorded for this component, newest first. Days that predate change tracking, or that we cannot explain, say so: "we were watching and nothing happened" and "we were not watching" are different claims.

### 2026-09-24 (score 77, +1)

No change was recorded against any check on this day. Stability & Change Management went from 87 to 90. That category is still filling its 30-day observation window: 26 days of observed history at the previous scan, 27 at this one. The score rises as the window fills, whether or not the server changes.

### 2026-09-22 (score 76, +1)

No change was recorded against any check on this day. Stability & Change Management went from 80 to 83. That category is still filling its 30-day observation window: 24 days of observed history at the previous scan, 25 at this one. The score rises as the window fills, whether or not the server changes.

### 2026-09-20 (score 75, +1)

No change was recorded against any check on this day. Stability & Change Management went from 73 to 77. That category is still filling its 30-day observation window: 22 days of observed history at the previous scan, 23 at this one. The score rises as the window fills, whether or not the server changes.

### 2026-09-18 (score 74, +1)

No change was recorded against any check on this day. Stability & Change Management went from 67 to 70. That category is still filling its 30-day observation window: 20 days of observed history at the previous scan, 21 at this one. The score rises as the window fills, whether or not the server changes.

### 2026-09-16 (score 73, +1)

No change was recorded against any check on this day. Stability & Change Management went from 60 to 63. That category is still filling its 30-day observation window: 18 days of observed history at the previous scan, 19 at this one. The score rises as the window fills, whether or not the server changes.

### 2026-09-15 (score 72, 0)

- [security regression] A breaking change shipped without a version bump: still 1.0.0
- [security regression] Tool “get_meeting_officials” was removed
- [security regression] Tool “get_official” was removed
- [security regression] Tool “list_government_officials” was removed
- [security regression] Tool “list_official_meetings” was removed
- [security] The server rewrote its instructions, which are the text every model session reads
- [security] Tool “get_meeting” rewrote its description, which is the text the model reads
- [functional regression] Schema quality: 174 → 194
- [functional regression] Tool coverage: 79% → 73%

### 2026-09-14 (score 72, +1)

- [security] The server rewrote its instructions, which are the text every model session reads
- [functional improvement] Tool coverage: 73% → 79%
- [functional improvement] Schema quality: 194 → 174
- [functional] New tool “get_meeting_officials”
- [functional] New tool “get_official”
- [functional] New tool “list_government_officials”
- [functional] New tool “list_official_meetings”

### 2026-09-11 (score 71, +1)

No change was recorded against any check on this day. Stability & Change Management went from 43 to 47. That category is still filling its 30-day observation window: 13 days of observed history at the previous scan, 14 at this one. The score rises as the window fills, whether or not the server changes.

## MCP tools (15)

### `search_meetings_semantic` (~495 tokens)

Search meetings

Search OpenPublica meeting summaries by meaning, exact terms, or both.

    The best default tool for "what has been said/decided about X" questions.
    Results carry a `relevance_score` (semantic, 0-1) and/or `keyword_score` (BM25)
    plus `highlights`, so you can triage matches by confidence. If the response sets
    `degraded_to_vector`, the keyword index was unavailable and results are
    semantic-only — do NOT treat them as exact-term matches. Narrow with
    `category_tag`/`topic` (get valid values from `discover_meeting_vocabulary`), a
    date range, or one or more governments. Returns a summary preview; call
    `get_meeting` with a returned `meeting_id` for the full summary or transcript.

Input parameters:

- `category_tag`: Optional meeting-type filter — an opaque category_tag from discover_meeting_vocabulary (not a guessable slug).
- `end_date`: Optional latest meeting date, MM-DD-YYYY.
- `government_id`: Optional account_id (from find_local_governments) to restrict the search to one government.
- `government_ids`: Optional list of account_ids to search across several governments at once (e.g. to compare cities). Overrides government_id.
- `limit` (integer): Max meetings to return (1-25).
- `match_type`: How to match: 'semantic' (default, by meaning — best for concepts/paraphrases), 'keyword' (exact terms — best for names, ordinance numbers, quoted phrases), or 'hybrid' (both, rank-fused). Use keywor…
- `min_score`: Optional semantic relevance floor 0-1 (default 0.4). Raise to return only strong matches; lower to widen recall. Applies to semantic matching only — keyword (BM25) hits are not filtered by it.
- `query` (string, required): What to search for in plain language, e.g. 'short-term rental regulations' or 'police budget overtime'.
- `start_date`: Optional earliest meeting date, MM-DD-YYYY.
- `topic`: Optional topic filter — a topic name from discover_meeting_vocabulary, e.g. 'Affordable Housing'. Restricts to meetings that discussed it.

### `list_recent_meetings` (~204 tokens)

List recent meetings

Browse meetings newest-first, optionally filtered by government, type, topic, or date.

    Use this for "what are the most recent meetings" or to page through a
    government's history. For topical questions, prefer `search_meetings_semantic`.

Input parameters:

- `category_tag`: Optional meeting-type filter — an opaque category_tag from discover_meeting_vocabulary (not a guessable slug; don't invent it).
- `end_date`: Optional latest date, MM-DD-YYYY.
- `government_id`: account_id to list meetings for (from find_local_governments). Omit to list across all governments.
- `limit` (integer): Meetings per page (1-25).
- `page` (integer): 1-based page number for older results.
- `start_date`: Optional earliest date, MM-DD-YYYY.
- `topic`: Optional topic filter — a topic name from discover_meeting_vocabulary, e.g. 'Affordable Housing'.

### `get_meeting` (~95 tokens)

Get meeting

Get a single meeting's full AI summary and topics.

    Set `include_transcript=true` to also retrieve the complete transcript text
    for direct quotation. Returns an error object if the meeting is not found.

Input parameters:

- `include_transcript` (boolean): If true, also fetch the full meeting transcript (can be long). Default false.
- `meeting_id` (string, required): The meeting_id returned by a search/list tool.

### `search_meeting_transcript` (~199 tokens)

Search meeting transcript

Find exact quotes/passages inside one meeting's transcript.

    Use this to pull direct quotations without loading a whole (often very long)
    transcript: it fetches the transcript server-side, scans it, and returns only
    the matching passages with approximate `start`/`end` timecodes when available.
    Exact matches rank first, with a fuzzy fallback. Prefer this over
    `get_meeting(include_transcript=true)` when you only need specific quotes.

Input parameters:

- `context_chars` (integer): Characters of surrounding context per side of a match (0-2000).
- `max_passages` (integer): Max matched passages to return (1-20).
- `meeting_id` (string, required): The meeting_id (from a search/list tool) whose transcript to search.
- `query` (string, required): The phrase or terms to find in the transcript, e.g. 'rent stabilization' or a speaker's exact words.

### `find_local_governments` (~124 tokens)

Find governments near a location

Discover which governments OpenPublica tracks near a coordinate.

    Returns nearby governments with their `account_id`, which you can pass to the
    other tools to scope results to a specific city or board. Note OpenPublica
    only covers a limited set of US localities; an empty result means none are
    tracked near that point yet.

Input parameters:

- `latitude` (number, required): Latitude of the location of interest.
- `limit` (integer): Max governments to return (1-50).
- `longitude` (number, required): Longitude of the location of interest.

### `find_governments_by_name` (~143 tokens)

Find governments by name

Resolve a place *name* to the governments OpenPublica tracks there.

    Use this when you know a city/state name but not its coordinates — it returns
    matching governments with their `account_id` (prefix matches first), which you
    then pass to the search/list tools. Prefer this over `find_local_governments`
    when starting from a name rather than a latitude/longitude.

Input parameters:

- `limit` (integer): Max governments to return (1-50).
- `query` (string, required): A place name to search for, e.g. 'Sacramento', 'San Francisco, CA', or a state like 'Texas'.

### `find_governments_by_zip` (~110 tokens)

Find governments by ZIP code

Resolve a ZIP code to nearby tracked governments.

    Convenience wrapper: geocodes the ZIP, then finds the governments OpenPublica
    tracks nearest that point. Returns their `account_id`s plus the resolved
    location. An empty `governments` list means none are tracked near that ZIP yet.

Input parameters:

- `limit` (integer): Max governments to return (1-50).
- `postal_code` (string, required): A US ZIP code, e.g. '95814'.

### `get_government_info` (~62 tokens)

Get government profile

Get a tracked government's profile: name, location, and meeting categories.

Input parameters:

- `government_id` (string, required): The account_id of the government.
- `include_weekly_summary` (boolean): If true, include the AI-generated weekly digest (markdown). Default false.

### `get_government_stats` (~95 tokens)

Get government meeting stats

Get meeting-activity stats for a government over a recent window.

    Returns total meeting count, a per-day activity map, and a breakdown of
    meeting categories — useful for "how active has X been lately?" questions.

Input parameters:

- `days` (integer): Look-back window in days (1-365).
- `government_id` (string, required): account_id of the government, or 'all' for corpus-wide stats.

### `discover_meeting_vocabulary` (~215 tokens)

Discover category and topic filters

Discover the valid category and topic filter values before filtering a search.

    Meeting `category_tag`s are opaque UUIDs and topics have no fixed list, so you
    cannot guess them. Call this first to get the real values, then pass a returned
    `category_tag` (from `categories[].tags`) or `topic` string into
    `search_meetings_semantic` / `list_recent_meetings`. Scope with a government
    and/or date range; calls without explicit dates default to a recent window
    (returned as `default_window_days`).

Input parameters:

- `end_date`: Optional latest date, MM-DD-YYYY.
- `government_id`: Optional account_id to scope the vocabulary to one government.
- `government_ids`: Optional list of account_ids to scope to several governments. Overrides government_id.
- `start_date`: Optional earliest date, MM-DD-YYYY.
- `topic_limit` (integer): Max topics to return, most common first (1-200).

### `list_government_documents` (~234 tokens)

List government documents

List a government's adopted plan and budget documents.

    Each entry carries `covers` — every general-plan element that document
    answers for. A city that publishes one bound general plan satisfies all
    eight with the same PDF, so do not conclude an element is unpublished
    because no entry is named after it.

    `status` says what the entry offers: `converted` is searchable and readable;
    `superseded` is a retired edition, still stored but not searchable; and
    **`failed` means we hold this document and could not read it — it is not
    evidence the city published nothing.** Cite `source_url` in that case; it is
    always the city's own copy.

    An `availability` block appears ONLY when something is wrong with a
    document, and `availability.reason` says what. No `availability` key means
    there is nothing to report.

Input parameters:

- `government_id` (string, required): account_id from find_local_governments.
- `include_superseded` (boolean): Also include prior editions retired by a newer document.

### `get_document` (~102 tokens)

Get document metadata

One document's metadata. Use read_document_pages to read it.

    If an `availability` key is present, read it before quoting figures: its
    `problems` are transcription-lint findings, most often a footnote marker
    that may have been merged into the number it annotates. No such key means
    the document transcribed cleanly.

Input parameters:

- `document_id` (string, required): Document id from list_government_documents or search_documents.

### `read_document_pages` (~180 tokens)

Read document pages

Read a page range of a document as markdown.

    Pages are transcribed from rendered pixels, so tables and scanned text come
    through as text. A page that could not be transcribed appears as a marked
    hole rather than being silently dropped — if you see one, say so instead of
    reading past it.

    Text is assembled from page windows, so `covered` may be slightly wider than
    what you asked for; cite the page numbers in `covered`, not `requested`.

Input parameters:

- `document_id` (string, required): Document id from list_government_documents or search_documents.
- `first_page` (integer, required): First page to read (1-based, as the PDF renders).
- `last_page` (integer, required): Last page to read. Spans longer than 40 pages are clamped to 40 from first_page.

### `search_documents` (~255 tokens)

Search documents

Search adopted plan and budget documents, returning page-cited excerpts.

    Each hit's `text` is a short passage around the match, not the full page —
    call read_document_pages with the hit's `first_page` to read it in context.

    Every hit carries `first_page`/`last_page` and `source_url`. Quote those
    when citing: the page number is what makes the claim checkable against the
    city's own copy.

    This is word matching, not semantic search — try the terms a plan would
    actually use. Only currently-served documents are searchable, so an empty
    result is not evidence the government has no such policy; check
    list_government_documents for what is held and what could not be read.

    A hit with `document_complete: false` comes from a document with
    transcription findings. Verify it against `source_url` before quoting a
    number from it.

Input parameters:

- `government_id`: Optional account_id to restrict the search to one government.
- `limit` (integer): Maximum excerpts to return.
- `query` (string, required): Words to find in plan and budget text, e.g. 'accessory dwelling unit parking'.

### `get_coverage_overview` (~62 tokens)

Get coverage overview

Get OpenPublica's overall coverage: total governments, states, and meetings
    indexed. DC is tracked but is not a state, so it is reported separately as
    `includes_dc` — read the pair as "N states and DC".

## Diagnostics

Captured diagnostic sections: TLS, DNSSEC, Authorisation, Transports. The full working is on the page: https://verifymcp.io/servers/com-openpublica-civic-meetings/api#diagnostics

## Score history

- 2026-09-24: 77
- 2026-09-23: 76
- 2026-09-22: 76
- 2026-09-21: 75
- 2026-09-20: 75
- 2026-09-19: 74
- 2026-09-18: 74
- 2026-09-17: 73
- 2026-09-16: 73
- 2026-09-15: 72
- 2026-09-14: 72
- 2026-09-13: 71
- 2026-09-12: 71
- 2026-09-11: 71
- 2026-09-10: 70
- 2026-09-09: 70
- 2026-09-08: 69
- 2026-09-07: 69
- 2026-09-06: 68
- 2026-09-05: 68
- 2026-09-04: 67
- 2026-09-03: 67
- 2026-09-02: 66
- 2026-09-01: 66
- 2026-08-31: 65
- 2026-08-30: 65
- 2026-08-29: 64
- 2026-08-28: 64

## Common questions

### What is the OpenPublica MCP server?

OpenPublica is an MCP server listed in the public MCP registry as com.openpublica/civic-meetings. Search US local-government meetings: AI summaries, transcripts, and adopted plan documents. This page covers its hosted endpoint (https://api.openpublica.com/mcp).

### Is the OpenPublica MCP server safe to use?

OpenPublica scores 77 out of 100 on VerifyMCP. That is a record of what we were able to check automatically, not an endorsement. The category breakdown on this page shows every signal behind the number, including the ones we could not confirm.

### What tools does the OpenPublica MCP server expose?

OpenPublica exposes 15 tools: search_meetings_semantic, list_recent_meetings, get_meeting, search_meeting_transcript, find_local_governments, and 10 more. Their descriptions and schemas cost roughly 2,575 tokens of context every time the server is loaded.

### Does the OpenPublica MCP server require authentication?

No. We connected to OpenPublica without credentials and it answered, so anything it exposes is reachable by anyone who knows the address.

### Is the OpenPublica MCP server still maintained?

OpenPublica is still listed as active in the MCP registry. We last reached this channel on 24 September 2026. Those dates come from our own scans of the registry and the channel itself, not from anything the publisher announced.

## Links

- Remote endpoint: https://api.openpublica.com/mcp
- Website: https://www.openpublica.com/api-docs
- Changelog RSS feed: https://verifymcp.io/servers/com-openpublica-civic-meetings/api.xml
- Changelog JSON feed: https://verifymcp.io/servers/com-openpublica-civic-meetings/api.json
- HTML version of this page: https://verifymcp.io/servers/com-openpublica-civic-meetings/api