io.github.cyanheads/usda-mcp-server
REMOTE · USDA.CASEYJHAND.COM · 2 COMPONENTS
Search foods, compare nutrients, and look up the full USDA FoodData Central database.
Available components
Last scanned (1 hour ago)
Scores higher than 97% of remote servers
Reachable. Last reached 6 Nov 2026.
Category Health and Science
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. How we score → Why this is hard to score →
Endpoint Security83
- The endpoint's TLS certificate is valid, in date, and uses a strong key. View diagnostics → Pass
- No authorisation is required to call this server. Nothing on it is marked destructive, but we can't show that an anonymous caller can only read: full credit needs the server to list at least one tool and every tool to be verifiably read-only. We use a best-effort check of tool names and descriptions to tell read-only tools from tools that change things, so some genuinely read-only tools may not get full credit. Names that start with a read verb (get, list, read, search and similar) and accurate readOnlyHint annotations help. Meet that to earn full credit, or require authorisation. See how to fix → View diagnostics → Partial
- HTTPS is enforced; there's no plaintext access path. View diagnostics → Pass
- The HSTS (Strict-Transport-Security) header is present. View diagnostics → Pass
- DNSSEC is configured correctly; the domain's records validate against the full chain to the root. View diagnostics → Pass
Transport & Reachability100
- Verified streamable-http transport via a live MCP handshake. View diagnostics → Pass
Schema Quality & AI Usability78
- 100% of prompts and resources have a non-trivial description (not blank, and not just the item's name).Pass
- AI-judged instruction clarity (excellent).Pass
- Context-footprint check failed: tool/resource definitions use about 1888 tokens (~269/item across 7 items; 5 tools + 2 resources), over budget; trim descriptions and params. See how to fix → Fail
- Usage-examples check failed: none of the tools include examples. See how to fix → Fail
Stability & Change Management100
- No destabilizing schema changes in the last 30 days.Pass
Tool Coverage100
- 100% of tools have a non-trivial description (not blank, and not just the tool's name).Pass
- 100% of tool parameters carry a description.Pass
- Structured output schemas are declared (100% of tools); any adoption earns full credit.Pass
Tool Safety100
- No prompt-injection markers were found in the server instructions, tool names or descriptions we captured.Pass
- We read all 5 captured tool definition(s), and no name or description among them implies an irreversible operation.Pass
- An AI judge read all 7 captured unit(s) of tool text and found none that tries to manipulate the model reading it.Pass
Capabilities100
- Implements a current MCP spec version (2026-07-28).Pass
Checks we ran (13)
- TLS certificate
- Authorization
- HTTPS
- HSTS header
- DNSSEC
- Transport
- Schema quality
- Stability
- Tool coverage
- Injection markers
- Destructive annotations
- Judged manipulation
- MCP protocol
Does not apply to this hosted endpoint (2)
- Supply Chain SecurityScored on package channels only. This is a hosted endpoint, so there is nothing to install or inspect.
- Provenance & TransparencyScored on package channels only. This is a hosted endpoint, so there is nothing to install or inspect.
The score does not measure everything. What the score does not measure →
Every change we have recorded for this component, newest first. Security-relevant changes are always shown. ▲ marks a change for the better, ▼ a change for the worse; unmarked changes are neutral.
- 6 Nov 26 0
- We updated how we score, so this day's move reflects our rubric, not a change to the server See what changed → functional
- 26 Oct 26 0
- Tool “usda_get_food” rewrote its description, which is the text the model reads security
- Tool “usda_search_foods” rewrote its description, which is the text the model reads security
- New resource “usda-guide” functional
- Server version: 0.1.13 → 0.2.0 functional
- “usda_search_foods” reworded the description of “pageNumber” cosmetic
- “usda_get_food” reworded the description of “unit” cosmetic
- 25 Oct 26 0
- Tool “usda_compare_foods” rewrote its description, which is the text the model reads security
- Tool “usda_get_food” rewrote its description, which is the text the model reads security
- Schema quality: 250 → 291 ▼ functional
- Server version: 0.1.12 → 0.1.13 functional
- “usda_compare_foods” reworded the description of “quantity” cosmetic
- “usda_compare_foods” reworded the description of “unit” cosmetic
- “usda_get_food” reworded the description of “quantity” cosmetic
- “usda_get_food” reworded the description of “unit” cosmetic
- “usda_search_foods” reworded the description of “query” cosmetic
- 10 Oct 26 0
- Server version: 0.1.11 → 0.1.12 functional
- 28 Sept 26 0
- We updated how we score, so this day's move reflects our rubric, not a change to the server See what changed → functional
- 25 Sept 26 0
- We updated how we score, so this day's move reflects our rubric, not a change to the server See what changed → functional
- 22 Sept 26 0
- The server rewrote its instructions, which are the text every model session reads security
- Server version: 0.1.10 → 0.1.11 functional
- 16 Sept 26 0
- Server version: 0.1.9 → 0.1.10 functional
Diagnostic detail from the automated scan of this channel: what the scanner observed at each step, so you can see exactly where a check passed or failed. It is informational only and never changes the trust score.
Captured 6 Nov 2026 · Probed https://usda.caseyjhand.com/mcp
TLS valid
Negotiated TLS 1.3 with TLS_AES_128_GCM_SHA256 .
| Subject | Issuer | Valid from | Valid until | Key | Signature | Serial |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CN=caseyjhand.com | CN=WE1,O=Google Trust Services,C=US | 2 Nov 2026 | 31 Jan 2027 | ECDSA 256 | ECDSA-SHA256 | 995a30681ab772540e934241ca1d576c |
| SANs: caseyjhand.com, *.caseyjhand.com | ||||||
| CN=WE1,O=Google Trust Services,C=US (CA) | CN=GTS Root R4,O=Google Trust Services LLC,C=US | 13 Dec 2023 | 20 Feb 2029 | ECDSA 256 | ECDSA-SHA384 | 7ff31977972c224a76155d13b6d685e3 |
| CN=GTS Root R4,O=Google Trust Services LLC,C=US (CA) | CN=GlobalSign Root CA,OU=Root CA,O=GlobalSign nv-sa,C=BE | 15 Nov 2023 | 28 Jan 2028 | ECDSA 384 | SHA256-RSA | 7fe530bf331343bedd821610493d8a1b |
Background: What to check on a remote MCP endpoint →
DNSSEC secure
Validation of usda.caseyjhand.com. — Secure
| Zone | DS | Keys | Algorithms | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| . | Trust anchor | 20326, 38696 | 8, 8 | Verified |
| com. | DS published | 19718 | 13 | Verified |
| caseyjhand.com. | DS published | 2371 | 13 | Verified |
| usda.caseyjhand.com. | Verified address RRset verified with the apex keys |
Authentication No authorisation required
The endpoint answered without asking for a token. Anyone who knows the URL can reach it.
| Result | No authorisation required |
|---|---|
| HTTP status | 200 |
| Header | Value |
|---|---|
| strict-transport-security | max-age=63072000; includeSubDomains; preload |
| x-content-type-options | nosniff |
Background: How OAuth 2.1 works in the 2026 MCP spec →
Transports 2 probes
| Transport | URL | Outcome | Status | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| streamable-http | https://usda.caseyjhand.com/mcp | Verified | 200 | |
| http (plaintext) | http://usda.caseyjhand.com/mcp | HTTPS enforced | 301 | https://usda.caseyjhand.com/mcp |
The tools this component advertises to a client, with an estimated token cost for each. Expand a tool to see its parameters and schema. The per-tool counts are indicative and are not scored directly; the schema's total context footprint is one signal in Schema Quality & AI Usability. A tool's description is untrusted text the model reads on every call, which is what makes this list a security surface and not just an inventory: how tool poisoning works →
usda_compare_foods Compare USDA Foods ~379
Compare nutrients side-by-side for 2–5 foods. Returns a structured table — one row per nutrient, one column per food — formatted as markdown. Best for "spinach vs kale iron" or "which has more protein?" questions. Omit nutrients[] to use the 12 most common defaults (energy, protein, fat, saturated fat, carbs, fiber, sugars, sodium, potassium, calcium, iron, vitamin C); provide nutrients[] with specific FDC IDs to compare different nutrients. All values are scaled to the same basis, quantity in unit: default 100 g, so unit="oz" alone compares per 100 oz and quantity alone is grams. If one or more FDC IDs are not found, the comparison proceeds with the valid foods — only throws too_few_foods when fewer than 2 IDs return data.
| Name | Type | Req | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| fdcIds | array | yes | FDC IDs to compare — 2 to 5 foods. Use usda_search_foods to discover IDs. |
| nutrients | array | – | Nutrient IDs to include in the comparison. Defaults to the 12 most common: energy (1008), protein (1003), total fat (1004), saturated fat (1258), carbohydrate (1005), fiber (1079), total sugars (2000… |
| quantity | number | – | Amount of food, in unit, that every value is scaled to. Must be positive. Default 100. |
| unit | string | – | Unit for quantity. Default "g". Does not support "serving" (each food's portion weight differs, so a serving basis would not compare equal amounts). |
| Name | Type | Req | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| basis | object | – | The common scaling basis applied to all nutrient values. |
| error | object | – | Present when the call failed. Absent on success. |
| foods | array | – | The compared foods, in the same order as the values arrays below. |
| missingData | array | – | Foods or food+nutrient pairs where data was unavailable. Absent when all data was present. |
| nutrients | array | – | Nutrient rows — one entry per requested nutrient, with per-food values in the values[] array. |
No examples provided.
usda_get_food Get USDA Food ~417
Get the full nutrient profile for one food by FDC ID. Returns all available nutrients (or a filtered subset via the nutrients[] param) with optional per-portion scaling. Use usda_search_foods to discover FDC IDs. Provide unit, optionally with quantity, to scale all nutrient values from per-100g to that amount (e.g. quantity=200, unit="g" → per-200g values). quantity defaults to 100 for g, oz, lb, and kg and to 1 for serving. Serving uses the first valid portion, or a positive finite Branded label size in g/GRM/GM (case-insensitive) when no portion exists; quantity multiplies that weight. Other label units require an explicit mass-unit request. quantity without unit is rejected. Narrow nutrients[] to specific IDs to reduce response size for focused queries.
| Name | Type | Req | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| fdcId | integer | yes | FDC ID of the food. Use usda_search_foods to discover IDs. |
| nutrients | array | – | Filter to specific nutrient IDs (e.g. [1003, 1004, 1005, 1008] for protein, fat, carbs, energy). Use usda_list_nutrients to look up IDs. Omit to return all available nutrients. |
| quantity | number | – | Amount of food, in unit, to scale nutrient values to. Must be positive. Requires unit. Defaults to 100 when unit is g, oz, lb, or kg, and to 1 when unit is "serving". Omit both quantity and unit for… |
| unit | string | – | Unit for quantity. "serving" uses the first valid portion weight, or a Branded label size in g/GRM/GM (case-insensitive) when no portion exists, multiplied by quantity. Required when quantity is prov… |
| Name | Type | Req | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| allPortions | array | – | All named portions for this food. |
| brandName | string | – | Brand name. Branded items only. |
| brandOwner | string | – | Brand owner. Branded items only. |
| dataType | string | – | FDC data source: SR Legacy, Foundation, Survey (FNDDS), or Branded. |
| description | string | – | Full USDA food name (e.g. "Chicken, broilers or fryers, breast, meat only, raw"). |
| error | object | – | Present when the call failed. Absent on success. |
| fdcId | number | – | FDC ID of the food. |
| foodCategory | string | – | USDA food category (e.g. "Poultry Products"). Absent for some branded items. |
| ingredients | string | – | Ingredient list from label. Branded items only. |
| nutrients | array | – | Nutrient values for this food, per 100g or scaled to the scaledTo basis. |
| publicationDate | string | – | Date this food entry was published in FDC. |
| scaledTo | object | – | Scaling basis when unit was provided. Absent when returning per-100g values. |
| servingInfo | object | – | First available portion definition, or a Branded gram-label serving identified in its description. |
No examples provided.
usda_get_foods Get USDA Foods (Batch) ~198
Fetch nutrient profiles for 2–20 foods in a single API call. More efficient than calling usda_get_food N times when you already have multiple FDC IDs. All values are per 100g (no portion scaling). Use the nutrients[] filter to limit response size — strongly recommended for batch calls. For side-by-side comparison with a formatted table, use usda_compare_foods instead. Failed IDs (not found or no data) are reported in the failed[] array rather than aborting the entire batch.
| Name | Type | Req | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| fdcIds | array | yes | FDC IDs to fetch — 2 to 20 IDs. Use usda_search_foods to discover IDs. |
| nutrients | array | – | Filter to specific nutrient IDs (e.g. [1003, 1004, 1005, 1008]). Strongly recommended — full profiles can be large. Use usda_list_nutrients to look up IDs. |
| Name | Type | Req | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| error | object | – | Present when the call failed. Absent on success. |
| failed | array | – | IDs that returned no data. Check these with usda_search_foods to verify they exist. |
| foods | array | – | Successfully fetched foods. |
No examples provided.
usda_list_nutrients List USDA Nutrients ~154
Look up the FDC nutrient reference table — all tracked nutrients with their numeric IDs, names, SR reference numbers, units, and categories. Use to resolve a nutrient name (e.g. "vitamin C") to its FDC ID (1162) before passing it to the nutrients[] filter on other tools. Filter by category (macronutrients, vitamins, minerals, lipids, amino_acids, or other) to narrow results. The data is static — call once and reuse the IDs.
| Name | Type | Req | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| category | string | – | Filter to a nutrient category. Omit to return all ~150 tracked nutrients. Options: macronutrients, vitamins, minerals, lipids, amino_acids, other. |
| Name | Type | Req | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| error | object | – | Present when the call failed. Absent on success. |
| nutrients | array | – | Nutrient reference entries matching the requested category, or all if category is omitted. |
No examples provided.
usda_search_foods Search USDA Foods ~541
Search USDA FoodData Central foods by keyword. Returns matching foods with FDC IDs and available preview nutrients: protein (1003), fat (1004), carbohydrate (1005), fiber (1079), and energy (1008, 1062, 2047, 2048), preserving distinct energy estimates. Missing nutrients are omitted. Use the returned fdcId with usda_get_food for other nutrients or the full profile, or usda_compare_foods for side-by-side comparisons. When dataType is omitted, defaults to SR Legacy (common whole foods with complete profiles) — or to Branded when brandOwner is set, since only Branded records carry one. Set dataType to ["Branded"] for packaged products, or include a UPC/GTIN code as the query. Pass brandOwner (e.g. "General Mills") to narrow branded results.
| Name | Type | Req | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| brandOwner | string | – | Filter branded results by brand owner name (e.g. "General Mills", "Kraft"). Only Branded records carry one, so setting this defaults dataType to ["Branded"] unless dataType is given explicitly. |
| dataType | array | – | FDC data sources to search. Omitting this defaults to ["SR Legacy"] (common whole foods, complete nutrient profiles), or to ["Branded"] when brandOwner is set. Include "Branded" for packaged products… |
| foodCategory | string | – | Filter by USDA food category (e.g. "Poultry Products", "Vegetables and Vegetable Products"). Case-sensitive. |
| pageNumber | integer | – | Page number (1-based). Use with totalPages to paginate. Pages past the end return empty foods with a notice when the query has matches. |
| pageSize | integer | – | Number of results per page. Default 10, maximum 50. |
| query | string | yes | Search terms — food name, ingredient, or UPC/GTIN code for branded products. Examples: "chicken breast raw", "banana", "012345678901". FDC reads Lucene syntax: "quoted phrases", +required and -exclud… |
| Name | Type | Req | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| currentPage | number | – | Current page number (1-based); the requested page for exhausted pages. |
| error | object | – | Present when the call failed. Absent on success. |
| foods | array | – | Foods matching the search query. |
| notice | string | – | Guidance for a requested page beyond the available range. |
| totalCount | number | – | Total foods matching the query across all pages. |
| totalHits | number | – | Total number of foods matching the query across all pages. |
| totalPages | number | – | Total number of pages available. |
No examples provided.
How do I install the io.github.cyanheads/usda-mcp-server server?
io.github.cyanheads/usda-mcp-server is a hosted endpoint at https://usda.caseyjhand.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.
remote · usda.caseyjhand.com
claude mcp add --transport http cyanheads-usda-mcp-server 'https://usda.caseyjhand.com/mcp'
What is the io.github.cyanheads/usda-mcp-server server?
io.github.cyanheads/usda-mcp-server is listed in the public MCP registry as io.github.cyanheads/usda-mcp-server. Search foods, compare nutrients, and look up the full USDA FoodData Central database. This page covers its hosted endpoint (https://usda.caseyjhand.com/mcp).
Is the io.github.cyanheads/usda-mcp-server server safe to use?
io.github.cyanheads/usda-mcp-server scores 89 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 io.github.cyanheads/usda-mcp-server server expose?
io.github.cyanheads/usda-mcp-server exposes 5 tools: usda_list_nutrients, usda_search_foods, usda_get_food, usda_get_foods, usda_compare_foods. Their descriptions and schemas cost roughly 1,689 tokens of context every time the server is loaded.
Does the io.github.cyanheads/usda-mcp-server server require authentication?
No. We connected to io.github.cyanheads/usda-mcp-server without credentials and it answered, so anything it exposes is reachable by anyone who knows the address.
Is the io.github.cyanheads/usda-mcp-server server still maintained?
io.github.cyanheads/usda-mcp-server is still listed as active in the MCP registry. We last reached this channel on 6 November 2026. Those dates come from our own scans of the registry and the channel itself, not from anything the publisher announced.
What did VerifyMCP test on the io.github.cyanheads/usda-mcp-server server?
VerifyMCP ran 13 checks on io.github.cyanheads/usda-mcp-server, covering TLS certificate, Authorization, HTTPS, HSTS header and 9 more. Supply Chain Security and Provenance & Transparency do not apply to a hosted endpoint, so they were not tested. The score does not measure everything, and the scoring documentation lists what it leaves out.