NASA Earthdata MCP
REMOTE · CMR.EARTHDATA.NASA.GOV
Discover, verify, and access NASA Earth science datasets via the Common Metadata Repository (CMR)
Available components
Last scanned (18 hours ago)
Scores higher than 66% of remote servers
Reachable. Last reached 4 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 Security66
- The endpoint's TLS certificate is valid, in date, and uses a strong key. View diagnostics → Pass
- Authorisation not fully verified: no authorisation is required to call this server, and 3 tool(s) never declared a destructiveHint. The MCP spec treats an absent hint as destructive by default, so we cannot call this surface safe. See how to fix → View diagnostics → Unverified
- 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 Usability48
- AI-judged instruction clarity (good).Pass
- Context-footprint check failed: tool/resource definitions use about 8201 tokens (~1171/item across 7 items; 7 tools + 0 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 Coverage88
- 100% of tools have a non-trivial description (not blank, and not just the tool's name).Pass
- 58% of tool parameters carry a description.Partial
- 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 7 captured tool definition(s), and no name or description among them implies an irreversible operation.Pass
- An AI judge read all 8 captured unit(s) of tool text and found none that tries to manipulate the model reading it.Pass
Capabilities100
- Implements a supported MCP spec version (2025-11-25); the latest is 2026-07-28.Pass
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.
- 12 Oct 26 0
- Stability: 0.97 → pass security
- 10 Oct 26 +2
No change was recorded against any check on this day. Stability & Change Management went from 87 to 97. That category is still filling its 30-day observation window: 26 days of observed history at the previous scan, 29 at this one. The score rises as the window fills, whether or not the server changes.
- 7 Oct 26 +1
No change was recorded against any check on this day. Stability & Change Management went from 77 to 87. That category is still filling its 30-day observation window: 23 days of observed history at the previous scan, 26 at this one. The score rises as the window fills, whether or not the server changes.
- 4 Oct 26 +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.
- 2 Oct 26 +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.
- 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
- 12 Sept 26 0
- Stability: unverified → 0.03 ▲ 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 4 Nov 2026 · Probed https://cmr.earthdata.nasa.gov/mcp/v1
TLS valid
Negotiated TLS 1.3 with TLS_AES_128_GCM_SHA256 .
| Subject | Issuer | Valid from | Valid until | Key | Signature | Serial |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CN=cmr.earthdata.nasa.gov | CN=Amazon RSA 2048 M01,O=Amazon,C=US | 24 Oct 2026 | 9 May 2027 | RSA 2048 | SHA256-RSA | 35fc0097edcdc0a72bb19342f26653a |
| SANs: cmr.earthdata.nasa.gov | ||||||
| CN=Amazon RSA 2048 M01,O=Amazon,C=US (CA) | CN=Amazon Root CA 1,O=Amazon,C=US | 23 Aug 2022 | 23 Aug 2030 | RSA 2048 | SHA256-RSA | 77312380b9d6688a33b1ed9bf9ccda68e0e0f |
| CN=Amazon Root CA 1,O=Amazon,C=US (CA) | CN=Starfield Services Root Certificate Authority - G2,O=Starfield Technologies\, Inc.,L=Scottsdale,ST=Arizona,C=US | 25 May 2015 | 31 Dec 2037 | RSA 2048 | SHA256-RSA | 67f944a2a27cdf3fac2ae2b01f908eeb9c4c6 |
Background: What to check on a remote MCP endpoint →
DNSSEC secure
Validation of cmr.earthdata.nasa.gov. — Secure
| Zone | DS | Keys | Algorithms | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| . | trust_anchor | 20326, 38696 | 8, 8 | Verified |
| gov. | present | 2536 | 13 | Verified |
| nasa.gov. | present | 59470 | 8 | Verified |
| cmr.earthdata.nasa.gov. | 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=31536000; includeSubDomains; preload |
| x-content-type-options | nosniff |
| x-frame-options | SAMEORIGIN |
Background: How OAuth 2.1 works in the 2026 MCP spec →
Transports 2 probes
| Transport | URL | Outcome | Status | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| streamable-http | https://cmr.earthdata.nasa.gov/mcp/v1 | Verified | 200 | |
| http (plaintext) | http://cmr.earthdata.nasa.gov/mcp/v1 | HTTPS enforced | 301 | https://cmr.earthdata.nasa.gov/mcp/v1 |
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 →
get_citations ~235
Discover citation records directly associated with a collection, or look up a citation by identifier (e.g. DOI). Use this tool to evaluate citation relevance for a collection. Key fields in each returned item: - concept_id: CMR citation concept ID - name: The title or name of the citation - identifier: The primary DOI or identifier - abstract: Abstract text - citation_metadata: Nested metadata including Year, Publisher, and Author list
| Name | Type | Req | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| collection_concept_id | – | – | – |
| cursor | – | – | Pagination token for the next page of results. Pass the exact next_cursor string returned by the previous tool call. Cursors are query-scoped: they lock in the original search parameters and cannot b… |
| fields | – | – | – |
| identifier | – | – | – |
| limit | integer | – | Maximum number of results to return (default 10, max 50). Keep this small to avoid context window bloat. When using limit > 10, always specify the fields parameter. |
| provider | – | – | – |
| Name | Type | Req | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| citations | array | – | Normalized citation results mapped from UMM-Citations |
| error_message | – | – | Error details when status is error |
| next_cursor | – | – | Pagination token for the next page; None when no more results |
| status | string | yes | Status of the tool execution |
| total_hits | integer | – | Total number of matching items |
No examples provided.
get_collections ~1,571
Search NASA CMR collections and return up to 10 lightweight normalized results. Key return fields in each item: - concept_id: CMR collection concept ID - native_id: native ID of the collection record - revision_id: revision ID of the collection metadata - provider_id: provider ID of the collection - short_name: collection short name - entry_title: collection title - time_start / time_end: temporal coverage bounds - processing_level_id: processing level (e.g., L3, L4) - doi: digital object identifier - collection_data_type: data type (e.g., SCIENCE_QUALITY, NEAR_REAL_TIME) - temporal_resolution / spatial_resolution: extracted resolution strings - related_urls: links to landing pages, documentation, and tools Unfiltered searches are supported when you need broad exploration. IMPORTANT — relevance and coverage: A keyword-only search returns all collections whose metadata mentions those terms, regardless of whether they actually hold data for the user's region or time period. Collection declared extents are often global or multi-decadal, so a collection appearing in results does not mean it has granules for a specific area or date. When the user's question involves a time period or geographic region, include temporal_start_date/temporal_end_date and/or spatial_wkt_geometry to restrict results to collections that overlap that window. Follow up with get_granules (with the same filters) to confirm actual data availability. IMPORTANT — keyword AND logic: CMR treats each space-separated keyword as an independent term and requires ALL of them to appear somewhere in a collection's metadata (title, summary, science keywords, instruments, platforms, etc.). Words do not need to appear in the same field or adjacent to each other. Because every term must match, adding more words makes the search STRICTER, not broader — the opposite of typical web search engines. Prefer 2–4 precise scientific terms. If a search returns 0 results, try removing the least essential word before bro…
| Name | Type | Req | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| concept_id | – | – | Exact CMR concept ID (format: C<number>-<PROVIDER>, e.g., C2036882064-POCLOUD). Use for direct lookup of a known collection. |
| cursor | – | – | Pagination token for the next page of results. Pass the exact next_cursor string returned by the previous tool call. Cursors are query-scoped: they lock in the original search parameters and cannot b… |
| fields | – | – | – |
| has_granules | – | – | When True, filters to collections that have actual granule data. Prevents returning metadata-only shells. |
| instrument | – | – | – |
| keyword | – | – | Free-text keyword search. Case insensitive. IMPORTANT — CMR uses AND logic: each space-separated word is matched independently and ALL words must appear somewhere in a collection's indexed fields (ti… |
| limit | integer | – | Maximum number of results to return (default 10, max 50). Keep this small to avoid context window bloat. When using limit > 10, always specify the fields parameter. |
| platform | – | – | – |
| processing_level_id | – | – | – |
| provider | – | – | Data provider short name (e.g., PODAAC, NSIDC_ECS, GES_DISC, ORNL_DAAC, LAADS, GHRC_DAAC, ASDC). Restricts results to collections from that provider. WARNING: NASA DAACs are actively migrating assets… |
| short_name | – | – | Collection short name (e.g., MOD11A1, SPL3SMP, MUR-JPL-L4-GLOB-v4.1). Exact match by default; wildcards * and ? are supported. |
| spatial_wkt_geometry | – | – | Spatial filter as WKT geometry. Supported types: POLYGON((lon lat, ...)), POINT(lon lat), or LINESTRING(lon lat, ...).Restricts results to collections whose declared extent intersects this area. CMR… |
| temporal_end_date | – | – | End of temporal filter in ISO 8601 format (e.g., 2020-12-31T23:59:59Z). Restricts results to collections whose declared temporal range overlaps this window. Set this whenever the user specifies a tim… |
| temporal_start_date | – | – | Start of temporal filter in ISO 8601 format (e.g., 2020-01-01T00:00:00Z). Restricts results to collections whose declared temporal range overlaps this window. Set this whenever the user specifies a t… |
| Name | Type | Req | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| collections | array | – | Normalized collection results mapped from UMM-C |
| error_message | – | – | Error details when status is error |
| next_cursor | – | – | Pagination token for the next page of results |
| status | string | yes | Status of the tool execution |
| total_hits | integer | – | Total number of matching items |
No examples provided.
get_granules ~1,264
Search NASA CMR granules for a specific parent collection and return up to 10 lightweight normalized results. Key return fields in each item: - concept_id: CMR granule concept ID - native_id: native ID of the granule record - revision_id: revision ID of the granule metadata - provider_id: provider ID of the granule - granule_ur: primary granule identifier - time_start / time_end: temporal coverage bounds - access_urls: actionable data access URLs - cloud_cover: cloud cover percentage - day_night_flag: DAY, NIGHT, BOTH, or UNSPECIFIED - size_mb: file size in megabytes - data_format: file format (e.g., NetCDF-4, GeoTIFF) - bounding_box: [West, South, East, North] Minimum Bounding Rectangle (MBR) footprint. Note: for swath data or irregular polygons, this bounding box fully encloses the data but may contain empty space at the corners. IMPORTANT — data availability checks: Without temporal and/or spatial filters, results represent ALL granules ever archived in the collection, which may span decades and the entire globe. total_hits without filters tells you the full archive size, NOT whether data exists for a specific area or time period. To verify availability for a specific region and/or period, apply the corresponding spatial or temporal filters. Single-filter queries (e.g., temporal-only) are completely valid and should be used when the user only specifies one constraint, but combining both provides the most precise availability answer. Key parameters: - collection_concept_id: required parent collection concept ID - temporal_start_date / temporal_end_date: filter to granules overlapping this time window — always set when the user specifies a time period - spatial_wkt_geometry: filter to granules intersecting this area — always set when the user specifies a geographic region - cloud_cover_min / cloud_cover_max: filter optical imagery by cloud cover percentage (0–100). Only set for optical/visible imagery collections (Landsat, MODIS, VIIRS, Sentinel-2 via CMR). Do…
| Name | Type | Req | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| cloud_cover_max | – | – | Maximum cloud cover percentage (0–100, inclusive). Use with cloud_cover_min to filter optical/visible imagery granules by cloud cover. For example, set cloud_cover_max=20 to find mostly clear scenes.… |
| cloud_cover_min | – | – | Minimum cloud cover percentage (0–100, inclusive). Use with cloud_cover_max to filter optical/visible imagery granules by cloud cover. Only applicable to collections that report cloud cover (e.g., La… |
| collection_concept_id | string | yes | Parent collection concept ID (format: C<number>-<PROVIDER>, e.g., C2723758340-GES_DISC). Required to scope granule search. |
| cursor | – | – | Pagination token for the next page of results. Pass the exact next_cursor string returned by the previous tool call. Cursors are query-scoped: they lock in the original search parameters and cannot b… |
| day_night_flag | – | – | Filter granules by day/night acquisition flag. Values: 'DAY', 'NIGHT', 'UNSPECIFIED'. |
| fields | – | – | – |
| limit | integer | – | Maximum number of results to return (default 10, max 50). Keep this small to avoid context window bloat. When using limit > 10, always specify the fields parameter. |
| sort_key | – | – | Sort key for granule results. e.g., '-start_date' (newest first), 'start_date' (oldest first). CMR default is relevance score. For ongoing or near-real-time (NRT) missions where the user wants the mo… |
| spatial_wkt_geometry | – | – | Spatial filter as WKT geometry. Supported types: POLYGON((lon lat, ...)), POINT(lon lat), or LINESTRING(lon lat, ...).Finds granules with spatial extent intersecting this area. CMR returns any granul… |
| temporal_end_date | – | – | End of temporal filter in ISO 8601 format (e.g., 2024-01-31T23:59:59Z). Finds granules whose temporal extent overlaps this window. Set this whenever the user specifies a time period — omitting it ret… |
| temporal_start_date | – | – | Start of temporal filter in ISO 8601 format (e.g., 2024-01-01T00:00:00Z). Finds granules whose temporal extent overlaps this window. Set this whenever the user specifies a time period — omitting it r… |
| Name | Type | Req | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| error_message | – | – | Error details when status is error |
| granules | array | – | Normalized granule results mapped from UMM-G |
| next_cursor | – | – | Pagination token for the next page of results |
| status | string | yes | Status of the tool execution |
| total_hits | integer | – | Total number of matching items |
No examples provided.
get_keywords ~233
Discover official Earthdata vocabulary (like 'ATMOSPHERIC WATER VAPOR') directly from NASA's Keyword Management System (KMS). Use this to find the exact preferred labels to construct successful get_collections searches. Key fields in each returned item: - prefLabel: The preferred label to use in searches - uuid: The KMS concept UUID - definition: Context and expanded acronyms - scheme: The vocabulary scheme (e.g. sciencekeywords, platforms)
| Name | Type | Req | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| cursor | – | – | Pagination token for the next page of results. Pass the exact next_cursor string returned by the previous tool call. Cursors are query-scoped: they lock in the original search parameters and cannot b… |
| fields | – | – | – |
| limit | integer | – | Maximum number of results to return (default 10, max 50). Keep this small to avoid context window bloat. When using limit > 10, always specify the fields parameter. |
| query | string | yes | – |
| scheme | – | – | – |
| Name | Type | Req | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| error_message | – | – | Error details when status is error |
| keywords | array | – | List of matched KMS terms |
| next_cursor | – | – | Pagination token for the next page; None when no more results |
| status | string | yes | Status of the tool execution |
| total_hits | integer | – | Total number of matching items |
No examples provided.
get_services ~402
Search NASA CMR services for a specific parent collection and return all associated normalized UMM-S records. Key fields in each returned item: - concept_id: CMR service concept ID - native_id: native ID of the service record - revision_id: revision ID of the service metadata - provider_id: provider ID of the service - name: service name - type: service type (e.g., OPeNDAP, WCS, Harmony, WMS, WMTS, ESI, EGI - No Processing) - version: service version string - description: human-readable service description - url: Primary endpoint URL information - service_options: supported output formats, projections, subset types, and interpolation methods - operation_metadata: operation names (e.g., GetCapabilities, GetMap) and distributed computing platform Key parameters: - collection_concept_id: required parent collection concept ID Iteration & Refinement: - All services associated with the collection are fetched in a single request. Paging is not supported. Note: A collection may be associated with multiple services of different types. Check type to distinguish between data access services (e.g., OPeNDAP, WCS) and discovery/visualization services (e.g., WMS, WMTS).
| Name | Type | Req | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| collection_concept_id | – | – | – |
| cursor | – | – | Pagination token for the next page of results. Pass the exact next_cursor string returned by the previous tool call. Cursors are query-scoped: they lock in the original search parameters and cannot b… |
| fields | – | – | – |
| keyword | – | – | – |
| limit | integer | – | Maximum number of results to return (default 10, max 50). Keep this small to avoid context window bloat. When using limit > 10, always specify the fields parameter. |
| type | – | – | – |
| Name | Type | Req | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| error_message | – | – | Error details when status is error |
| next_cursor | – | – | Pagination token for the next page |
| services | array | – | Normalized service results mapped from UMM-S |
| status | string | yes | Status of the tool execution |
| total_hits | integer | – | Total number of matching items |
No examples provided.
get_tools ~454
Search NASA CMR tools for a specific parent collection and return all associated normalized UMM-T records. Key fields in each returned item: - concept_id: CMR tool concept ID - native_id: native ID of the tool record - revision_id: revision ID of the tool metadata - provider_id: provider ID of the tool - name: tool name - type: tool type (e.g., Downloadable Tool, Web User Interface, Web Portal, Model) - version: tool version string - description: human-readable tool description - url: Primary URL for directly accessing the tool - supported_input_formats: file formats the tool can read (e.g., HDF5, NETCDF-4, GeoTIFF) - supported_output_formats: file formats the tool can produce - supported_operating_systems: OS compatibility (name and version) - supported_browsers: browser compatibility (name and version) - supported_software_languages: programming language compatibility - tool_keywords: Earth science keyword taxonomy for the tool - organizations: providers, developers, or publishers of the tool - potential_action: smart handoff definition for parameterized deep links (e.g., 'Open in Giovanni') Key parameters: - collection_concept_id: required parent collection concept ID Iteration & Refinement: - All tools associated with the collection are fetched in a single request. Paging is not supported. Note: A collection may be associated with multiple tools of different types. Check type to distinguish between downloadable tools, web user interfaces, and web portals.
| Name | Type | Req | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| collection_concept_id | – | – | – |
| cursor | – | – | Pagination token for the next page of results. Pass the exact next_cursor string returned by the previous tool call. Cursors are query-scoped: they lock in the original search parameters and cannot b… |
| fields | – | – | – |
| keyword | – | – | – |
| limit | integer | – | Maximum number of results to return (default 10, max 50). Keep this small to avoid context window bloat. When using limit > 10, always specify the fields parameter. |
| Name | Type | Req | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| error_message | – | – | Error details when status is error |
| next_cursor | – | – | Pagination token for the next page; None when no more results |
| status | string | yes | Status of the tool execution |
| tools | array | – | Normalized tool results mapped from UMM-T |
| total_hits | integer | – | Total number of matching items |
No examples provided.
get_variables ~278
Discover scientific variables and measurements associated with a collection, or look up variables by keyword. Use this tool to understand dataset variables, dimensions, and data processing parameters (such as scale, offset, and fill values) before downloading or analyzing data. Key fields in each returned item: - concept_id: CMR variable concept ID - name: Variable short name - long_name: Variable long name - definition: Variable definition - data_type: Data type of the variable - units: Units of measurement - scale: Scale factor - offset: Offset value - fill_values: Values indicating missing or invalid data - valid_ranges: Valid data ranges - dimensions: Variable dimensions
| Name | Type | Req | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| collection_concept_id | – | – | – |
| cursor | – | – | Pagination token for the next page of results. Pass the exact next_cursor string returned by the previous tool call. Cursors are query-scoped: they lock in the original search parameters and cannot b… |
| fields | – | – | – |
| keyword | – | – | – |
| limit | integer | – | Maximum number of results to return (default 10, max 50). Keep this small to avoid context window bloat. When using limit > 10, always specify the fields parameter. |
| Name | Type | Req | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| error_message | – | – | Error details when status is error |
| next_cursor | – | – | Pagination token for the next page; None when no more results |
| status | string | yes | Status of the tool execution |
| total_hits | integer | – | Total number of matching items |
| variables | array | – | Normalized variable results mapped from UMM-V |
No examples provided.
How do I install the NASA Earthdata MCP server?
NASA Earthdata MCP is a hosted endpoint at https://cmr.earthdata.nasa.gov/mcp/v1, 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 · cmr.earthdata.nasa.gov
claude mcp add --transport http nasa-earthdata-mcp 'https://cmr.earthdata.nasa.gov/mcp/v1'
What is the NASA Earthdata MCP server?
NASA Earthdata MCP is listed in the public MCP registry as io.github.nasa/earthdata-mcp. Discover, verify, and access NASA Earth science datasets via the Common Metadata Repository (CMR). This page covers its hosted endpoint (https://cmr.earthdata.nasa.gov/mcp/v1).
Is the NASA Earthdata MCP server safe to use?
NASA Earthdata MCP scores 76 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 NASA Earthdata MCP server expose?
NASA Earthdata MCP exposes 7 tools: get_citations, get_collections, get_granules, get_keywords, get_services, and 2 more. Their descriptions and schemas cost roughly 4,437 tokens of context every time the server is loaded.
Does the NASA Earthdata MCP server require authentication?
No. We connected to NASA Earthdata MCP without credentials and it answered, so anything it exposes is reachable by anyone who knows the address.
Is the NASA Earthdata MCP server still maintained?
NASA Earthdata MCP is still listed as active in the MCP registry. We last reached this channel on 4 November 2026. Those dates come from our own scans of the registry and the channel itself, not from anything the publisher announced.