# Openstates (npm · @pipeworx/mcp-openstates)

OpenStates MCP — bills, legislators, votes in all 50 US states

- Trust score: 82/100 (high trust)
- Change this week: +3
- Registry status: active
- Liveness: live
- Owner verified: no
- Last scored: 2026-11-05

## Components

- remote · `gateway.pipeworx.io`: 70/100, [markdown](https://verifymcp.io/servers/pipeworx-io-openstates/openstates-mcp.md), [page](https://verifymcp.io/servers/pipeworx-io-openstates/openstates-mcp)
- npm · `@pipeworx/mcp-openstates`: 82/100 (this document), [markdown](https://verifymcp.io/servers/pipeworx-io-openstates/pipeworx-mcp-openstates.md), [page](https://verifymcp.io/servers/pipeworx-io-openstates/pipeworx-mcp-openstates)

## Channel facts

- Registry: `npm`
- Package: `@pipeworx/mcp-openstates`
- Version: `0.2.1`
- Transport: `stdio`

## Trust breakdown

How this component scores in each security and reliability category. Every signal is checked automatically from public evidence about the published package, including repeated runs of it in an isolated sandbox, 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 2026-11-05.

- **Supply Chain Security**: 100/100
  - No malware found by supply-chain analysis.
  - No known CVEs affecting this package version or its production dependencies.
  - No install/post-install scripts declared.
  - No production dependencies, so there is no dependency health to assess.
- **Provenance & Transparency**: 97/100
  - Source repository is publicly reachable at the declared URL.
  - Cryptographically verified build provenance (signed, bound to pipeworx-io/mcp-openstates).
  - Clear OSI-approved license (MIT).
  - Actively maintained (last published 0 days ago).
  - Disclosure check failed: no security disclosure policy was found in the source repository.
- **Schema Quality & AI Usability**: 65/100
  - AI-judged instruction clarity (good).
  - Context-footprint check failed: tool/resource definitions use about 735 tokens (~183/item across 4 items; 4 tools + 0 resources), over budget; trim descriptions and params.
  - Usage-examples check failed: none of the tools include examples.
- **Stability & Change Management**: 23/100
  - Stability observed for 7 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.
- **Tool Safety**: 100/100
  - No prompt-injection markers were found in the server instructions, tool names or descriptions we captured.
  - We read all 4 captured tool definition(s), and no name or description among them implies an irreversible operation.
  - An AI judge read all 5 captured unit(s) of tool text and found none that tries to manipulate the model reading it.
- **Capabilities**: 100/100
  - Implements a supported MCP spec version (2025-11-25); the latest is 2026-07-28.

## Install

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

Openstates runs locally as an npm package, launched with npx -y @pipeworx/mcp-openstates. 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 pipeworx-io-openstates -- npx -y @pipeworx/mcp-openstates
```

### Cursor

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "pipeworx-io-openstates": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@pipeworx/mcp-openstates"
      ]
    }
  }
}
```

### VS Code

```json
{
  "servers": {
    "pipeworx-io-openstates": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@pipeworx/mcp-openstates"
      ]
    }
  }
}
```

### Codex

```bash
codex mcp add pipeworx-io-openstates -- npx -y @pipeworx/mcp-openstates
```

### opencode

```json
{
  "$schema": "https://opencode.ai/config.json",
  "mcp": {
    "pipeworx-io-openstates": {
      "type": "local",
      "command": [
        "npx",
        "-y",
        "@pipeworx/mcp-openstates"
      ],
      "enabled": true
    }
  }
}
```

### OpenClaw

```bash
openclaw mcp add pipeworx-io-openstates --command npx --arg -y --arg @pipeworx/mcp-openstates
```

### Hermes

```yaml
mcp_servers:
  pipeworx-io-openstates:
    command: "npx"
    args: ["-y", "@pipeworx/mcp-openstates"]
```

### Netclaw

```json
{
  "McpServers": {
    "pipeworx-io-openstates": {
      "Transport": "stdio",
      "Command": "npx",
      "Arguments": [
        "-y",
        "@pipeworx/mcp-openstates"
      ]
    }
  }
}
```

### Vellum

```bash
assistant mcp add pipeworx-io-openstates -t stdio -c npx -a -y @pipeworx/mcp-openstates
```

### Other

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "pipeworx-io-openstates": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@pipeworx/mcp-openstates"
      ]
    }
  }
}
```

## 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.

### 2026-11-05 (score 82, +26)

- [security improvement] Known CVEs: unverified → pass
- [security improvement] Malware scan: unverified → pass
- [functional improvement] Dependency health: unverified → pass

### 2026-11-04 (score 56, −25)

- [security regression] Known CVEs: pass → unverified
- [security regression] Malware scan: pass → unverified
- [functional regression] Dependency health: pass → unverified
- [functional] Package version: 0.2.0 → 0.2.1

### 2026-11-01 (score 81, +1)

No change was recorded against any check on this day. Stability & Change Management went from 7 to 10. That category is still filling its 30-day observation window: 2 days of observed history at the previous scan, 3 at this one. The score rises as the window fills, whether or not the server changes.

### 2026-10-30 (score 80, +1)

No change was recorded against any check on this day. Stability & Change Management went from 0 to 3. That category is still filling its 30-day observation window: 0 days of observed history at the previous scan, 1 at this one. The score rises as the window fills, whether or not the server changes.

### 2026-10-29 (score 79)

First indexed and scored.

## MCP tools (4)

### `search_bills` (~290 tokens)

Search bills in any US statehouse. Pass jurisdiction as a 2-letter state code (e.g., "CA", "NY", "TX") or full name. Returns bill identifiers, titles, classifications, last action, sponsors, and OpenStates IDs for use with get_bill.

Input parameters:

- `classification` (string): bill | resolution | constitutional amendment | etc.
- `jurisdiction` (string, required): 2-letter state code or jurisdiction name
- `page` (number): 1-based page (default 1)
- `per_page` (number): 1-20 (default 20) — OpenStates rejects anything above 20 with a 400; a higher value is clamped to 20 and the response says so. Use `page` for more results.
- `query` (string): Free-text search across title/summary
- `session` (string): Optional. Session identifiers are PER STATE (Ohio "136", California "20252026", Texas "89"). Omit to search every session. A year or year range ("2025", "2025-2026") is resolved to the state's own se…
- `sort` (string): updated_desc | updated_asc | first_action_desc | first_action_asc | latest_action_desc | latest_action_asc
- `sponsor` (string): Legislator name filter

### `get_bill` (~158 tokens)

Fetch a single bill with full detail: versions, sponsorships, related/companion bills, actions, and votes. Pass the OpenStates ID (e.g., "ocd-bill/abc...") or a state/session/identifier triple.

Input parameters:

- `identifier` (string): Bill identifier within the session (e.g., "AB-123")
- `jurisdiction` (string): State code (use with session + identifier)
- `openstates_id` (string): OpenStates bill ID (preferred, e.g., "ocd-bill/...")
- `session` (string): Session ID, per state (Ohio "136", California "20252026"); a year or year range is resolved to the state's session. Use with jurisdiction + identifier.

### `search_legislators` (~177 tokens)

Find state legislators. Filter by jurisdiction, name, chamber (upper/lower), party, or district. Returns name, current/prior roles, party, contact details, OpenStates IDs.

Input parameters:

- `district` (string): District identifier
- `jurisdiction` (string): 2-letter state code or name
- `name` (string): Name fragment
- `org_classification` (string): upper | lower | legislature
- `page` (number): 1-based page
- `party` (string): Party name (e.g., "Democratic", "Republican")
- `per_page` (number): 1-20 (default 20) — OpenStates rejects anything above 20 with a 400; a higher value is clamped to 20 and the response says so. Use `page` for more results.

### `get_legislator` (~58 tokens)

Fetch a single legislator by OpenStates person ID. Returns biographical info, current roles, prior offices, contact methods, sources.

Input parameters:

- `person_id` (string, required): OpenStates person ID (e.g., "ocd-person/...")

## Diagnostics

Captured diagnostic sections: Provenance, Dependencies. The full working is on the page: https://verifymcp.io/servers/pipeworx-io-openstates/pipeworx-mcp-openstates#diagnostics

## Score history

- 2026-11-05: 82
- 2026-11-04: 56
- 2026-11-03: 81
- 2026-11-02: 81
- 2026-11-01: 81
- 2026-10-31: 80
- 2026-10-30: 80
- 2026-10-29: 79

## Common questions

### What is the Openstates MCP server?

Openstates is an MCP server listed in the public MCP registry as io.github.pipeworx-io/openstates. OpenStates MCP, bills, legislators, votes in all 50 US states. This page covers its npm package (@pipeworx/mcp-openstates).

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

Openstates scores 82 out of 100 on VerifyMCP. We found no known CVEs affecting it as of 5 November 2026. It declares no install or post-install scripts. Its build provenance is signed and verified. 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 Openstates MCP server expose?

Openstates exposes 4 tools: search_bills, get_bill, search_legislators, get_legislator. Their descriptions and schemas cost roughly 683 tokens of context every time the server is loaded.

### Is the Openstates MCP server still maintained?

Openstates is still listed as active in the MCP registry. We last reached this channel on 5 November 2026. Those dates come from our own scans of the registry and the channel itself, not from anything the publisher announced.

### What licence is the Openstates MCP server under?

Openstates declares the MIT licence, which is OSI-approved. That covers the source only, and says nothing about the cost of any service it calls.

### What did VerifyMCP test on the Openstates MCP server?

VerifyMCP ran 16 checks on Openstates, covering Malware scan, Known CVEs, Install scripts, Dependency health and 12 more. Endpoint Security and Transport & Reachability do not apply to an npm package, so they were not tested. The score does not measure everything, and the scoring documentation lists what it leaves out.

## Links

- npm package: https://www.npmjs.com/package/@pipeworx/mcp-openstates
- Socket report: https://socket.dev/npm/package/@pipeworx/mcp-openstates
- Repository: https://github.com/pipeworx-io/mcp-openstates
- Website: https://pipeworx.io/packs/openstates
- Changelog RSS feed: https://verifymcp.io/servers/pipeworx-io-openstates/pipeworx-mcp-openstates.xml
- Changelog JSON feed: https://verifymcp.io/servers/pipeworx-io-openstates/pipeworx-mcp-openstates/changelog.json
- Trust report (JSON): https://verifymcp.io/servers/pipeworx-io-openstates/pipeworx-mcp-openstates.json
- HTML version of this page: https://verifymcp.io/servers/pipeworx-io-openstates/pipeworx-mcp-openstates