Show HN: Live Bank of England Data Access via MCP Server
Query Bank of England data instantly with Claude Code.
1What is the MCP Server?
A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server providing live access to Bank of England data such as base rates, statistical data, and Monetary Policy Committee meetings. Designed to allow developers to easily query Bank of England data. Published on npm as 'boe-mcp' and can be run with the command npx -y boe-mcp.
2Server Features
The server allows you to query the current base rate, its change history, statistics over any period, and the rate on any past date. It can also fetch any series from the Bank of England's IADB statistical database (SONIA, exchange rates, mortgage rates, etc.). The server runs over stdio by default and requires no configuration.
3HTTP Mode and Remote Access
The server runs over stdio by default but can optionally be run in Streamable HTTP mode. In this mode, the server can be accessed remotely and queried over a specified port. When run in HTTP mode, the server responds to POST requests using the JSON-RPC protocol and provides a GET /healthz endpoint for health checks.
4Data Caching
The server caches responses in memory to avoid repeated queries to the Bank of England. If the Bank of England is unreachable and a cached value exists, it is returned with a 'stale': true flag, allowing the caller to note that the data may not be current.
5Integration Options
The server can be integrated into various development environments such as Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Cursor, and VS Code. It can be easily added to the configuration files of each environment. For example, for Claude Code, the server can be defined in the 'mcpServers' section of the settings.json file.
6Security and Use Cases
By default, the server only accepts connections from the local machine and has DNS-rebinding protection enabled. However, setting BOE_MCP_HTTP_HOST=0.0.0.0 exposes the server to all networks. In this case, it is recommended to use a reverse proxy or firewall to control access. This solution provides significant convenience for developers performing financial data analysis.