volcanoes-mcp

MCP server for Smithsonian Global Volcanism Program

An MCP server providing access to the Smithsonian Global Volcanism Program from Claude Desktop, Claude Code, and any other MCP client.

npx -y volcanoes-mcp

No API key required — the Smithsonian GVP service is free and public.

Overview

This Model Context Protocol (MCP) server enables AI assistants and applications to:

• Query comprehensive geologic data and information provided by the Smithsonian Global Volcanism Program
• Access volcano profiles, eruption records, and volcanic activity
• Analyze volcanic data to improve understanding of volcanic activity
• Create graphics and perform data analysis from the data

Users can run queries using natural language.

Sample Output

Q. Get information on the Buzzard Creek volcano in Alaska

A. I'll look up information about the Buzzard Creek volcano in Alaska for you.

get-volcano-details

{
  "verbose": true,
  "volcano_name": "Buzzard Creek",
}

Here's detailed information about Buzzard Creek volcano in Alaska:

Basic Information

Buzzard Creek is a small volcanic feature located in central Alaska, near the town of Healy along the Parks Highway. It sits at coordinates 64.0616°N, 148.4327°W at an elevation of 830 meters (2,723 feet).

Volcanic Features

The volcano consists of two Holocene tuff rings that formed craters:

• Larger crater: 300 meters wide
• Smaller crater: 66 meters wide, located about 200 meters southeast of the larger one
• Both craters contain small lakes
• The craters were formed by phreatomagmatic eruptions (explosive interactions between magma and groundwater)

Eruption History

• Last eruption: Approximately 3,000 years ago (around 1050 BCE)
• Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI): 2
• The eruption was relatively minor, with a total ejecta volume probably not exceeding 0.001 cubic kilometers
• Most of the ejecta consists of accessory material (pre-existing rock fragments)

Geological Context

Buzzard Creek has several notable characteristics:

• Rock type: Basalt/Picro-Basalt
• Tectonic setting: Located over a subduction zone with continental crust
• Unusual location: Sits 320 km northeast of its nearest Holocene volcanic neighbor (Hayes volcano), making it quite isolated from the main Aleutian volcanic arc
• Geological position: Located directly over the northernmost corner of the subducting Pacific Plate

Historical Context

The ejecta from the eruptions overlies young glacial terraces that correlate with a glacial stage that ended about 10,000 years ago, helping scientists date the volcanic activity through radiocarbon dating methods.

Buzzard Creek represents a minor but geologically interesting volcanic feature that demonstrates how volcanic activity can occur in unexpected locations, even far from the main volcanic chains.

Installation

Requires Node.js 20 or newer. No install step is needed — npx fetches the server on first run.

Claude Desktop

1. Open your Claude Desktop configuration at:

   • macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
   • Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

2. Add the server configuration:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "volcanoes": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": ["-y", "volcanoes-mcp"]
        }
    }
}

3. Close/Quit then restart Claude Desktop

Claude Code

claude mcp add volcanoes -- npx -y volcanoes-mcp

Any other MCP client

The server speaks MCP over STDIO. Run it with npx -y volcanoes-mcp, or install it globally with npm install -g volcanoes-mcp and run volcanoes-mcp.

Tools

• search-volcanoes — search by country, type, elevation, or bounding box
• search-eruptions — search eruptions by volcano, date range, VEI, or country
• find-recent-activity — recent eruptions, optionally filtered by country
• assess-volcanic-risk — volcanoes near populated areas, by population exposure
• get-volcano-details — full profile plus eruption history, by name or GVP number
• find-large-eruptions — historically significant high-VEI eruptions

Data source

Volcano profiles and eruption records come from the Smithsonian Global Volcanism Program WFS service. Volcano profiles use the E3WebApp_HoloceneVolcanoes layer, which carries the same 1214 Holocene volcanoes as the Smithsonian layer while also exposing volcano type, last eruption year, and population-within-radius fields.

Development

npm install        # install dependencies
npm run dev        # run from source over STDIO, no build step
npm run build      # compile TypeScript to build/
npm run typecheck  # type-check without emitting

src/server.ts holds all the tools, prompts, and API calls — that is the file to edit. src/index.ts is just the STDIO entry point.

To point Claude Desktop at a local build instead of the published package, use "command": "node" with "args": ["/full/path/to/volcanoes/build/index.js"], and restart Claude Desktop after each rebuild.

Troubleshooting

If Claude Desktop cannot find npx, provide its full path (on macOS, typically /usr/local/bin/npx or /opt/homebrew/bin/npx). The same applies to node if you are running a local build.