`fred_search`

Pack: fred · Endpoint: https://gateway.pipeworx.io/fred/mcp

US economic data series matching a keyword search, from the St. Louis Fed’s FRED database.

Tool description as the model sees it

Search for economic data series by keyword. Returns series IDs, titles, and descriptions to identify the right indicator.

Parameters

Name	Type	Required	Description
`search_text`	string	yes	Keywords to search for (e.g., “mortgage rate”, “housing starts”)
`limit`	number	no	Max results to return (1-1000, default 20)
`order_by`	string	no	Order results by: search_rank, series_id, title, units, frequency, seasonal_adjustment, realtime_start, realtime_end, last_updated, observation_start, observation_end, popularity, group_popularity. Default: search_rank
`sort_order`	string	no	Sort direction: asc or desc. Default: asc for search_rank
`_apiKey`	string	yes	FRED API key

Example call

Arguments

{
  "search_text": "mortgage rate",
  "limit": 10,
  "_apiKey": "your-fred-api-key"
}

curl

curl -X POST https://gateway.pipeworx.io/fred/mcp \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"tools/call","params":{"name":"fred_search","arguments":{"search_text":"mortgage rate","limit":10,"_apiKey":"your-fred-api-key"}}}'

TypeScript (@pipeworx/sdk)

import { Pipeworx } from '@pipeworx/sdk';
const pipeworx = new Pipeworx();

const result = await pipeworx.call('fred_search', {
  "search_text": "mortgage rate",
  "limit": 10,
  "_apiKey": "your-fred-api-key"
});

More examples

{
  "search_text": "unemployment",
  "order_by": "popularity",
  "sort_order": "desc",
  "_apiKey": "your-fred-api-key"
}

Response shape

Always returns: total_matches, series

Field	Type	Description
`total_matches`	number	Total number of matching series
`returned`	number	How many series are in `series` (capped by `limit`, default 20).
`truncated`	boolean	True when `returned` is less than `total_matches`.
`note`	string	Present when the result list was truncated.
`series`	array	List of matching series

Full JSON Schema

{
  "type": "object",
  "properties": {
    "total_matches": {
      "type": "number",
      "description": "Total number of matching series"
    },
    "returned": {
      "type": "number",
      "description": "How many series are in `series` (capped by `limit`, default 20)."
    },
    "truncated": {
      "type": "boolean",
      "description": "True when `returned` is less than `total_matches`."
    },
    "note": {
      "type": "string",
      "description": "Present when the result list was truncated."
    },
    "series": {
      "type": "array",
      "description": "List of matching series",
      "items": {
        "type": "object",
        "properties": {
          "series_id": {
            "type": "string",
            "description": "FRED series ID"
          },
          "title": {
            "type": "string",
            "description": "Full title of the series"
          },
          "units": {
            "type": "string",
            "description": "Units of measurement"
          },
          "frequency": {
            "type": "string",
            "description": "Data frequency (d, w, m, q, a, etc.)"
          },
          "seasonal_adjustment": {
            "type": "string",
            "description": "Seasonal adjustment method"
          },
          "observation_start": {
            "type": "string",
            "description": "First available observation date"
          },
          "observation_end": {
            "type": "string",
            "description": "Latest available observation date"
          },
          "popularity": {
            "type": "number",
            "description": "Series popularity score"
          },
          "notes": {
            "type": [
              "string",
              "null"
            ],
            "description": "Additional notes about the series"
          }
        },
        "required": [
          "series_id",
          "title",
          "units",
          "frequency",
          "seasonal_adjustment",
          "observation_start",
          "observation_end",
          "popularity",
          "notes"
        ]
      }
    }
  },
  "required": [
    "total_matches",
    "series"
  ]
}

Connect

Add this to your MCP client config, or use one-click install buttons:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "fred": {
      "url": "https://gateway.pipeworx.io/fred/mcp"
    }
  }
}

See Getting Started for client-specific install steps.

fred_search