USDA Food Data Central

liveHealthFood

Comprehensive nutrient database for US foods (~600k items). Branded, Foundation, SR Legacy, Survey, Experimental data types.

5tools
0msauth
free tier50 calls/day
🔑Authentication

Platform key handled by Pipeworx. Or BYO: ?_apiKey=<key>.

Config with credentials
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "pipeworx-usda-fdc": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "mcp-remote",
        "https://gateway.pipeworx.io/usda-fdc/mcp?_apiKey=your_key"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Get an API key →

Tools

search_foodsrequired: query

Search USDA Food Data Central for food items by name, brand, or ingredient. Supports filtering by data type (Branded, Foundation, SR Legacy, Survey FNDDS, Experimental) and brand owner. Returns FDC id

Parameters
NameTypeDescription
queryreqstring—
data_typeoptstring—
brand_owneroptstring—
page_sizeoptnumber—
page_numberoptnumber—
sort_byoptstring—
sort_orderoptstring—
▶Try it
get_foodrequired: fdc_id

Full food record by FDC id.

Parameters
NameTypeDescription
fdc_idreqnumber—
formatoptstring—
nutrientsoptstring—
▶Try it
list_foods

Paginated browse of FDC foods.

Parameters
NameTypeDescription
data_typeoptstring—
page_sizeoptnumber—
page_numberoptnumber—
sort_byoptstring—
sort_orderoptstring—
▶Try it
list_food_groups

USDA food group reference (categories).

No parameters required.

▶Try it
nutrients_for_foodrequired: fdc_id

Convenience: nutrient values only for a food.

Parameters
NameTypeDescription
fdc_idreqnumber—
nutrient_numbersoptstring—
▶Try it

Test with curl

The gateway speaks JSON-RPC 2.0 over HTTP POST. You can test any pack directly from the terminal.

List available tools
bash
curl -X POST https://gateway.pipeworx.io/usda-fdc/mcp \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"tools/list"}'
Call a tool
bash
curl -X POST https://gateway.pipeworx.io/usda-fdc/mcp \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":2,"method":"tools/call","params":{"name":"search_foods","arguments":{"query": "hello"}}}'

Use with the SDK

Install @pipeworx/sdk to call tools from any TypeScript/Node project.

TypeScript
import { Pipeworx } from '@pipeworx/sdk';
const px = new Pipeworx();
const result = await px.call("search_foods", {"query":"example"});
ask_pipeworx
// Or ask in plain English:
const answer = await px.ask("comprehensive nutrient database for us foods (~600k items)");