[GSoC Project Proposal]: ERDDAP Native Model Context Protocol (MCP)

[ChrisJohnNOAA]

Project Description

The Model Context Protocol (MCP) is a new open standard that enables AI assistants to discover and utilize data sources as "tools."

This project aims to implement a native MCP Server within ERDDAP. This would allow any MCP-compliant AI client (such as Claude Desktop or IDE agents) to simply "connect" to an ERDDAP server URL and immediately gain the ability to search datasets, retrieve metadata, and fetch data snippets without manual API coding by the user.

Expected Outcomes

1. MCP Servlet Implementation: A new Java-based MCP server embedded within ERDDAP that communicates via JSON-RPC (over HTTP or SSE).

2. Tool Exposure: Implementation of core MCP "Tools" that map to ERDDAP functions:

• search_datasets(query): Wraps ERDDAP's search engine to return dataset IDs.
• get_schema(dataset_id): Returns variable names, units, and column types (crucial for preventing LLM hallucinations).
• fetch_data(dataset_id, constraints): Retrieves data in JSON or CSV format for the AI to analyze.

3. Documentation & Examples: A guide for connecting common AI clients (e.g., Claude Desktop) to the new ERDDAP MCP endpoint.

4. (Stretch Goal) Prompt Templates: Implementation of MCP "Prompts" that help users start standard workflows (e.g., "Analyze recent temperature trends").

Skills Required

Java, MCP, LLM

Expected Project Size

175 hours

Project Difficulty

Intermediate

Mentor Name(s)

TBD

Mentor GitHub Handle(s)

TBD

Mentor Contact Email(s)

TBD

Contributor Evaluation/GSoC GitHub Issue Links

A pull request to address a small issue would be appreciated. You may find a good issue for this on our "good first issue" list: https://github.com/ERDDAP/erddap/issues?q=is%3Aissue%20state%3Aopen%20label%3A%22good%20first%20issue%22

Additional Project Background/Links

ERDDAP/erddap#420
https://github.com/ERDDAP/erddap

Model Context Protocol Spec: https://modelcontextprotocol.io/
MCP Java SDK: https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/java-sdk

Previous Project Idea Link(s)

No response

[ChrisJohnNOAA]

For those interested, to make sure you're informed. The selections for organizations for GSoC have not happened yet. It's recommended to wait until we know we will be a selected org for GSoC to work on these projects. At this moment we are just building the idea pages.

[NobleCoder69]

Hi ChrisJohnNOAA,

Thanks for the clarification regarding the organization selection timeline. I understand that contributors should wait until IOOS is confirmed as a selected GSoC 2026 org before actively working on the project ideas.

I’m very interested in this MCP + ERDDAP project. My background includes working with LangChain, LangGraph, MCP concepts, and web technologies (JavaScript/TypeScript). I’m currently strengthening my Java skills as well.

In the meantime, would you recommend:
• Exploring ERDDAP internals / architecture
• Reviewing the MCP spec & Java SDK
• Or contributing to “good first issues” in ERDDAP?

Looking forward to updates, and thanks again for sharing this exciting idea.