Council Data API — Getting started

Use your account to create a Bearer token, call the JSON API from scripts or tools, and connect Claude, Cursor, or other MCP clients to our hosted MCP endpoint (HTTPS).

Open interactive API reference Log in to create a token

1. Create an API token

  1. Log in and open Account → API access (or go directly to your API client).
  2. Choose Create token, give it a label, and submit.
  3. Copy the token immediately from the green banner — it is only shown once. If you lose it, revoke the old token and create a new one.

If your account includes Topic monitoring API access, the same token automatically inherits access across all active topic-monitoring subscriptions you can access.

You must be logged in to issue tokens. Pricing and access levels are summarised on API pricing.

2. Call the API (example)

Send the token in the Authorization header. Base URL for this site:

https://opencouncil.network/api/v0.1.0

Example (lists councils, first page):

3. MCP (Claude, Cursor, and other clients)

Open Council Network hosts the Council Data MCP server over HTTPS (Streamable HTTP). It proxies tool calls to the same JSON API; you authenticate with your API token on every MCP request via the Authorization header.

Endpoint for this site: https://opencouncil.network/mcp

Claude Code

Use the official CLI (MCP docs). Options must come before the server name. Replace YOUR_OCN_API_TOKEN, then run in your terminal:

Or pass a JSON spec (same token placeholder):

Cursor and other clients (mcp.json)

Use a config block with url pointing at the endpoint above and headers.Authorization set to Bearer <your token>. Replace YOUR_OCN_API_TOKEN in the snippet below, then copy it into your client's MCP settings (for example Cursor's mcp.json).

Claude Desktop (app) support for URL-based MCP varies by version; some builds use Settings → Connectors instead of JSON. If your client only supports local stdio servers, use the optional local run in the MCP package README.

Optional: run MCP locally (developers)

For debugging you can run the same package on your machine with stdio (Cursor command / args) or with OCN_MCP_TRANSPORT=http; see mcp/council-data-server/README.md in the application repository.

Security

  • Do not commit tokens or MCP config with real secrets to git.
  • Prefer per-user local config files and environment variables.
  • Revoke tokens from the API client page if they leak.