`census_building_permits`

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

Check monthly building permits for new residential construction by geography. Returns count of authorized privately-owned housing units and construction activity trends.

Parameters

Name	Type	Required	Description
`variables`	string	yes	Comma-separated variables (e.g., “PERMIT” for total permits, “PERMIT_1UNIT” for single-family). Use census_available_datasets to discover variables.
`time`	string	yes	Time period (e.g., “2024-01” for January 2024, “from+2023-01+to+2024-01” for a range).
`category_code`	string	no	Category filter (e.g., “TOTAL” for total, “1UNIT” for single-family). Optional.
`_apiKey`	string	yes	Census API key

Example call

Arguments

{
  "variables": "PERMIT",
  "time": "2024-01",
  "_apiKey": "your-census-api-key"
}

curl

curl -X POST https://gateway.pipeworx.io/census/mcp \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"tools/call","params":{"name":"census_building_permits","arguments":{"variables":"PERMIT","time":"2024-01","_apiKey":"your-census-api-key"}}}'

TypeScript (@pipeworx/sdk)

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

const result = await pipeworx.call('census_building_permits', {
  "variables": "PERMIT",
  "time": "2024-01",
  "_apiKey": "your-census-api-key"
});

More examples

{
  "variables": "PERMIT,PERMIT_1UNIT",
  "time": "from+2023-01+to+2024-01",
  "category_code": "TOTAL",
  "_apiKey": "your-census-api-key"
}

Response shape

Always returns: variables, time, results

Field	Type	Description
`variables`	array	Variable codes requested
`time`	string	Time period queried
`results`	array	Array of monthly building permit records

Full JSON Schema

{
  "type": "object",
  "properties": {
    "variables": {
      "type": "array",
      "items": {
        "type": "string"
      },
      "description": "Variable codes requested"
    },
    "time": {
      "type": "string",
      "description": "Time period queried"
    },
    "results": {
      "type": "array",
      "items": {
        "type": "object",
        "additionalProperties": {
          "type": "string"
        },
        "description": "Building permits data rows"
      },
      "description": "Array of monthly building permit records"
    }
  },
  "required": [
    "variables",
    "time",
    "results"
  ]
}

Connect

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

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

See Getting Started for client-specific install steps.

census_building_permits