USDA Food Data Central

live HealthFood

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

5 tools
0ms auth
free tier 50 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"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Generate an app password →

Tools

search_foods required: query

Search FDC foods.

Parameters
Name Type Description
query req string —
data_type opt string —
brand_owner opt string —
page_size opt number —
page_number opt number —
sort_by opt string —
sort_order opt string —
▶ Try it
get_food required: fdc_id

Full food record by FDC id.

Parameters
Name Type Description
fdc_id req number —
format opt string —
nutrients opt string —
▶ Try it
list_foods

Paginated browse.

Parameters
Name Type Description
data_type opt string —
page_size opt number —
page_number opt number —
sort_by opt string —
sort_order opt string —
▶ Try it
list_food_groups

USDA food group reference.

No parameters required.

▶ Try it
nutrients_for_food required: fdc_id

Just the nutrient values for a food.

Parameters
Name Type Description
fdc_id req number —
nutrient_numbers opt string —
▶ 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)");