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🇨🇭 Part of the Swiss Public Data MCP Portfolio

🌿 swiss-environment-mcp

Version License: MIT Python 3.11+ MCP CI Data Source

MCP server connecting AI models to Swiss environmental data from BAFU – air quality, hydrology, natural hazards, wildfire danger and open environmental datasets.

🇩🇪 Deutsche Version

Demo: Claude queries NABEL air quality via a swiss-environment-mcp tool call and gets a WHO 2021 compliance check

Overview

swiss-environment-mcp gives AI assistants like Claude direct access to real-time environmental data from Swiss federal authorities – no API keys required. Air quality readings from the national NABEL monitoring network, hydrological gauging stations, natural hazard bulletins, and the full BAFU dataset catalogue are all accessible through a single standardised MCP interface.

The server covers four thematic clusters: air quality (NABEL), hydrology, natural hazards, and the BAFU open data catalogue. Each cluster maps to a group of purpose-built tools that translate raw agency data into clean JSON responses.

Anchor demo query: "What is the current air quality at the NABEL station Zürich-Kaserne – and does it comply with WHO 2021 guidelines?" → More use cases by audience →

Features

  • 🌬️ Air quality monitoring – 16 NABEL stations, NO₂/O₃/PM10/PM2.5/SO₂/CO, Swiss LRV + WHO 2021 limit checks
  • 💧 Hydrology – water levels, flow rates, temperatures across Swiss gauging stations
  • 🚨 Flood warnings – active alerts filtered by danger level and canton
  • 🏔️ Natural hazard bulletin – SLF/BAFU bulletin in DE/FR/IT/EN, region-specific warnings
  • 🔥 Wildfire danger – canton- and region-level fire danger index
  • 📦 BAFU open data catalogue – search and retrieve environmental datasets via CKAN
  • 🔑 No authentication required – all data sources are publicly accessible
  • ☁️ Dual transport – stdio for Claude Desktop, Streamable HTTP/SSE for cloud deployment

Prerequisites

  • Python 3.11+
  • No API keys needed – all endpoints are publicly accessible without authentication

Installation

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/malkreide/swiss-environment-mcp.git
cd swiss-environment-mcp

# Install
pip install -e .

Or with uvx (no permanent installation):

uvx swiss-environment-mcp

Or via pip:

pip install swiss-environment-mcp

Quickstart

# Start the server (stdio mode for Claude Desktop)
swiss-environment-mcp

Try it immediately in Claude Desktop:

"What is the current air quality at NABEL station Zürich-Kaserne?" "Are there any active flood warnings in Switzerland right now?" "What is the wildfire danger level in Canton Valais?"

Configuration

Claude Desktop

Minimal (recommended):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "swiss-environment": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["swiss-environment-mcp"],
      "env": {}
    }
  }
}

Config file locations:

  • macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
  • Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

After saving, restart Claude Desktop completely.

Cloud Deployment (SSE for browser access)

For use via claude.ai in the browser (e.g. on managed workstations without local software):

Render.com (recommended):

  1. Push/fork the repository to GitHub
  2. On render.com: New Web Service → connect GitHub repo
  3. Render detects render.yaml automatically
  4. In claude.ai under Settings → MCP Servers, add: https://your-app.onrender.com/sse

Docker:

docker build -t swiss-environment-mcp .
docker run -p 8000:8000 swiss-environment-mcp

💡 "stdio for the developer laptop, SSE for the browser."

Available Tools

🌬️ Air Quality / NABEL (3 tools)

Tool Description Data Source
env_nabel_stations List all 16 NABEL monitoring stations with location type and canton NABEL / BAFU
env_nabel_current Current air quality data for a station (NO₂, O₃, PM10, PM2.5, SO₂, CO) NABEL / BAFU
env_air_limits_check Compare a measurement against Swiss LRV limits and WHO 2021 guidelines Built-in

💧 Hydrology (4 tools)

Tool Description Data Source
env_hydro_stations Filter hydrological gauging stations by canton or water body hydrodaten.admin.ch
env_hydro_current Current water level, flow rate and temperature at a station hydrodaten.admin.ch
env_hydro_history Historical hourly values (up to 30 days) with download links ⚠️ hydrodaten.admin.ch
env_flood_warnings Active flood warnings filtered by danger level and canton hydrodaten.admin.ch

🏔️ Natural Hazards (3 tools)

Tool Description Data Source
env_hazard_overview Current natural hazard bulletin (SLF/BAFU) in DE/FR/IT/EN naturgefahren.ch
env_hazard_regions Region-specific warnings (floods, avalanches, rockfall) naturgefahren.ch
env_wildfire_danger Wildfire danger index by canton and region waldbrandgefahr.ch

📊 Environmental Data Catalogue (2 tools)

Tool Description Data Source
env_bafu_datasets Search BAFU datasets on opendata.swiss (CKAN API) opendata.swiss
env_bafu_dataset_detail Full metadata and download URLs for a specific dataset opendata.swiss

Example Use Cases

Query Tool
"Air quality at Zürich-Kaserne right now?" env_nabel_current
"Does 45 µg/m³ NO₂ exceed the Swiss limit?" env_air_limits_check
"Current water level of the Limmat in Zurich?" env_hydro_current
"Active flood warnings in Switzerland?" env_flood_warnings
"Natural hazard bulletin for Graubünden?" env_hazard_overview
"Wildfire danger in Canton Valais?" env_wildfire_danger
"BAFU biodiversity datasets on opendata.swiss?" env_bafu_datasets

🛡️ Safety & Limits

Aspect Details
Access Read-only (readOnlyHint: true) — the server cannot modify or delete any data
Personal data No personal data — all sources are aggregated, public environmental measurements
Rate limits Built-in per-query caps (e.g. max 30 days hydrology history, 50 dataset search results)
Timeout 30 seconds per API call
Authentication No API keys required — all BAFU endpoints are publicly accessible
Licenses BAFU Open Government Data (OGD) — free reuse with mandatory attribution
Terms of Service Subject to ToS of the respective data sources: BAFU / opendata.swiss, hydrodaten.admin.ch, naturgefahren.ch, waldbrandgefahr.ch

Architecture

┌─────────────────┐     ┌───────────────────────────┐     ┌──────────────────────────┐
│   Claude / AI   │────▶│   Swiss Environment MCP   │────▶│  BAFU / Swiss Agencies   │
│   (MCP Host)    │◀────│   (MCP Server)            │◀────│                          │
└─────────────────┘     │                           │     │  hydrodaten.admin.ch     │
                        │  12 Tools · 3 Resources   │     │  naturgefahren.ch        │
                        │  Stdio | SSE              │     │  waldbrandgefahr.ch      │
                        │                           │     │  opendata.swiss (CKAN)   │
                        │  api_client.py            │     └──────────────────────────┘
                        │  server.py (FastMCP)      │
                        └───────────────────────────┘

Data Sources

Source Data Licence
hydrodaten.admin.ch Water levels, flow rates, temperatures (10-min intervals) BAFU OGD
naturgefahren.ch Natural hazard bulletin (SLF/BAFU) BAFU/SLF
waldbrandgefahr.ch Wildfire danger index BAFU
opendata.swiss BAFU data catalogue (CKAN API) OGD

All data: publicly accessible, no authentication required.
Attribution required: BAFU must be cited as the source when using their data.

Project Structure

swiss-environment-mcp/
├── src/swiss_environment_mcp/
│   ├── __init__.py          # Package
│   ├── server.py            # FastMCP server: 12 tools, 3 resources
│   └── api_client.py        # HTTP client for 4 BAFU data sources
├── tests/
│   └── test_integration.py  # Integration tests
├── .github/
│   └── workflows/
│       └── ci.yml           # GitHub Actions CI (Python 3.11–3.13)
├── Dockerfile               # Container for cloud deployment
├── Procfile                 # Process definition
├── render.yaml              # One-click Render.com deployment
├── pyproject.toml           # Build configuration (hatchling)
├── CHANGELOG.md
├── CONTRIBUTING.md          # This file
├── LICENSE
├── README.md                # This file (English)
└── README.de.md             # German version

Known Limitations

  • env_hydro_history: The historical hourly data endpoint is currently returning 404 errors from hydrodaten.admin.ch (BUG-01 – under investigation). The tool will return download links as a fallback.
  • NABEL: Near-real-time data only; no historical time series via this server.
  • Natural hazards: Bulletin availability depends on SLF/BAFU publication schedule.
  • Wildfire danger: Regional granularity varies by season and data availability.

Testing

# Unit tests (no API keys or network required)
PYTHONPATH=src pytest tests/ -m "not live"

# Integration tests (requires live BAFU APIs)
PYTHONPATH=src pytest tests/ -m "live"

# Linting
ruff check src/

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md

Changelog

See CHANGELOG.md

License

MIT License — see LICENSE

Source data is subject to BAFU terms of use. Attribution to BAFU is required when using their data.

Author

Hayal Oezkan · github.com/malkreide

Credits & Related Projects

Server Description
zurich-opendata-mcp City of Zurich open data (OSTLUFT air quality, weather, parking, geodata)
swiss-transport-mcp Swiss public transport – OJP 2.0 journey planning, SIRI-SX disruptions
swiss-road-mobility-mcp GBFS shared mobility, EV charging, DATEX II traffic
swiss-statistics-mcp BFS STAT-TAB – 682 statistical datasets

Synergy example: "What was the air quality at Schulhaus Leutschenbach today – and how does it compare to the national NABEL average?"
→ zurich-opendata-mcp (OSTLUFT, local) + swiss-environment-mcp (NABEL, national)

About

MCP server for Swiss environmental data – air quality (NABEL), hydrology, natural hazards (BAFU)

Topics

python mcp air-quality hydrology natural-hazards bafu model-context-protocol swiss-open-data

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License

MIT license

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Releases 1

v0.1.0 — Initial Release Latest
Mar 29, 2026

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