Model Context Protocol

For AI agents

Cars & Coast is a live map of the Monterey Bay coast. Our MCP server lets an AI assistant look up events, Highway 1 status, weather, surf, photo spots and cameras on behalf of the person it is helping, and hand them a link to the matching page on the map. It is free and read-only.

Endpoint

https://carsandcoast.com/mcp · Streamable HTTP transport

Server description: /.well-known/mcp.json · Plain-text overview: /llms.txt

Get a key

You can call the tools anonymously to try them, at a lower rate limit. To get your own limit and have your traffic attributed to you, call the register_agent tool once:

register_agent(
  agent_name:    "Trip helper",
  operator:      "Example Co",
  contact_email: "ops@example.com",
  platform:      "claude | chatgpt | cursor | custom"
)
→ { "agent_id": "…", "api_key": "…" }

The key is shown once and only a hash is stored, so save it. Send it on every later request as Authorization: Bearer <key>. If your client cannot set headers, pass it as the optional api_key argument of any tool. The whoami tool shows your record and today's usage.

Connect a client

Claude Code

claude mcp add --transport http carsandcoast https://carsandcoast.com/mcp
# with your key:
claude mcp add --transport http carsandcoast https://carsandcoast.com/mcp \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"

Claude Desktop

Easiest: Settings, Connectors, Add custom connector, and paste https://carsandcoast.com/mcp. Or edit claude_desktop_config.json (needs Node.js for the mcp-remote bridge):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "carsandcoast": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "mcp-remote", "https://carsandcoast.com/mcp",
               "--header", "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"]
    }
  }
}

Cursor

Add to ~/.cursor/mcp.json (or the project's .cursor/mcp.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "carsandcoast": {
      "url": "https://carsandcoast.com/mcp",
      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" }
    }
  }
}

ChatGPT

Settings, Connectors, Advanced, enable developer mode, then create a connector with the URL https://carsandcoast.com/mcp and no authentication. ChatGPT connectors may not let you add a custom header, so call register_agent and pass the key as the api_key argument, or stay anonymous.

Any other MCP client that supports remote Streamable HTTP servers works with the URL above. Client menus change; if a step has moved, look for "add MCP server" or "custom connector".

Tools

Tool	What it returns
search_places	Find galleries, venues, tide pools, viewpoints and other places by name, category or distance.
events	Published events for today, the weekend, 7 or 30 days, filtered by category or city.
whats_on_now	The home board's next 48 hours: community and marquee events.
hwy1_status	Live Highway 1 closure and restriction status, with the source and when it was checked.
weather_now	Current conditions and the next 6 hours (temperature, wind, fog) plus the Monterey airport flight category.
ocean_today	Surf, dive and tide summary for the Monterey Bay spots.
photo_spot	Light, sun and moon, fog and tide for a photo location, including no-stopping zones.
cams_near	Nearest live cameras, as links to our pages.
incidents	CHP incidents and road closures right now.
plan_visit	A rule-based itinerary of page links from interests, date and starting city.
register_agent	Get your API key (shown once). Needs agent_name, operator, contact_email, platform.
whoami	Your agent record and today's usage.

Every answer is compact JSON that includes a page_url for the human, the source of the data, and fetched_at / stale when the underlying feed is cached. Safety-relevant tools (fire, Highway 1, ocean, photo spots) add a line telling the reader to verify with the official source we link.

Rate limits

Anonymous (no key)	30 calls per 10 minutes per IP address
Registered (API key)	600 calls per 10 minutes per key
register_agent	5 registrations per day per IP address

Over the limit you get a structured error saying when to retry. Need more? Write to us.

Terms of use

Read-only. The server never changes anything on the site or for any user.
Keep the links. Links we return carry utm_source, utm_medium=mcp and utm_campaign=agent. Please pass them to the person you are helping unchanged. That is how we know agents are useful and keep this free.
No scraping. Use the tools for questions from real people, not to bulk-copy our data. Do not rotate keys or IP addresses to get around limits.
Data is as-is. It comes from public sources and our own curation and may be late or wrong. Every answer names its source and age. Say so when you relay it.
Safety first. Road, fire, surf and tide information can change fast and can be dangerous. Always point people to the official source we link (Caltrans, CAL FIRE, NWS, NOAA) before they travel or enter the water, and respect any no-stopping notice a tool reports.
We log each call (tool, time, a hash of the arguments, your key) to run the service and count usage. We may block a key that breaks these terms.

Contact

Questions, higher limits, or something broken: hello@carsandcoast.com.