Contractor License Verification (TradesAPI)

Real-time contractor license verification across all 50 US states + DC, plus 8 major-city contractor licensing portals (Chicago, NYC, Philadelphia, Detroit, Atlanta, Dallas, Las Vegas, Nashville). An MCP server that lets Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, Windsurf, and any MCP-compatible AI agent verify a contractor's license, status, expiration, and disciplinary history directly against licensing board portals.

Send {state, license_number, trade} — get back validity, licensee name, expiration date, status, and any disciplinary actions on file. Results are fetched live from official state portals (no stale nightly exports) and cached for 24 hours when active.

Why this server

• All 50 US states + DC + 8 major cities covered via official licensing board portals, not third-party data aggregators
• Live lookups — each verification hits the authoritative portal, so expirations and disciplinary actions are as fresh as the board's own data
• Batch verification — up to 25 licenses per call, run in parallel
• Disciplinary history — returned when the portal exposes it
• Backed by TradesAPI, a hosted HTTP API you can also hit directly

Quick start

Hosted (recommended)

No install required. Add this to your Claude Desktop config:

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

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "tradesapi": {
      "type": "streamable-http",
      "url": "https://www.tradesapi.com/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"
      }
    }
  }
}

Replace YOUR_API_KEY with the key from your dashboard and restart Claude Desktop.

Local install (alternative)

If you prefer to run the MCP server locally via stdio:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "tradesapi": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "contractor-license-mcp-server"],
      "env": {
        "CLV_API_URL": "https://www.tradesapi.com",
        "CLV_API_KEY": "your-api-key-here"
      }
    }
  }
}

Restart Claude Desktop after saving.

Getting an API key

1. Go to www.tradesapi.com and click Sign up free
2. Enter your email — you'll get a magic link
3. Click the link and land on your dashboard, where your API key is waiting

New accounts start with 50 free verification credits, no credit card required. You can purchase additional credit packs from the dashboard when you need more.

Direct install

npm install -g contractor-license-mcp-server

Tools

verify_license

Verify a single contractor license against the official state (or city) licensing portal.

Parameter	Required	Description
state	yes	Two-letter state code (CA, TX, FL, ...)
city	no	Optional city slug to target a municipal portal: chicago, nyc, philadelphia, detroit, atlanta, dallas, lasvegas, nashville. Lowercase, no spaces.
license_number	yes	The license number to verify
trade	no	general, electrical, plumbing, hvac, mechanical, roofing, residential, ... (defaults to general)
force_refresh	no	Bypass the 24h cache and re-fetch from the portal
response_format	no	markdown (default) or json

Example result:

## License Verification: VALID

| Field      | Value                    |
|------------|--------------------------|
| Name       | ANDERSON, ORIN RAE       |
| License #  | TACLA00000103C           |
| State      | TX                       |
| Trade      | hvac                     |
| Status     | Active                   |
| Expiration | 05/12/2026               |

batch_verify

Verify up to 25 licenses in a single call. Each verification runs independently — partial failures do not block the batch. Per-item city is supported.

Parameter	Required	Description
licenses	yes	Array of { state, city?, license_number, trade } objects (1–25 items)
response_format	no	markdown (default) or json

search_by_name

Fuzzy-match contractors by business or individual name within a single state (or city) database. Costs 2 credits per call.

Parameter	Required	Description
state	yes	Two-letter state code
city	no	Optional city slug for municipal databases
name	yes	Business or individual name (case-insensitive, partial-match tolerant)
trade	no	Trade filter
limit	no	Max results (1–50, default 20)
response_format	no	markdown (default) or json

Not every state portal supports name search — call list_supported_states and check supports_name_search per jurisdiction first.

list_supported_states

List every supported jurisdiction with portal URLs, current health, available trades, and registered municipal scrapers nested under each state. Use this to discover what's reachable before constructing other tool calls.

Parameter	Required	Description
response_format	no	markdown (default) or json

Coverage

All 50 US states + DC at the state level, plus 8 major-city contractor licensing portals (Chicago, NYC, Philadelphia, Detroit, Atlanta, Dallas, Las Vegas, Nashville).

Run list_supported_states from your agent for the live, fetched-fresh-each-call list of supported jurisdictions, available trades per jurisdiction, current portal health, and which states support name search. The MCP package no longer bundles a static state table — what comes back from list_supported_states is always current with prod.

You can also see the live state grid at www.tradesapi.com.

Configuration

Variable	Required	Description
CLV_API_URL	yes	API backend URL (use https://www.tradesapi.com)
CLV_API_KEY	yes	Your API key from the dashboard

Credits

Each license verification consumes 1 credit, whether the result is fresh or cached. New accounts receive 50 free credits. Additional credit packs can be purchased from the dashboard at www.tradesapi.com.

Development

git clone https://github.com/jackunderwood/Contractor-License-Verification.git
cd Contractor-License-Verification/mcp-server
npm install
npm run build
npm test

License

MIT