Access public data insights faster: Data Commons MCP is now hosted on Google Cloud

Source: Google Developers Blog

Overview

In September 2025, we introduced the Data Commons Model Context Protocol (MCP) server to provide a standard way for AI agents to interact with Data Commons data natively. This was followed by the Gemini CLI extension, which streamlined the setup process for Gemini CLI users.

While these tools successfully opened the door for natural‑language data exploration, they relied on local Python environments, which created challenges: installing and running open‑source tools was not compatible with high‑security environments, and hosting a local MCP server lacked the scalability needed for developers who want to publish their own query agents.

Today, we’re taking the next step to make it easier for everyone to use datacommons.org with an LLM by launching the hosted Data Commons MCP service on Google Cloud Platform. You can now connect to the free service and let Google manage the rest—no need to worry about Python environments, resource management, version releases, or security compliance.

Why use it?

The MCP server provides a standardized way for AI agents to consume Data Commons data natively. Analysts can create insights by asking high‑level questions in natural language, with the MCP returning data from trusted sources. Developers can easily create AI agents customized for their needs. For example, you can get statistical answers to questions like:

• “What is the correlation between unemployment levels and obesity rates in U.S. states?”
• “Rank‑order the GDP of every eastern European country.”

Connect today!

• If you’re already using the Data Commons Gemini CLI extension: you don’t need to do anything. The next time you run Gemini CLI, the extension will automatically update itself to connect to the hosted server over the web instead of starting a local server instance.
• If you haven’t used the extension before: see Use the Gemini CLI extension to get started.
• If you’re using Gemini CLI without the extension, or any other agent: obtain a free Data Commons API key and update your configuration to point to the hosted server. For complete details, see Use Gemini CLI.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "datacommons-mcp": {
      "httpUrl": "https://api.datacommons.org/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "X-API-Key": "YOUR DC API KEY"
      }
    }
  }
}

Note: The hosted MCP server can only be used to query datacommons.org. If you’re running your own Custom Data Commons instance, you’ll still need to run your own MCP server. See Run MCP tools for more information.

If you’re interested in sharing your cool usage of Data Commons or have feedback, please email us at support@datacommons.org.