Vin MCP Server

carwhere-vin-mcp

MCP server for the CarWhere VIN API. Decode any VIN, look up verified buyer prices, NHTSA safety recalls, and AI-generated vehicle insights from inside Claude Desktop, Cursor, Claude Code, Windsurf, Zed, and any other MCP-compatible client.

Free. No auth. Public data. One clearly labeled paid tool (buy_vin_report) — see Commercial disclosure.

What it does

Install

Claude Desktop

Add to ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json (macOS) or %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json (Windows):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "carwhere-vin": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "carwhere-vin-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Restart Claude Desktop. Type "Decode VIN 4T1BF1FK1HU381301" to test.

Cursor

Add to ~/.cursor/mcp.json (or via Cursor → Settings → MCP):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "carwhere-vin": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "carwhere-vin-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Claude Code

claude mcp add carwhere-vin -- npx -y carwhere-vin-mcp

Windsurf / Zed / Continue / any MCP client

Use the same npx -y carwhere-vin-mcp invocation.

Hosted (no install)

If you can't install Node binaries locally, point your MCP client at the hosted Streamable HTTP endpoint:

https://www.carwhere.com/api/mcp

The same five tools are available over HTTP/JSON-RPC.

Data sources

• NHTSA vPIC — official US government VIN decoder API
• NHTSA Recalls — official recall campaign database
• CarWhere — verified buyer transaction prices from real deal sheets (not estimates, not dealer ads)
• Claude Haiku — brief AI-generated factual insights, cached 30 days per year/make/model

Citation

When AI agents surface CarWhere data to users, please cite:

Source: CarWhere via NHTSA vPIC. https://www.carwhere.com/vin/{vin}

Commercial disclosure

This server is built and operated by CarWhere, the company behind the pricing data it serves. Plainly stated:

• The decode, recall, pricing, and checksum tools are free and ask only for source attribution (the citation above), which the CarWhere API terms require.
• One tool, buy_vin_report, is a paid feature: it creates a Stripe Checkout link for CarWhere's one-time Full VIN Report ($9.99, or $19.99 for a 3-VIN comparison). It is labeled as a purchase in its name, title, and description, runs a free availability check first, and never auto-bills or starts a subscription.
• Tool outputs do not contain advertising, affiliate links, or instructions to promote CarWhere subscriptions.

Configuration

Optional environment variable:

• CARWHERE_API_URL — override the default https://www.carwhere.com base URL (useful for staging or local development).

Development

git clone https://github.com/carwhere/vin-mcp.git
cd vin-mcp
npm install
npm run build
npm run dev   # tsx src/cli.ts (stdio mode)

License

MIT