Timetable Api Node MCP Server

Timetable API Node

Express-based API for Lviv transport timetable data with a read-only MCP endpoint.

Requirements

• Node.js 26 (see .nvmrc)

Run locally

nvm use
make start

Test

nvm use && make test

Monitoring

Two optional integrations, both off unless their environment variable is set:

New Relic runs as a preloaded agent, so npm start carries the flags:

node -r dotenv/config -r newrelic --import newrelic/esm-loader.mjs index.js

dotenv/config is preloaded first so .env is populated before the agent reads its configuration. The config file is newrelic.cjs (the agent is CommonJS and this project is ESM) and holds no secrets — the key comes from the environment. /health is excluded from transactions via rules.ignore.

The account is in the EU region; its license key starts with eu01xx and the agent picks the collector from that prefix. Use the 40-character ingest license key, not an NRAK-... user API key.

Cloud Run reads the key from Secret Manager:

gcloud run services update timetable-api-node --region=us-central1 --project=timetable-252615 --set-secrets=NEW_RELIC_LICENSE_KEY=new-relic-license-key:latest

MCP Server

This service exposes a public read-only MCP endpoint over Streamable HTTP.

• MCP endpoint: /mcp
• Server card: /.well-known/mcp/server-card.json
• Discovery hint: /robots.txt (non-standard comment hint)

Production deployment (see cloudbuild.yaml for Cloud Run) serves REST and MCP from api.lad.lviv.ua. The main site lad.lviv.ua is the public transport website (this repo still links there in HTML sitemap and tables for people, not for the API host). Use your own origin when running locally.

LLM and /mcp flow

An MCP client (Claude, Cursor, or the MCP SDK) talks JSON-RPC over Streamable HTTP to POST /mcp. Tool handlers reuse the same Express actions as the REST API, backed by LokiJS timetable data, GTFS SQLite (via gtfs), and live GTFS-RT feeds (for example track.ua-gis.com).

graph LR;
  Client[LLM or MCP client] -->|JSON-RPC Streamable HTTP| Mcp["POST /mcp"];
  Mcp --> Tools[Tool handlers];
  Tools --> Actions[Express actions];
  Actions --> Loki[(LokiJS)];
  Actions --> Gtfs[(GTFS SQLite)];
  Actions --> Rt[GTFS-RT upstream];
  Loki --> Actions;
  Gtfs --> Actions;
  Rt --> Actions;
  Actions --> Tools;
  Tools --> Mcp;
  Mcp -->|MCP tool result| Client;

Try the live API

MCP Inspector (local): run npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector, then open the UI with transport and server URL prefilled (from the inspector README):

http://localhost:6274/?transport=streamable-http&serverUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fapi.lad.lviv.ua%2Fmcp

POST https://api.lad.lviv.ua/mcp with Content-Type: application/json. The Streamable HTTP transport may require additional headers your MCP client sets automatically; for a quick manual test, follow the same sequence your MCP SDK uses (session initialize, then tools/call). Example tools/call body shape:

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 1,
  "method": "tools/call",
  "params": {
    "name": "get_stop_realtime",
    "arguments": { "stop_id": 101 }
  }
}

Successful tool responses return a natural-language text summary inside MCP content items (type: "text") — e.g. "Stop «Opera»: 3 arrivals. Next: T01 → «Rynok» in 2 min." The full structured payload is in the structuredContent field (for schema-aware clients). Each structuredContent payload follows a strict UI contract:

{
  "view": "transit_realtime",
  "data": { "...": "tool-specific source data" },
  "ui_blocks": [
    { "type": "map", "data": { "...": "map renderer input" } },
    { "type": "arrival_list", "data": { "...": "arrival list renderer input" } }
  ]
}

Consistency rule: each vehicle rendered on map must either have a matching ETA in list data or eta_status: "unassigned".

Exposed tools

• get_stop_realtime
• get_route_static
• get_route_realtime
• get_stop_geometry
• get_stops_around_location
• get_nearby_vehicles
• get_vehicle_info

Arguments (JSON):

Example result (shape only; values from upstream):

{
  "view": "transit_realtime",
  "data": {
    "stop": { "id": "707", "name": "Стадіон Сільмаш", "lat": 49.84, "lng": 24.03 },
    "arrivals": [
      {
        "route": "T30",
        "direction": "Рясівська",
        "vehicle_type": "tram",
        "arrival_minutes": 4,
        "vehicle_id": "tram_123",
        "lat": 49.83,
        "lng": 24.02,
        "bearing": 120
      }
    ],
    "updated_at": "2026-01-23T12:00:00Z"
  },
  "ui_blocks": [
    {
      "type": "map",
      "data": { "center": [49.84, 24.03], "vehicles": [] }
    },
    {
      "type": "arrival_list",
      "data": { "arrivals": [] }
    }
  ]
}

Arguments (JSON):

Example result (shape only; stops truncated for brevity):

{
  "view": "transit_realtime",
  "data": {
    "route": {
      "name": "T30",
      "long_name": "Рясне-2 — Сихів",
      "color": "#e81717",
      "type": "tram"
    },
    "stops": [
      [
        {
          "id": "101", "name": "Головний вокзал", "lat": 49.841, "lng": 24.003,
          "departures": ["05:30", "05:52"],
          "schedule": { "workday": ["05:30", "05:52", "06:10"], "weekend": ["07:00", "07:30"] }
        },
        { "id": "707", "name": "Стадіон Сільмаш", "lat": 49.838, "lng": 24.021, "departures": [], "schedule": { "workday": [], "weekend": [] } }
      ],
      [
        { "id": "707", "name": "Стадіон Сільмаш", "lat": 49.838, "lng": 24.021, "departures": [], "schedule": { "workday": [], "weekend": [] } },
        { "id": "101", "name": "Головний вокзал", "lat": 49.841, "lng": 24.003, "departures": [], "schedule": { "workday": [], "weekend": [] } }
      ]
    ],
    "shapes": [
      [[49.841, 24.003], [49.839, 24.012], [49.838, 24.021]],
      [[49.838, 24.021], [49.839, 24.012], [49.841, 24.003]]
    ],
    "updated_at": "2026-01-23T12:00:00Z"
  },
  "ui_blocks": [
    {
      "type": "map",
      "data": {
        "center": [49.841, 24.003],
        "zoom": 13,
        "polylines": [[[49.841, 24.003], [49.839, 24.012], [49.838, 24.021]]],
        "stops": [
          { "id": "101", "name": "Головний вокзал", "lat": 49.841, "lng": 24.003 },
          { "id": "707", "name": "Стадіон Сільмаш", "lat": 49.838, "lng": 24.021 }
        ],
        "vehicles": []
      }
    }
  ]
}

stops[0] is direction 0 (outbound), stops[1] is direction 1 (return). departures and schedule are populated only for the first stop of direction 0; all other stops have empty arrays. schedule.workday contains Monday–Friday departure times; schedule.weekend contains Saturday–Sunday departure times. departures keeps today's schedule for backward compatibility. shapes follows the same two-element order. The map block uses direction-0 polyline and all unique stops as markers.

Arguments (JSON):

Example result:

{
  "view": "transit_realtime",
  "data": {
    "route_name": "T30",
    "vehicles": [
      {
        "id": "tram_123",
        "direction": 0,
        "lat": 49.838,
        "lng": 24.021,
        "bearing": 120,
        "lowfloor": true
      }
    ],
    "updated_at": "2026-01-23T12:00:00Z"
  },
  "ui_blocks": [
    {
      "type": "map",
      "data": {
        "center": [49.838, 24.021],
        "zoom": 13,
        "vehicles": [
          {
            "id": "tram_123",
            "direction": 0,
            "lat": 49.838,
            "lng": 24.021,
            "bearing": 120,
            "lowfloor": true
          }
        ]
      }
    }
  ]
}

direction matches the index into get_route_static's stops array (0 = outbound, 1 = return). lowfloor: true indicates a low-floor vehicle. Returns an empty vehicles array when no vehicles are currently active on the route.

Arguments:

Example result:

{
  "view": "transit_realtime",
  "data": {
    "stop": { "id": "707", "name": "Стадіон Сільмаш", "lat": 49.84, "lng": 24.03 },
    "routes": [
      {
        "route": "T30",
        "polyline": [[49.84, 24.03], [49.83, 24.02]]
      }
    ]
  },
  "ui_blocks": [{ "type": "map", "data": { "routes": [] } }]
}

Returns stops near a map point (numeric code, name, coordinates, distance). Intended for hosts that render map UI blocks (for example ChatGPT): one block with multiple stop markers and the search center. Uses the same backend as GET /closest (see below).

Arguments (JSON):

Example result (shape only):

{
  "view": "transit_realtime",
  "data": {
    "center_lat": 49.84,
    "center_lng": 24.03,
    "radius_meters": 1000,
    "stops": [
      {
        "id": "707",
        "name": "Стадіон Сільмаш",
        "lat": 49.841,
        "lng": 24.031,
        "distance_meters": 120
      }
    ],
    "updated_at": "2026-01-23T12:00:00Z"
  },
  "ui_blocks": [
    {
      "type": "map",
      "data": {
        "center": [49.84, 24.03],
        "zoom": 15,
        "stops": [
          {
            "id": "707",
            "name": "Стадіон Сільмаш",
            "lat": 49.841,
            "lng": 24.031,
            "distance_meters": 120
          }
        ],
        "vehicles": []
      }
    }
  ]
}

Map zoom is 15 for radius ≤ 1500 m and 14 for larger radii (up to 3000 m).

Returns live positions for all transit vehicles within 1 km of given coordinates. Wraps the same backend as GET /transport.

Arguments (JSON):

Example result (shape only):

{
  "view": "transit_realtime",
  "data": {
    "center_lat": 49.84,
    "center_lng": 24.03,
    "vehicles": [
      {
        "id": "tram_123",
        "route": "T01",
        "vehicle_type": "tram",
        "lat": 49.841,
        "lng": 24.031,
        "bearing": 90,
        "lowfloor": true
      }
    ],
    "updated_at": "2026-01-23T12:00:00Z"
  },
  "ui_blocks": [
    {
      "type": "map",
      "data": {
        "center": [49.84, 24.03],
        "zoom": 14,
        "vehicles": [{ "id": "tram_123", "route": "T01", "lat": 49.841, "lng": 24.031, "bearing": 90, "eta_status": "unassigned" }]
      }
    }
  ]
}

Full details for one vehicle by its ID: position, route, license plate, direction, and upcoming stop arrival times. Vehicle IDs come from get_route_realtime, get_nearby_vehicles, or get_stop_realtime.

Arguments (JSON):

Example result (shape only):

{
  "view": "transit_realtime",
  "data": {
    "vehicle_id": "tram_123",
    "route": "route-ext-1",
    "license_plate": "BC-1234-AB",
    "lat": 49.841,
    "lng": 24.031,
    "bearing": 90,
    "direction": 0,
    "upcoming_stops": [
      { "code": 707, "arrival": "2026-01-23T12:05:00Z", "departure": null },
      { "code": 708, "arrival": "2026-01-23T12:08:00Z", "departure": null }
    ],
    "updated_at": "2026-01-23T12:00:00Z"
  },
  "ui_blocks": [
    {
      "type": "map",
      "data": { "center": [49.841, 24.031], "zoom": 15, "vehicles": [{ "id": "tram_123", "eta_status": "unassigned" }] }
    }
  ]
}

Resources and resource templates

In addition to tools, the server exposes MCP resources for reference data that doesn't require a tool call:

Security model

• Public read-only (no authentication).
• No mutating tools are exposed.
• POST /mcp is rate-limited to 60 requests/min per IP (in-memory, resets on restart). Excess requests receive HTTP 429 with a JSON-RPC error body.
• robots.txt is only a best-effort discovery hint and not a protocol contract.

REST API

All endpoints return JSON. :code is a numeric stop code; :name is a route short name (e.g. T1, 32A) or numeric external ID.

Stops

GET /stops.json

All stops as a JSON array, sorted by code.

• Response: array of { code, name, eng_name, location: [lat, lng], routes, sign, sign_pdf }.

(GET /stops returns an HTML table instead.)

Per-stop route overrides

The upstream route list for a stop is sometimes behind reality. GET /stops applies a stored override to its Маршрути column — removed routes shown red and struck through, added ones green — and hangs the matching ?add=/?remove= on that row's SVG and PDF links, which offline.lad.lviv.ua and pdf.lad.lviv.ua both understand.

The route column is always clickable: click a route to drop or restore it, type one into the + box to add it.

Overrides live in the browser's own localStorage (see public/stopOverrides.js), not on a server — no account to edit through, no cache to purge, an edit applies at once. The trade is scope: an override is visible only in the browser that made it, not to anyone else who opens /stops.

/stops.json reports sign and sign_pdf without overrides applied.

GET /stops/:code

Single stop with live realtime timetable. Short-cached (5–10 s).

• Optional: skipTimetableData=1 — omit live arrivals (long-cached response).
• Response: { code, name, eng_name, latitude, longitude, transfers, timetable }.

GET /stops/:code/timetable

Live timetable only for a stop. Short-cached (5–10 s).

• Response: array of timetable items.

GET /stops/:code/static

Static stop info without live data. Long-cached (30 days).

• Response: { code, name, eng_name, latitude, longitude, transfers }.

GET /closest?latitude={lat}&longitude={lng}

Nearby stops — same search as get_stops_around_location, for non-MCP clients.

• Optional: radius — meters, clamped between 50 and 3000 (default 1000).
• Response: JSON array of { code, name, latitude, longitude, distance_meters } (sorted by distance).

Routes

GET /routes.json

All routes as a JSON array, sorted by short name.

• Response: raw route objects from the timetable store.

(GET /routes returns an HTML table.)

GET /routes/static/:name

Route shape, stop list, and metadata. Long-cached (30 days).

• Response: { id, color, type, route_short_name, route_long_name, stops: [[dir0…], [dir1…]], shapes }.
• Each stop object: { code, name, loc, transfers, departures, schedule }.
  • departures — today's departure times (HH:MM), populated only for direction 0 first stop. Kept for backward compatibility.
  • schedule — { workday: string[], weekend: string[] } departure times by day type, populated only for direction 0 first stop.

GET /routes/dynamic/:name

Live vehicle positions for a route. Short-cached (10 s).

• Response: array of { id, direction, location: [lat, lng], bearing, speed, lowfloor }. speed is m/s from the GPS unit, or null when not reported.

Vehicles

GET /vehicle/:vehicleId

Live position and upcoming stop arrivals for one vehicle. Short-cached (5 s).

• Response: { location: [lat, lng], routeId, bearing, speed, direction, licensePlate, arrivals }. speed is m/s from the GPS unit, or null when not reported.

GET /vehicle-by-plate/:plate

Look up a vehicle ID by its license plate. Short-cached (5 s).

• The plate is matched case-insensitively with spaces and dashes ignored (BC-1234-AA, bc 1234 aa, and bc1234aa are all equivalent).
• Response: { vehicleId } — use the returned ID with GET /vehicle/:vehicleId.

GET /transport?latitude={lat}&longitude={lng}

Vehicles within 1 km of a point. Short-cached (10 s).

• Response: array of { id, route, routeId, direction, vehicle_type, color, location: [lat, lng], bearing, speed, lowfloor }. routeId is usable as :name in /routes/static/:name; direction matches the index into stops/shapes (0 = outbound, 1 = return, null if unknown). speed is m/s or null.