OpenStates Connector for AI agents.
7 live capabilities
Track state-level legislation and find lawmaker profiles.
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Why people use OpenStates
OpenStates for State Legislative Data Research
This Connector changes that. Your agent does the clicking for you. You just ask for the status of a bill or a list of legislators, and it pulls the data directly into your chat. You get a clean summary of the legislative process without the manual headache.
What Vinkius changes
You get instant access to state-level legislative data without leaving your AI client.
Use it from Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor or another AI client you already have.
One account · 6,100+ Connectors
- Real-world use case 01
Tracking education policy
A researcher asks for all education-related bills in California and then gets the history for each using search_bills and get_bill_details.
- Real-world use case 02
Finding committee contacts
A journalist needs to know the members of the NY Senate Finance Committee to find a lead for a story using get_committee_details.
- Real-world use case 03
Verifying bill status
A legal team asks for the latest action on a specific Texas bill to see if it passed the House using get_bill_details.
Complete set · 7capabilities
The complete OpenStates capability set.
These are the exact actions your AI can choose when you ask it to work with OpenStates.
01—04
4 capabilities in this set.
Part of 7 available through OpenStates.
- 01 Capability
Get bill details
Pull the specific actions, versions, and metadata for a single bill. Use this to track the progress of a specific piece of law.
- 02 Capability
Get committee details
Retrieve the full membership list and details for a specific committee. This shows you exactly who is involved in committee decisions.
- 03 Capability
Get legislator details
Get full profiles, including contact info and current roles, for a lawmaker. This is perfect for finding contact points for advocacy.
- 04 Capability
Search bills
Find specific legislative bills using keywords, sessions, or jurisdictions. It's the fastest way to locate active proposals.
05—07
3 capabilities in this set.
Part of 7 available through OpenStates.
- 05 Capability
Search legislators
Find specific legislators or groups of lawmakers across different states. This helps you identify key figures in any jurisdiction.
- 06 Capability
List committees
Get a list of all committees in a specific state or jurisdiction. This helps you see who oversees specific policy areas.
- 07 Capability
List jurisdictions
See every state and territory currently supported by the platform. Use this to verify coverage before starting research.
Set up in minutes
One URL. Then ask OpenStates to work.
Claude and ChatGPT only need the Connector URL. Copy it once, add it in settings, and use OpenStates from the conversation.
Choose your client
Live previewAdvanced clients IDE · CLI
Claude · Web + desktop
Connector URL · ready to paste
Streamable HTTPhttps://edge.vinkius.com/vk_preview_sD6562FRY77OdiZ66ZUdC7qPkcP5IdmhpV0Llg1z/mcp - Step 01
Open Connectors
In Claude Web or Claude Desktop, open Settings and choose Connectors.
- Step 02
Add the URL
Choose Add custom connector, name it OpenStates, and paste the URL above.
- Step 03
Turn it on in chat
Select +, open Connectors, and enable OpenStates for the conversation.
ChatGPT · Web + desktop
Connector URL · ready to paste
Streamable HTTPhttps://edge.vinkius.com/vk_preview_sD6562FRY77OdiZ66ZUdC7qPkcP5IdmhpV0Llg1z/mcp - Step 01
Open MCP settings
On desktop, open Settings and MCP servers. On web, open your workspace app or connector settings.
- Step 02
Add the URL
Choose Add server with Streamable HTTP, or create a custom MCP app, then paste the OpenStates URL.
- Step 03
Save and start
Save the connection and enable OpenStates in your conversation. Desktop may ask you to restart once.
Cursor · IDE configuration
Advanced setup
{
"mcpServers": {
"openstates": {
"url": "https://edge.vinkius.com/vk_preview_sD6562FRY77OdiZ66ZUdC7qPkcP5IdmhpV0Llg1z/mcp"
}
}
}- Step 01
Open MCP Settings
Press Cmd+Shift+P (macOS) or Ctrl+Shift+P (Windows/Linux) → search "MCP Settings"
- Step 02
Add the server config
Paste the JSON configuration above into the mcp.json file that opens
- Step 03
Save the file
Cursor will automatically detect the new Connector
- Step 04
Start using OpenStates
Open Agent mode in chat and ask: "Using OpenStates, help me...". 7 tools available
VS Code Copilot · IDE configuration
Advanced setup
{
"mcpServers": {
"openstates": {
"url": "https://edge.vinkius.com/vk_preview_sD6562FRY77OdiZ66ZUdC7qPkcP5IdmhpV0Llg1z/mcp"
}
}
}- Step 01
Create MCP config
Create a .vscode/mcp.json file in your project root
- Step 02
Add the server config
Paste the JSON configuration above
- Step 03
Enable Agent mode
Open GitHub Copilot Chat and switch to Agent mode using the dropdown
- Step 04
Start using OpenStates
Ask Copilot: "Using OpenStates, help me...". 7 tools available
Windsurf · IDE configuration
Advanced setup
{
"mcpServers": {
"openstates": {
"url": "https://edge.vinkius.com/vk_preview_sD6562FRY77OdiZ66ZUdC7qPkcP5IdmhpV0Llg1z/mcp"
}
}
}- Step 01
Open MCP Settings
Go to Settings → MCP Configuration or press Cmd+Shift+P and search "MCP"
- Step 02
Add the server
Paste the JSON configuration above into mcp_config.json
- Step 03
Save and reload
Windsurf will detect the new server automatically
- Step 04
Start using OpenStates
Open Cascade and ask: "Using OpenStates, help me...". 7 tools available
Cline · IDE configuration
Advanced setup
{
"mcpServers": {
"openstates": {
"url": "https://edge.vinkius.com/vk_preview_sD6562FRY77OdiZ66ZUdC7qPkcP5IdmhpV0Llg1z/mcp"
}
}
}- Step 01
Open Cline MCP Settings
Click the Connectors icon in the Cline sidebar panel
- Step 02
Add remote server
Click "Add Connector" and paste the configuration above
- Step 03
Enable the server
Toggle the server switch to ON
- Step 04
Start using OpenStates
Ask Cline: "Using OpenStates, help me...". 7 tools available
Claude Code · Terminal command
Advanced setup
claude mcp add openstates --transport http "https://edge.vinkius.com/vk_preview_sD6562FRY77OdiZ66ZUdC7qPkcP5IdmhpV0Llg1z/mcp"- Step 01
Install Claude Code
Run npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code if not already installed
- Step 02
Add the Connector
Run the command above in your terminal
- Step 03
Verify the connection
Run claude mcp to list connected servers, or type /mcp inside a session
- Step 04
Start using OpenStates
Ask Claude: "Using OpenStates, show me...". 7 tools are ready
Where the request belongs
Work OpenStates can move forward.
This is for policy wonks, researchers, and anyone tired of manual data entry from government sites. It's for the person who needs to know who is actually moving the needle on a bill in a specific state.
Policy Advocate
Monitors bill stances across different states to align with advocacy goals.
Investigative Journalist
Finds committee leads and legislator contact info for reporting on local issues.
Civic Tech Developer
Pulls clean legislative data to build transparency capabilities for the public.
Legal Researcher
Verifies the current status and version history of state-level legislation.
Build the capability set
Add more capabilities.
Each Connector adds new actions and data without changing how you work.
Browse ConnectorsLegiScan Legislation Lookup
Universal legislative intelligence. search bills, votes, and state laws via AI.
Google Civic Information
Manage political data. audit representatives and elections via AI.
Senado Federal
Access real-time data from the Brazilian Federal Senate. track legislative proposals, senator profiles, and mandate histories.
GovInfo (GPO Legislative Docs)
Access official US government documents, legislative bills, and federal registers directly from the GPO.
U.S. Congress
Query U.S. legislative data via AI. search bills, members, amendments, treaties, nominations, committees, and congressional records.
Câmara dos Deputados (v2)
Access real-time data from the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies. track expenses, speeches, and legislative activities of all deputies.
Bring your own AI
Change the model, client or framework. Keep OpenStates connected.
-
Claude -
ChatGPT -
Gemini -
Cursor -
VS Code -
Windsurf -
ZCode -
Cline -
Zed -
Continue -
Kiro -
Roo Code -
Zencoder -
Goose -
Void -
Augment Code -
Amp -
Qodo -
Tabnine -
Pieces -
Sourcegraph Cody -
JetBrains -
Warp -
Amazon Q -
Antigravity -
BoltAI -
Raycast -
Jan -
LM Studio -
AnythingLLM -
Open WebUI -
Msty -
Cherry Studio -
LibreChat -
TypingMind -
Chorus -
5ire -
n8n -
LangChain -
LlamaIndex -
CrewAI -
Vercel AI SDK
Before you connect
Questions about OpenStates.
The practical details behind the request, access and result.
What can I do with OpenStates?
You can use it to find state bills, find contact information for legislators, and see who sits on various state committees across the US.
Does OpenStates cover all 50 states?
Yes, it provides legislative data for all 50 states, as well as Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico.
Can I find specific legislator contact info?
Yes, you can pull full profiles for lawmakers which include their current roles and contact details.
How does OpenStates help with bill tracking?
It allows your agent to pull the latest actions and version history for specific bills so you can see how they are moving through the legislative process.
Can I see committee memberships?
Yes, you can retrieve full membership lists for committees in any supported jurisdiction to see who is involved in specific policy areas.
Is OpenStates good for policy research?
It is built specifically for policy research, helping you skip the manual work of searching through dozens of different government portals.
Which US states are covered by this integration?
OpenStates covers all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. You can use the list_jurisdictions capability to see the full list of currently active jurisdictions.
Can I search for bills by specific keywords like 'environment' or 'education'?
Yes! Use the search_bills capability, provide the state name in the jurisdiction parameter, and your keywords in the q parameter. Your agent will return all matching legislation.
How do I get the contact information for my state representative?
First, find the legislator using search_legislators with their name or district. Then, use the get_legislator_details capability with their ID to retrieve their official email, office address, and phone number.
One connection away
Give your agent a direct line to OpenStates.
Connect OpenStates once. Keep it beside 6,100+ managed Connectors when the next task needs more.
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