How to Use the HHS Open Payments MCP in Windsurf

Q: How do I configure the HHS Open Payments MCP Server in Windsurf?

Open your /.codeium/windsurf/mcpconfig.json file and add the server under the mcpServers key. Once saved, Cascade immediately detects the six MCP tools and starts using them.

Q: Can this tool search for teaching hospitals specifically?

Yes, the searchhospitals tool is built into this server for that exact purpose. It queries the federal database to return matches for teaching institutions receiving industry funds.

Let Windsurf Cascade autonomously hunt down healthcare financial transactions and audit physician payments without manual intervention.

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Connect HHS Open Payments MCP to Windsurf

Create your Vinkius account to connect HHS Open Payments to Windsurf and route execution through our secure gateway. The platform manages server hosting, runtime updates, and security layers. Configuration requires no manual server provisioning.

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Setup HHS Open Payments with Windsurf

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Track Industry Payments with Windsurf Cascade

Cascade runs `search_physicians` as the first step to hunt down healthcare financial transactions. It locates a specific doctor and grabs their unique identifier to pull actual transaction histories. You don't have to prompt every single step. The agent handles the lookup sequence, hits `query_dataset` with custom SoQL filters, and presents the exact payment logs you asked for in one shot.

Extract Bulk Datasets for Local Auditing

Your agent uses `list_datasets` to check available federal files before pulling raw data. It checks the metadata via `get_dataset` to see what's new in the database. Once it identifies the right target, it uses `download_dataset` to fetch the JSON payload directly into your workspace. This MCP Server setup means your agent does the heavy lifting of pulling gigabytes of federal records while you focus on the analysis.

Cross-Reference Hospital and Doctor Records

This MCP Server exposes `search_hospitals` so your agent can cross-reference teaching institutions with doctor records. It lets Cascade link these entities together by analyzing the payment records retrieved through `query_dataset`. It builds a clear picture of financial relationships without you writing complex API clients from scratch.

Setup guide

Set up HHS Open Payments MCP in Windsurf

Prerequisites

Windsurf IDE installed (macOS, Windows, or Linux)
Active Vinkius subscription with a valid endpoint token

1

Open MCP configuration

Click the Cascade assistant icon in the sidebar, then click the hammer icon (🔨) at the top of the panel. Select "Configure" to open ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json.
2

Add the HHS Open Payments MCP

Paste the JSON snippet shown on the right into the mcpServers object. Replace [YOUR_TOKEN_HERE] with your endpoint token from cloud.vinkius.com.
3

Refresh MCPs

Go back to the hammer icon (🔨) in Cascade and click "Refresh". Windsurf will detect the new server. No full restart is needed — the connection is hot-reloaded.
4

Verify in Cascade

Start a new Cascade conversation and ask something like "Show my HHS Open Payments payment history." If connected, Cascade will call the HHS Open Payments tools directly. You will see a green dot next to the server name in the MCP panel.

mcp_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "hhs-open-payments-mcp": {
      "url": "https://edge.vinkius.com/[YOUR_TOKEN_HERE]/mcp"
    }
  }
}

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Independent Platform Disclaimer: Vinkius is an independent platform and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, sponsored by, verified by, or otherwise authorized by HHS Open Payments. All third-party trademarks, logos, and brand names are the property of their respective owners. Their use on this website is strictly for informational purposes to identify service compatibility and interoperability.

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Common questions about HHS Open Payments MCP in Windsurf

You just tell Cascade what you are looking for, like payments to orthopedic surgeons in Boston. It translates your request into SoQL and uses `query_dataset` to pull the records.

Yes, you can grab entire datasets directly inside the IDE. Cascade will use `list_datasets` to find the right year, then call `download_dataset` to save the JSON file to your local workspace.

Open your `~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json` file and add the server under the `mcpServers` key. Once saved, Cascade immediately detects the six MCP tools and starts using them.

Yes, the `search_hospitals` tool is built into this server for that exact purpose. It queries the federal database to return matches for teaching institutions receiving industry funds.

The server only touches public data published by the government, so no private patient data is accessed. All transactions run locally inside a zero-trust V8 sandbox on Vinkius, meaning your MCP queries are never exposed to third parties.

Use it with your favorite AI tools

Connect this server to Cursor, Claude, VS Code, and more.

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