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` tool 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` tool, 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` tool with their ID to retrieve their official email, office address, and phone number.

OpenStates MCP Server for Claude Desktop 7 tools — connect in under 2 minutes

Name: OpenStates
Availability: InStock
Author: Vinkius

modelcontextprotocol.io/quickstart/user

Built by Vinkius GDPR 7 Tools IDE

Claude Desktop is Anthropic's native application for interacting with Claude AI models on macOS and Windows. It was the first consumer application to ship with built-in MCP support, making it the reference implementation for the Model Context Protocol standard.

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Open in ChatGPT Open in Claude Open in Perplexity

Vinkius supports streamable HTTP and SSE.

RecommendedModern Approach — Zero Configuration

Vinkius Desktop App

The modern way to manage MCP Servers — no config files, no terminal commands. Install OpenStates and 2,500+ MCP Servers from a single visual interface.

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Classic Setup·json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "openstates": {
      // Your Vinkius token. get it at cloud.vinkius.com
      "url": "https://edge.vinkius.com/[YOUR_TOKEN_HERE]/mcp"
    }
  }
}

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IAMAccess control

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DLPData protection

V8 IsolateSandboxed

Ed25519Audit chain

<40msKill switch

Stream every event to Splunk, Datadog, or your own webhook in real-time

* Every MCP server runs on Vinkius-managed infrastructure inside AWS - a purpose-built runtime with per-request V8 isolates, Ed25519 signed audit chains, and sub-40ms cold starts optimized for native MCP execution. See our infrastructure

About OpenStates MCP Server

Equip your AI agent with the most comprehensive US state-level legislative intelligence via OpenStates. This unified server provides your agent with instant access to bills, legislators, and committee metadata across all 50 states, DC, and Puerto Rico. Your agent can instantly search for specific legislation, audit legislator profiles, and retrieve committee memberships without you ever manually checking a government site. Whether you are tracking policy trends or verifying legislative actions, your agent acts as a dedicated political analyst through natural conversation.

Claude Desktop is the definitive way to connect OpenStates to your AI workflow. Add Vinkius Edge URL to your config, restart the app, and Claude immediately exposes all 7 tools in the chat interface. ask a question, Claude calls the right tool, and you see the answer. Zero code, zero context switching.

What you can do

Bill Discovery — Search for thousands of legislative bills by keyword, jurisdiction, and session.
Legislator Auditing — Fetch complete profiles, contact information, and current roles for state legislators.
Committee Intelligence — List all legislative committees in a jurisdiction and retrieve their detailed membership lists.
Jurisdiction Lookup — List and inspect all supported states and jurisdictions to understand current legislative coverage.
Deep Metadata — Retrieve detailed actions and versions for specific bills to analyze the legislative process.

The OpenStates MCP Server exposes 7 tools through the Vinkius. Connect it to Claude Desktop in under two minutes — no API keys to rotate, no infrastructure to provision, no vendor lock-in. Your configuration, your data, your control.

How to Connect OpenStates to Claude Desktop via MCP

Follow these steps to integrate the OpenStates MCP Server with Claude Desktop.

Open Claude Desktop Settings

Go to Settings → Developer → Edit Config to open claude_desktop_config.json

Add the MCP Server

Paste the configuration above into the mcpServers section

Restart Claude Desktop

Close and reopen Claude Desktop to load the new server

Start using OpenStates

Look for the 🔌 icon in the chat. your 7 tools are now available

Why Use Claude Desktop with the OpenStates MCP Server

Claude Desktop by Anthropic provides unique advantages when paired with OpenStates through the Model Context Protocol.

Claude Desktop is the reference MCP client. it was designed alongside the protocol itself, ensuring the most complete and stable MCP implementation available

Zero-code configuration: add a server URL to a JSON file and Claude instantly discovers and exposes all available tools in the chat interface

Claude's extended thinking capability lets it reason through multi-step tool usage, chaining multiple API calls to answer complex questions

Enterprise-grade security with local config storage. your tokens never leave your machine, and connections go directly to Vinkius Edge network

OpenStates + Claude Desktop Use Cases

Practical scenarios where Claude Desktop combined with the OpenStates MCP Server delivers measurable value.

Interactive data exploration: ask Claude to query DNS records, look up WHOIS data, and cross-reference results in a single conversation

Ad-hoc security audits: type a domain name and let Claude enumerate subdomains, check DNS history, and flag configuration anomalies. all through natural language

Executive briefings: generate comprehensive domain intelligence reports by asking Claude to compile findings into a formatted summary

Learning and training: new team members can explore API capabilities conversationally without needing to read documentation

OpenStates MCP Tools for Claude Desktop (7)

These 7 tools become available when you connect OpenStates to Claude Desktop via MCP:

get_bill_details

Get bill details

get_committee_details

Get committee details

get_legislator_details

Get legislator details

list_committees

List committees in a jurisdiction

list_jurisdictions

List all jurisdictions

search_bills

Search for legislative bills

search_legislators

Search for legislators

Example Prompts for OpenStates in Claude Desktop

Ready-to-use prompts you can give your Claude Desktop agent to start working with OpenStates immediately.

"Search for education bills in California."

"Who are the members of the New York Senate Finance Committee?"

"Get the latest actions for bill TX HB-500."

Troubleshooting OpenStates MCP Server with Claude Desktop

Common issues when connecting OpenStates to Claude Desktop through the Vinkius, and how to resolve them.

Server not appearing after restart

Ensure the JSON is valid (no trailing commas). Check the file path: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json (macOS) or %APPDATA%\\Claude\\ (Windows).

Authentication error

Verify your Vinkius token is correct. Go to cloud.vinkius.com to regenerate it if needed.

Tools not showing in chat

Click the 🔌 icon at the bottom of the chat input. If it shows 0 tools, the server may still be connecting. wait a few seconds.

OpenStates + Claude Desktop FAQ

Common questions about integrating OpenStates MCP Server with Claude Desktop.

How does Claude Desktop discover MCP tools?

When Claude Desktop starts, it reads the claude_desktop_config.json file and connects to each configured MCP server. It calls the tools/list endpoint to fetch the schema for every available tool, then surfaces them as clickable options in the chat interface via the 🔌 icon.

What happens if the MCP server is temporarily unavailable?

Claude Desktop handles disconnections gracefully. if the server is unreachable at startup, the tools simply won't appear. Once the server becomes available again, restarting Claude Desktop will re-establish the connection. There is no timeout penalty or error loop.

Can I connect multiple MCP servers simultaneously?

Yes. You can add as many servers as you need in the mcpServers section of the config file. Each server appears as a separate tool provider, and Claude can use tools from multiple servers in a single conversation turn.

Is there a limit on the number of tools per server?

Claude Desktop can handle hundreds of tools per server. However, for optimal LLM performance, Vinkius servers are designed to expose focused, well-documented tool sets rather than overwhelming the model with too many options.

Does Claude Desktop support Streamable HTTP transport?

Yes. Claude Desktop supports both SSE (Server-Sent Events) and the newer Streamable HTTP transport that Vinkius uses. Simply provide the server URL. Claude auto-negotiates the transport protocol.