Shovels MCP. Audit permits and track construction activity with natural language.
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Shovels MCP Server is a construction and permit data platform that lets your AI client audit real estate records. It gives you instant access to licensed contractors, active building permits, and market intelligence across specific geographic areas.
You can ask your agent to find all roofing professionals near an address or pull aggregated statistics on remodeling permits for a whole county—all without touching a dashboard.
What your AI agents can do
Get contractor
Retrieves specific details for a single licensed contractor.
Get contractor activity
Finds and lists contractors currently working near a specified address.
Get contractor by license
Retrieves full contractor profiles using their state business license ID.
Retrieve full details on any specific building permit using get_permit, including its current status and estimated value.
search_contractors lets you list licensed professionals based on work type, property kind, or ZIP code.
Pinpoint active construction crews near a given address using get_contractor_activity.
get_permit_stats pulls aggregated statistics, letting you analyze building activity across entire counties or cities.
Confirm a contractor's status and details immediately using their state business license ID via get_contractor_by_license.
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Shovels: 7 Tools for Construction & Permits
Use these seven tools to search contractors, audit permits, check local activity, and pull aggregated construction data using your AI client.
019d847fget contractor
Retrieves specific details for a single licensed contractor.
019d847fget contractor activity
Finds and lists contractors currently working near a specified address.
019d847fget contractor by license
Retrieves full contractor profiles using their state business license ID.
019d847fget permit
Gets the detailed status and history for a specific building permit record.
019d847fget permit stats
Pulls aggregated data to show overall trends in building permit filings by area.
019d847fsearch contractors
Searches and lists licensed contractors based on criteria like work type or location.
019d847fsearch permits
Searches for building permits using key details like address or permit status.
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Build Your Own
Turn any API into an MCP. Import a spec, define Agent Skills, or deploy with MCPFusion.
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What you can do with this MCP connector
Shovels gives your AI client direct access to massive construction and permit records. You don't gotta click through some bloated dashboard; you just talk to your agent, and it pulls the data you need.
Your agent handles all the heavy lifting across three main areas: contractors, permits, and market intelligence.
To find licensed pros, you can use search_contractors to list professionals based on work type—whether they're doing solar or roofing—property kind, or a ZIP code. If you know exactly who you need, your agent runs get_contractor_by_license, confirming their full profile using just their state business license ID. For general contractor details, it pulls specific data for one licensed individual using get_contractor.
To track activity on the ground, use get_contractor_activity to pinpoint any construction crews working near a given address.
When you need to look into permits, your agent starts by running search_permits, letting you filter records based on an address or a specific permit status. For deep dives, calling get_permit gives you the full history and current status of any single building permit record, including its estimated value. To check market viability across a whole area, use get_permit_stats; this pulls aggregated statistics so you can analyze overall trends in building activity throughout an entire county or city.
Your agent runs these numbers whether you're verifying credentials or checking market movement. It gives you structured data every time.
How Shovels MCP Works
- 1 Subscribe to the Shovels server on Vinkius.
- 2 Enter your unique Shovels.ai API Key into your preferred AI client (Claude, Cursor, etc.).
- 3 Ask your agent a question like: 'What permits are active near 123 Main St?' and let it run the necessary tools.
The bottom line is you talk to your agent, and it runs all the complex database queries for you.
Who Is Shovels MCP For?
This is for anyone who deals with physical property or development records. If you're a real estate developer doing due diligence before buying land, or a market researcher trying to predict growth based on building permits, this saves weeks of manual data collection. It's built for people who hate clicking through ten different municipal websites.
Runs rapid due diligence on potential land acquisitions by checking local development activity using get_contractor_activity.
Verifies contractor credentials and monitors work history in a neighborhood to ensure compliance and quality control.
Analyzes construction trends by pulling aggregated permit volumes using get_permit_stats across different metropolitan areas.
What Changes When You Connect
- Know who is working where. Instead of driving around looking for signs, use
get_contractor_activityto instantly list every contractor operating within a 5-mile radius of an address. - Stop digging through records. Get the full history and current status of any building permit by calling
get_permit. You don't need to navigate multiple municipal websites. - Analyze whole markets at once. Use
get_permit_statsto pull aggregated data, letting you compare construction trends between Austin and Dallas with a single prompt. - Verify contractors in seconds. Never take a chance on an unlicensed crew. Run the contractor's state ID through
get_contractor_by_licensefor instant validation. - Find exactly what you need. Use
search_contractorsto filter by specific work types, like 'solar' or 'roofing,' rather than getting a massive list of irrelevant general contractors.
Real-World Use Cases
Pre-Purchase Due Diligence
A developer is buying land. He asks his agent: 'What was the last permit filed here, and who worked on it?' The agent runs search_permits to find recent records, then calls get_contractor_activity using the address to list active crews, giving him a clear picture of development history.
Compliance Check
A property manager needs to audit a contractor. He uses get_contractor_by_license first to validate their state ID. Then he runs search_contractors for that license type and checks the resulting profile for any compliance gaps.
Market Opportunity Analysis
A market researcher wants to find high-growth areas. They prompt: 'Show me permit stats for all residential remodels in this county.' The agent executes get_permit_stats, delivering a quantitative analysis that identifies the best investment zones.
On-Site Oversight
A site supervisor walks past an address and asks: 'Who's operating here right now?' The agent uses get_contractor_activity to scan the area, listing 12 active crews specializing in HVAC upgrades. He knows exactly who to talk to.
The Tradeoffs
Manual Dashboard Diving
Trying to find a contractor's full history by logging into the municipal website, searching the address, and then downloading PDFs for every permit they ever filed. This takes hours.
→
Just ask your agent: 'Show me all permits and contractors associated with 123 Main St.' It runs search_permits and combines that data with calls to get_contractor—it's one prompt, not ten clicks.
Mixing up Search vs. Details
Thinking you need to search for a contractor and then separately check if they have permits. You risk missing the connection.
→
Use search_contractors to find them, but immediately follow up by asking your agent to cross-reference that list with get_permit data using their names or addresses.
Assuming Data is Fresh
Relying on old reports or cached public records that might be out of date.
→
Always use the live tools. Use get_permit for current status, and if you need a broader view, run get_contractor_activity to see who is physically onsite right now.
When It Fits, When It Doesn't
Use Shovels if your goal is complex data correlation: You need to link permit history (e.g., 'Did they file for a roof replacement?') with contractor credentials ('Was the roofing company licensed?'). In these cases, you'll use get_permit, search_contractors, and get_contractor_by_license together.
Don't use it if you just need basic information. If all you want is a list of every contractor in your state regardless of their work type, a simple directory service might be faster. But if the data needs to be tied to time, location, or specific permits, Shovels handles that complexity for you.
Independent Platform Disclaimer: Vinkius is an independent platform and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, sponsored by, verified by, or otherwise authorized by Shovels. 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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Works with Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, and more
The Model Context Protocol standardizes how applications expose capabilities to LLMs. Instead of operating in isolation, your AI gains direct access to external platforms, live data, and real-world actions through secure, standardized connections.
This server provides 7 capabilities that interface natively with Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, and any MCP client. No middleware. No custom integration required.
Available Capabilities
Finding construction records shouldn't feel like detective work across ten different websites.
Right now, auditing a property is tedious. You start at the municipal site to pull permit data, then jump to a separate contractor board for names. If you need market stats, you switch to a third platform just for aggregated counts. It's endless tabs and copy-pasting.
With Shovels MCP Server, your agent handles that whole mess. You ask it to 'Analyze the development history at this address.' It runs `search_permits` and pulls relevant contractor info using `get_contractor_activity`. What you get back is one clean report, structured for immediate action.
Shovels MCP Server: Get actionable data on permits and contractors.
Forget the manual process of finding contractor IDs or cross-referencing permit statuses. You don't have to manually check if a company is licensed *before* you even start writing the contract, because your agent runs `get_contractor_by_license` immediately.
It’s about eliminating friction points. The data structure for real estate and construction was never meant to be queried easily. Now it just flows out of an API call, giving you structured insights in seconds.
Common Questions About Shovels MCP
How do I use the get_contractor_activity tool with Shovels? +
You send your agent a request specifying the address. The get_contractor_activity tool then scans that location and lists all licensed contractors currently working within a defined radius.
Is get_permit_stats better than searching for permits? +
Yes, they serve different goals. Use search_permits when you know the address or general type of permit you need to find. Use get_permit_stats when you want to see trends—like how many total residential filings happened this quarter.
Can I check a contractor's license without knowing their name? (Using get_contractor_by_license) +
Absolutely. get_contractor_by_license is designed to take the state business ID directly, which lets you pull up a profile even if the company has changed names.
Which tool should I use to find roofing contractors in my area? (Using search_contractors) +
You start with search_contractors. You simply tell your agent you need 'roofing' professionals and the location, and it returns a list of licensed options.
What is required to successfully run the `get_permit` tool? +
You must provide a valid Shovels API Key. This key authenticates your connection, giving your agent access to the full permit database. Always treat this key as sensitive credentials.
If I use `search_contractors` and no matching records are found, what does the tool return? +
The tool returns a predictable status code along with an empty list object. Your agent can check for this explicit zero-result state instead of failing, allowing you to handle 'no data' gracefully.
Are there rate limits when calling `get_permit_stats`? +
Yes, we enforce standard API rate limits. If your agent exceeds the allowed calls per minute, it will return a 429 error. You should implement an exponential backoff retry logic in your code.
Does `get_contractor` provide every piece of contractor data available? +
The get_contractor tool provides core public records, including license status and contact history. It does not access private financial data or internal company documents.
How do I find solar contractors in a specific ZIP code? +
Use the search_contractors tool and provide the ZIP code in the geo_id parameter and 'solar' in the work_type parameter. Your agent will return a list of matching professionals.
Can I see permit activity for a whole city? +
Yes! Use the get_permit_stats tool with the city name or City/State combination in the geo_id parameter to retrieve aggregated construction data for that area.
How do I verify if a contractor has a valid license? +
You can use the get_contractor_by_license tool with their state business license ID. The returned profile will include their current licensing status and specialty data.
Use it with your favorite AI tools
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