How do I get a FRED API key?

Free and instant! Go to fredaccount.stlouisfed.org/apikeys, create a free account (no credit card), click 'Request API Key', and copy the 32-character key. Takes under 60 seconds.

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Use FRED with your AI.

Connect your account once and let the AI you already use work with it, without building another integration. Search and retrieve data from 816,000+ official U.S. economic time series: GDP, inflation, unemployment, interest rates, money supply. with built-in transforma

Included with plan

Ask AI about this Connector

Developed, maintained, and hosted by Vinkius.

MCP VERIFIED · PRODUCTION READY · VINKIUS GUARANTEED

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Works with modern AI clients that support MCP, including ChatGPT, Claude, Cursor, and more.

Complete set · 5 capabilities

The complete FRED capability set.

These are the exact actions your AI can choose when you ask it to work with FRED.

Capability set01 / 02

01-03

3 capabilities in this set.

Part of 5 available through FRED.

01
Get observations
Supports date filtering, unit transformations (percent change, log, etc.), and frequency aggregation. This is the primary capability for retrieving economic data. Get actual data values for a FRED time series
02
Get series
Use well-known IDs like GDP, UNRATE, CPIAUCSL, FEDFUNDS, DGS10, SP500, M2SL. Get metadata for a specific FRED series
03
Get series updates
Useful for monitoring new data releases. Filter by macro (large/popular series) or regional. Get recently updated FRED series

Capability set02 / 02

04-05

2 capabilities in this set.

Part of 5 available through FRED.

04
Get vintage dates
Essential for ALFRED-style vintage analysis and understanding data revisions. Get historical revision dates for a series
05
Search series
Returns matching series with title, frequency, units, popularity. Use order_by=popularity to find the most-used series. Examples: "GDP", "unemployment rate", "inflation CPI". Search 816,000+ economic time series by keyword

Observed, not estimated

866ms average. Fast in production.

FRED is checked daily against the live service.

Daily averagePeak 998ms

Aug 20Today

Fastest day: 738ms
Slowest day: 998ms
14-day trend: Slowing+17%

Connect your client

One URL. Every client.

Activate the Connector, copy your link, and paste it into the client you already use. 5 capabilities arrive ready to run.

Preview access · not provider authentication

The vk_preview_* token belongs to Vinkius preview infrastructure. It lets Claude discover and display the capabilities of FRED, so you can see the experience inside your AI.

It does not authenticate your account with FRED. Actions requiring credentials or live account data may not run until you activate the Connector and authorize the service.

FRED Connector

You're all set. Choose your MCP client and follow the setup instructions.

Connector linkhttps://edge.vinkius.com/vk_preview_A88AHYchkedAASX1WUHO1UJsziMQyiVeswZdENUZ/mcp

Claude Desktop

Follow the steps below to connect in seconds.

1In Claude Desktop, open Settings → Connectors.
2Click “Add custom connector” and paste the connector link above as the remote MCP server URL.
3Click Add and start a new chat — FRED capabilities are ready to use.

Configuration · claude_desktop_config.jsonCopy

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "fred-series-us-economic-time-series-mcp": {
      "url": "https://edge.vinkius.com/vk_preview_A88AHYchkedAASX1WUHO1UJsziMQyiVeswZdENUZ/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Claude
ChatGPT
Cursor
VS Code
Windsurf
Claude Code
JetBrains
Cline

Step-by-step instructions for each client are in the guide. How to connect

FAQ

Questions FRED owners ask.

01
How do I get a FRED API key?
Free and instant! Go to fredaccount.stlouisfed.org/apikeys, create a free account (no credit card), click 'Request API Key', and copy the 32-character key. Takes under 60 seconds.

Explore

Use FRED with your AI.

The complete FRED capability set.

01-03

Get observations

Get series

Get series updates