# FRED Releases — Economic Calendar MCP

> FRED Releases — Economic Calendar tracks every major U.S. economic data release, from Employment Situation and GDP to CPI, plus hundreds of underlying series. You get real-time visibility into upcoming and historical dates for critical financial metrics, letting your agent build a comprehensive, custom economic calendar on demand.

## Overview
- **Category:** brain-trust
- **Price:** Free
- **Tags:** economic-calendar, data-releases, macroeconomics, financial-reporting, time-series, market-data

## Description

Need to know when the next big economic number drops? This MCP gives your AI client direct access to the U.S. economic landscape published by the St. Louis Fed. Forget jumping between multiple government websites just to compile a schedule; this tool lets you ask for specific releases—like GDP or the Federal Funds Rate—and get details, past dates, and future schedules immediately. You can also drill down deep into any release to discover every individual data series it contains, finding metrics like unemployment rates or housing starts without guesswork. It's pure macro data visibility. By connecting this MCP through Vinkius, your agent becomes an instant economic research assistant, letting you build a custom calendar and pull complex time-series data using simple conversation.

## Tools

### list_releases
This tool lists all major economic data reports available through FRED.

### get_release
You can get full details about a specific, identified FRED release using its ID (like 10 for Employment Situation).

### get_release_dates
This tool retrieves the schedule of dates—past or future—for an entire data report.

### get_release_series
Use this to find and list every single individual metric contained within a specific economic release.

## Prompt Examples

**Prompt:** 
```
When is the next Employment Situation release?
```

**Response:** 
```
📅 **Employment Situation (Release #10)**

Next release: February 7, 2025 (8:30 AM ET)
Previous: January 10, 2025
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)

This release contains UNRATE, PAYEMS, and 500+ employment series.
```

**Prompt:** 
```
What series are included in the GDP release?
```

**Response:** 
```
💰 **GDP Release (#53) — Key Series**

- GDP — Gross Domestic Product
- GDPC1 — Real GDP (Chained 2017 Dollars)
- A191RL1Q225SBEA — Real GDP % Change
- PCEC — Personal Consumption
- GPDI — Gross Private Domestic Investment

+200 more series in this release.
```

**Prompt:** 
```
Show me the upcoming economic calendar for this week
```

**Response:** 
```
📅 **This Week — Economic Releases**

| Date | Release | Source |
|------|---------|--------|
| Mon | ISM Manufacturing | ISM |
| Tue | JOLTS Job Openings | BLS |
| Wed | ADP Employment | ADP |
| Thu | Initial Claims | DOL |
| Fri | Employment Situation | BLS |

The Jobs Report (Friday) is the market-moving headline event.
```

## Capabilities

### List all available releases
You can retrieve the titles of every major U.S. economic report published by FRED.

### Get details for a specific release
Specify an official ID, and you get comprehensive information about that exact data category (e.g., what GDP means).

### Build a custom economic calendar
Request upcoming or historical dates for any major report, letting you build your own personalized financial schedule.

### Discover all underlying data series
For a given release, you can list every single individual metric—sometimes hundreds of them—that was reported that month.

## Use Cases

### Preparing for a major jobs report
A financial analyst needs to know when the next Employment Situation release is and what metrics are included. They prompt the agent, which uses `get_release_dates` first, then uses `get_release_series` to list all 500+ series they need to model.

### Comparing inflation trends over time
A macro economist wants a historical view of CPI and PPI. They use the MCP to get release dates for both, then use `get_release` on each one to ensure they are pulling comparable data structures from different years.

### Quickly checking sector-specific metrics
A fund manager needs a quick look at all available economic releases. They ask the agent, which uses `list_releases` to provide a comprehensive overview of every category they might care about that week.

### Validating data source scope
A journalist is writing an article on real estate and needs to confirm if housing starts are covered. They ask the agent, which uses `get_release` with the Housing Starts ID (189) to verify that the metric exists in the system.

## Benefits

- Know exactly when to expect key data drops. By using `get_release_dates`, your agent builds a reliable, custom calendar for reports like GDP and CPI so you never miss an earnings window.
- Avoid searching through endless government pages. Instead, use the MCP to discover every single series within a report via `get_release_series`—you get names like UNRATE or PAYEMS immediately.
- Get context on major reports using `get_release`. This tool gives you the full definition and scope of a data set before you even start analyzing it, saving research time.
- See every relevant report at a glance. Use `list_releases` to quickly survey all available economic categories—from housing starts to inflation rates—to see what's coming next.
- Build complex reports with simple prompts. Because the MCP consolidates data from dozens of sources, your agent handles the heavy lifting of pulling diverse time-series information for you.

## How It Works

The bottom line is, you get a single conversational path to navigate complex government economic data sets without needing API keys or manual web scraping.

1. First, tell your agent which major data category you want to track (e.g., 'CPI' or 'GDP').
2. Next, ask the MCP to retrieve the release dates for that category, whether you need next week's schedule or historical records.
3. Finally, if you need specific metrics, prompt the tool to list all individual series within that report.

## Frequently Asked Questions

**How do I find out which reports are available using FRED Releases — Economic Calendar MCP?**
You use `list_releases`. This tool gives you a complete list of every major economic category, allowing you to see the full scope of data coverage at once.

**Can I build a calendar for multiple reports using FRED Releases — Economic Calendar MCP?**
Yes, by chaining `get_release_dates`. You simply ask the agent for dates across several report IDs in one prompt to compile your full weekly schedule.

**What is the difference between getting a release and getting its series using FRED Releases — Economic Calendar MCP?**
Using `get_release` provides metadata about the entire report (the 'folder'). Using `get_release_series` lists the specific data files (the 'documents') inside that folder.

**How do I get historical economic dates with FRED Releases — Economic Calendar MCP?**
You use `get_release_dates` and specify a date range or use the tool without an ID to see past schedules for all available releases.