Ionis MCP server

<!-- mcp-name: io.github.qso-graph/ionis-mcp -->

ionis-mcp

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for HF radio propagation analytics, built on the IONIS dataset collection — 175M+ aggregated signatures derived from 14 billion WSPR, RBN, Contest, DXpedition, and PSK Reporter observations spanning 2005-2026.

Overview

IONIS (Ionospheric Neural Inference System) is an open-source machine learning system for predicting HF (shortwave) radio propagation. The datasets — curated from the world's largest amateur radio telemetry networks — are distributed as SQLite files on SourceForge.

ionis-mcp bridges those datasets to AI assistants via the Model Context Protocol. Install the package, download data, and Claude (Desktop or Code) can answer propagation questions using 11 specialized tools — no SQL required.

Example questions:

• "When is 20m open from Idaho to Europe?"
• "How does solar flux affect 15m propagation?"
• "Show me 10m paths at 03z where both stations are in the dark"
• "Compare WSPR and RBN observations on 20m FN31 to JO51"
• "What are the current band conditions? I'm heading out for POTA."
• "What were the solar conditions during the February 2026 geomagnetic storm?"

Datasets

All signature tables share an identical 13-column schema (tx\grid, rx\grid, band, hour, month, median\snr, spot\count, snr\std, reliability, avg\sfi, avg\kp, avg\distance, avg\_azimuth) — ready for cross-source analysis.

Quick Start

# 1. Install
pip install ionis-mcp

# 2. Download datasets (to default location: ~/.ionis-mcp/data/)
ionis-download --bundle minimal          # ~430 MB — contest + solar + grids
ionis-download --bundle recommended      # ~1.1 GB — adds PSKR + DSCOVR
ionis-download --bundle full             # ~15 GB  — all 9 datasets

# 3. Configure Claude (see below) and restart — tools appear automatically

That's it. Both ionis-download and ionis-mcp use the same default data directory. No environment variables needed.

Default Data Directory

Override with a custom path:

# Download to custom location
ionis-download --bundle minimal /path/to/my/data

# Tell the server where to find it
ionis-mcp --data-dir /path/to/my/data
# or
export IONIS_DATA_DIR=/path/to/my/data

Download Individual Datasets

# Pick specific datasets
ionis-download --datasets wspr,rbn,grids,solar

# See all available datasets and bundles
ionis-download --list

# Re-download (overwrite existing)
ionis-download --bundle minimal --force

Configure Your MCP Client

ionis-mcp works with any MCP-compatible client. Add the server config and restart — tools appear automatically.

If you downloaded data to a custom location, add "env": { "IONISDATADIR": "/path/to/data" } to any config below.

Claude Desktop

Add to claudedesktopconfig.json (~/Library/Application Support/Claude/ on macOS, %APPDATA%\Claude\ on Windows):

Shortened. The full README is on GitHub.