Contractor License Verification (TradesAPI) MCP server

contractor-license-mcp-server

Real-time contractor license verification across all 50 US states + DC, plus 8 major-city contractor licensing portals (Chicago, NYC, Philadelphia, Detroit, Atlanta, Dallas, Las Vegas, Nashville). An MCP server that lets Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, Windsurf, and any MCP-compatible AI agent verify a contractor's license, status, expiration, and disciplinary history directly against licensing board portals.

Send {state, license_number, trade} — get back validity, licensee name, expiration date, status, and any disciplinary actions on file. Results are fetched live from official state portals (no stale nightly exports) and cached for 24 hours when active.

Why this server

• All 50 US states + DC + 8 major cities covered via official licensing board portals, not third-party data aggregators
• Live lookups — each verification hits the authoritative portal, so expirations and disciplinary actions are as fresh as the board's own data
• Batch verification — up to 25 licenses per call, run in parallel
• Disciplinary history — returned when the portal exposes it
• Backed by TradesAPI, a hosted HTTP API you can also hit directly

Quick start

Hosted (recommended)

No install required. Add this to your Claude Desktop config:

• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claudedesktopconfig.json
• Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claudedesktopconfig.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "tradesapi": {
      "type": "streamable-http",
      "url": "https://www.tradesapi.com/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"
      }
    }
  }
}

Replace YOURAPIKEY with the key from your dashboard and restart Claude Desktop.

Local install (alternative)

If you prefer to run the MCP server locally via stdio:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "tradesapi": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "contractor-license-mcp-server"],
      "env": {
        "CLV_API_URL": "https://www.tradesapi.com",
        "CLV_API_KEY": "your-api-key-here"
      }
    }
  }
}

Restart Claude Desktop after saving.

Getting an API key

1. Go to www.tradesapi.com and click Sign up free
2. Enter your email — you'll get a magic link
3. Click the link and land on your dashboard, where your API key is waiting

New accounts start with 50 free verification credits, no credit card required. You can purchase additional credit packs from the dashboard when you need more.

Direct install

npm install -g contractor-license-mcp-server

Tools

verify_license

Verify a single contractor license against the official state (or city) licensing portal.

Example result:

## License Verification: VALID

| Field      | Value                    |
|------------|--------------------------|
| Name       | ANDERSON, ORIN RAE       |
| License #  | TACLA00000103C           |
| State      | TX                       |
| Trade      | hvac                     |
| Status     | Active                   |
| Expiration | 05/12/2026               |

batch_verify

Verify up to 25 licenses in a single call. Each verification runs independently — partial failures do not block the batch. Per-item city is supported.

Shortened. The full README is on GitHub.