Pota
Parks on the Air MCP server. Park lookup, activator and hunter stats, live spots.
Runs on your machine from its package; the steps are below.
What it does
- Reads
- Writes
- High impact
At most: only reads or looks up information.
What it costs
FreeOdel charges nothing per call. The publisher may charge for its own service.
Runs locally over stdio
This server isn't hosted — your MCP client launches it from a package registry. Use one of the commands below, or drop the config into your client (e.g. Claude Desktop).
Run
uvx pota-mcp
MCP client config
{
"mcpServers": {
"pota": {
"command": "uvx",
"args": [
"pota-mcp"
]
}
}
}pota-mcp
MCP server for Parks on the Air (POTA) — live activator spots, park info, activator/hunter stats, and scheduled activations through any MCP-compatible AI assistant.
Part of the qso-graph project. No authentication required — all POTA endpoints are public.
Install
uvx pota-mcp # run it; nothing to install
Tools
| Tool | Description |
|---|---|
pota_spots | Current activator spots with park/grid enrichment and optional filters |
pota_park_info | Park details by reference code (name, grid, type, agencies, website) |
pota_park_stats | Activation and QSO counts for a park |
pota_park_activations | A park's recent activations — who, when, and QSOs by mode |
pota_park_leaderboard | A park's top activators, activator QSOs and hunter QSOs |
pota_user_stats | Activator/hunter stats by callsign (callsign, name, activator, attempts, hunter, awards, endorsements; no address or email-derived fields) |
pota_scheduled | Upcoming scheduled activations, with optional location, park, activator and time-window filters |
pota_location_parks | All parks in a state/province/country |
pota_nearby_parks | Find parks near a point — great for 2-fer planning |
pota_rare_parks_near | Parks near a point that are rarely or never activated |
get_version_info | Service version + upstream spec version (fleet identity attestation) |
Quick Start
No credentials needed — just install and configure your MCP client.
Configure your MCP client
pota-mcp works with any MCP-compatible client. Add the server config and restart — tools appear automatically.
Claude Desktop
Add to claude_desktop_config.json (~/Library/Application Support/Claude/ on macOS, %APPDATA%\Claude\ on Windows):
{
"mcpServers": {
"pota": {
"command": "uvx",
"args": ["pota-mcp"]
}
}
}
Claude Code
Add to .claude/settings.json:
{
"mcpServers": {
"pota": {
"command": "uvx",
"args": ["pota-mcp"]
}
}
}
ChatGPT Desktop
{
"mcpServers": {
"pota": {
"command": "uvx",
"args": ["pota-mcp"]
}
}
}
Cursor
Add to .cursor/mcp.json (project-level) or ~/.cursor/mcp.json (global):
{
"mcpServers": {
"pota": {
"command": "uvx",
"args": ["pota-mcp"]
}
}
}
VS Code / GitHub Copilot
Add to .vscode/mcp.json in your workspace:
{
"servers": {
"pota": {
"command": "uvx",
"args": ["pota-mcp"]
}
}
}
Gemini CLI
Add to ~/.gemini/settings.json (global) or .gemini/settings.json (project):
{
"mcpServers": {
"pota": {
"command": "uvx",
"args": ["pota-mcp"]
}
}
}
Ask questions
"What POTA activations are happening right now?"
"Tell me about park US-0001 — how many activations has it had?"
"What are K4SWL's POTA stats?"
"Show me all parks in Idaho"
"Are there any CW activators on 20m right now?"
"What activations are scheduled for tomorrow?"
Testing Without Network
For testing all tools without hitting the POTA API:
POTA_MCP_MOCK=1 pota-mcp
MCP Inspector
pota-mcp --transport streamable-http --port 8006
Then open the MCP Inspector at http://localhost:8006.
Development
git clone https://github.com/qso-graph/pota-mcp.git
cd pota-mcp
uv sync --group dev
uv run pytest
License
GPL-3.0-or-later
