Model Context Protocol

Financial Rates in Any AI App

Connect RateAPI to Claude, ChatGPT, VS Code, and more using MCP. Rich UI widgets render interactive rate cards, benchmark charts, and comparison tables directly in your conversations.

MCP Server Docs →Quick Setup
Last updated: February 6, 2026
Quick Answer

What is the RateAPI MCP Server?

The RateAPI MCP Server connects AI apps like Claude, ChatGPT, and VS Code to real-time mortgage, auto loan, HELOC, personal loan, and credit card rates from 4,300+ US lenders. With MCP Apps support, tools return rich UI widgets that render interactive rate cards, benchmark dashboards, and comparison tables directly inside your chat interface.

Endpointhttps://mcp.rateapi.dev/mcp
ProtocolMCP 2025-03-26 with MCP Apps UI widgets
Available Tools11 tools including financing decisions, benchmarks, monitors, and credit union lookup
Rich UI Widgets4 interactive widgets: rate recommendations, credit union profiles, benchmarks, monitor status
Data FreshnessDaily updates from 4,300+ credit unions
Setup Time2 minutes (get API key, configure your AI app)

What is MCP?

The Model Context Protocol lets AI assistants like Claude access external data sources directly. Instead of copying and pasting rate data, Claude can query RateAPI in real-time during your conversation.

💬
“What's the best 30-year fixed mortgage rate right now?”

Claude queries RateAPI and returns live rates from 4,300+ credit unions.

🚗
“Find me 60-month auto loan rates for a used car”

Get personalized auto loan recommendations with vehicle condition filters.

📊
“Compare Navy Federal vs PenFed rates”

Side-by-side comparison with current APRs, points, and fees.

🔍
“Find mortgage rates under 6% with no points”

Filtered searches across the entire dataset.

MCP Apps

Rich UI Widgets Inside Your Chat

Rate data rendered as interactive cards, tables, and charts — not raw JSON. Powered by the MCP Apps standard.

Rate Recommendations
Shop Around
Navy Federal5.50%
Pentagon FCU5.63%
Alliant CU5.75%

Rate Recommendations

Color-coded action cards with ranked offers, confidence meter, savings estimates, and reasoning

get_financing_decision
Credit Union Profile
Navy Federal CU
30yr Fixed5.50%
15yr Fixed4.88%
ARM 5/15.13%

Credit Union Profile

Institution details with sortable rate table, best rate highlight, and verification timestamps

get_credit_union
Market Benchmarks
30yr Fixed
5.5-7.3%
15yr Fixed
4.9-6.5%
Auto New
4.2-8.5%

Market Benchmarks

Min/median/max APR dashboard with spread indicators and lowest-rate institution badges

get_benchmarks
Monitor Status
CA Rate AlertActive
if rate < 6.0%
if apr changes -0.25%

Monitor Status

Live status badge, trigger conditions, decision context, and webhook delivery info

get_monitor

Widgets render automatically in Claude, ChatGPT, VS Code, and other MCP Apps-compatible clients. CLI tools like Claude Code receive structured data for text-based display. Preview widgets in your browser.

Quick Start

Set Up in 2 Minutes

1

Get Started

One command. No signup required.

$terminal
# Basic (20 requests/month)
curl -X POST https://api.rateapi.dev/keys
 
# With email for 2.5x more requests (50/month)
curl -X POST https://api.rateapi.dev/keys \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"email": "you@example.com"}'

Save your key securely - it can't be retrieved again. Free tier includes 20 requests/month (or 50 with email).

2a

Configure Claude Desktop

Edit ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

{}claude_desktop_config.json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "rateapi": {
      "url": "https://mcp.rateapi.dev/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "x-api-key": "rk_your_key_here"
      }
    }
  }
}

Restart Claude Desktop after saving the config file.

2b

Or Configure Claude Code (CLI)

$terminal
claude mcp add rateapi https://mcp.rateapi.dev/mcp \
  --transport http \
  --header "x-api-key: rk_your_key_here"
3

Start Asking Questions

"What are the best 30-year fixed mortgage rates right now?"
"Find me 72-month auto loan rates for a new 2024 SUV"
"Compare Navy Federal vs Pentagon Federal mortgage rates"
"What are the best used car loan rates under 5% APR?"
"Find me mortgage rates under 6.5% APR with no points"
"What's the average 15-year fixed rate today?"

MCP Tools

Available Commands

Claude can use these tools to query mortgage, auto loan, HELOC, personal loan, and credit card rate data

get_financing_decisionPrimary

Personalized mortgage, auto loan, HELOC, personal loan, or credit card recommendations with ranked offers and savings analysis

get_benchmarksNew

Market rate benchmarks with min/median/max APR across all institutions by product type

get_credit_union

Detailed credit union profile with all published rates and verification status

list_credit_unions

Browse all tracked credit unions by state with rate availability info

get_extraction_stats

Data extraction statistics showing collection volumes, product coverage, and freshness

create_monitor

Set up webhook alerts when rates meet specific conditions

get_monitor

Get detailed info for a specific rate change monitor

list_monitors

View all your active rate monitoring alerts

update_monitor

Update monitor conditions, status, or webhook configuration

delete_monitor

Permanently remove a rate change monitor

simulate_monitor

Test monitor conditions with simulated rate changes

Full MCP Documentation →

Ready to get started?

Get your API key and connect RateAPI to Claude in under 2 minutes.

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