Research & Press

Research API over MCP

For Research & Press accounts · the same data as the Research API · governed by the Research & Press terms

What it is

The Research API is also available as an MCP server (Model Context Protocol), so an AI assistant such as Claude, or an editor such as Cursor or VS Code, can look things up for you while you work: the installed charging network and its power mix by country, US states, and monthly charging use by country and by charge point operator; ChargiPedia's companies, deals, regulation, EV models and charger models; the event registry; and our articles, including This Week in Charging and the deep dives.

It serves exactly what the REST API serves, from the same code, under the same key, limits and rules. The figures are aggregated: it never returns a single station, charge point or session, coordinates, live status or tariffs. Nothing about individual people is served.

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Server and key

  • URL: https://www.chargalytics.com/api/research/mcp
  • Transport: Streamable HTTP (MCP protocol versions 2025-11-25, 2025-06-18, 2025-03-26). The server is stateless and answers every message with plain JSON; it opens no event stream.
  • Authentication: your Research API key in a header on every request, Authorization: Bearer cgr_…. Create the key on your account page; the same key works for REST and MCP.

Your client must be able to send that header. A client that can only connect through an OAuth sign-in cannot connect yet.

MCP configuration files hold the key in plain text. Keep them out of shared folders and version control, and revoke the key on the account page if one leaks.

Setup

Claude Code

claude mcp add --transport http chargalytics https://www.chargalytics.com/api/research/mcp \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer cgr_…"

Claude Desktop: Settings → Developer → Edit Config, then add the server to claude_desktop_config.json. This uses the mcp-remote bridge and needs Node.js. Restart Claude Desktop afterwards.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "chargalytics": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["mcp-remote", "https://www.chargalytics.com/api/research/mcp",
               "--header", "Authorization:${CHARGALYTICS_AUTH}"],
      "env": { "CHARGALYTICS_AUTH": "Bearer cgr_…" }
    }
  }
}

Cursor: ~/.cursor/mcp.json, or .cursor/mcp.json in a project.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "chargalytics": {
      "url": "https://www.chargalytics.com/api/research/mcp",
      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer cgr_…" }
    }
  }
}

VS Code: .vscode/mcp.json. VS Code asks for the key the first time and stores it securely, so it is not written into the file.

{
  "inputs": [
    { "type": "promptString", "id": "chargalytics-key",
      "description": "Chargalytics Research API key", "password": true }
  ],
  "servers": {
    "chargalytics": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://www.chargalytics.com/api/research/mcp",
      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer ${input:chargalytics-key}" }
    }
  }
}

Other clients: any MCP client that supports Streamable HTTP and custom request headers works with the URL and header above.

Tools

All tools are read-only. country takes an ISO 3166 code, two or three letters (NO or NOR). Months are YYYY-MM, dates YYYY-MM-DD. The search_ tools return a page of results (limit, page) with the slug or code their get_ tool takes. See Content endpoints for the parameters in full.

ToolArgumentsReturnsREST equivalent
list_countries — The countries the Research API serves, each with installed station count, coverage_pct, latest complete month, sources and attribution; plus the countries withheld and why. Call this first. /countries
get_country country (required) One country now: installed stations and charge points, DC share, charge points by power band (AC <= 22 kW, AC > 22 kW, DC < 50, 50-149, 150-349, >= 350 kW), and fast-charging use in the latest complete month. /country
get_country_monthly country (required), from, to Monthly charging use in one country, for fast charging (CCS + CHAdeMO, also split by standard) and Type 2 AC: sites and charge points with data, charging minutes, sessions, average session length, minutes and sessions per charge point per day, occupancy %. At most 36 months per call; default the last 12 complete months. /country/monthly
get_operators country (required), month, type Charge point operators in one country for one month: the same usage figures per operator, plus their share of charging minutes and of charge points. Operators with fewer than 10 sites with data are combined as "Other operators". /operators
get_operators_monthly country (required), from, to, type The operator benchmark as a series, one row per month and operator. Can be large for big countries; ask for the months you need. At most 36 months per call; default the last 12 complete months. /operators/monthly
get_us_states — United States by state: installed stations, fast-charging stations and DC charge points. /regions country=US
search_articles q, type, from, to, lang, limit, page Chargalytics articles, newest first: insights, This Week in Charging (weekly industry round-up, type twic) and deep dives. Title, excerpt, date and slug; get_article has the text. /articles
get_article slug (required), lang, part One article as Markdown, in English or a translation. Interactive charts appear as their title and caption. A long article comes in parts of up to 40,000 characters: the result gives part and parts; ask for the next part to read on. /article
search_events q, country, from, to, limit, page Industry events and conferences on EV charging, by start date. By default only events that have not ended yet; give from for past ones. Dates are in the venue's time zone. /events
get_event slug (required), lang, date, q, page One event: dates, venue, organiser, description, exhibitors and the programme. Without date or q the programme is compact (time, stage, topic, title, the speakers' companies); with either, matching sessions also carry the description, our context note and further reading, 20 sessions a page. /event
search_companies q, type, country, limit, page Companies in EV charging: charge point operators, eMSPs, hardware and software makers, energy companies, associations, public bodies. Searches names, legal names, brands and former names. Gives the code for get_company. /companies
get_company code (required) One company: description, headquarters, countries, ownership and group (parents, subsidiaries), size and finances where known, its M&A and funding deals, a timeline of milestones with sources, and the events it exhibited at. /company
search_deals company, q, type, status, country, from, to, limit, page Acquisitions, mergers, funding rounds, IPOs, divestitures, joint ventures and partnerships in EV charging, newest first, with value where disclosed, summary and source. /deals
search_regulations q, country, topic, status, level, limit, page Laws, regulations, directives, standards, mandates and funding programmes that affect EV charging, by jurisdiction and topic, most recent first. /regulations
get_regulation slug (required) One regulation: jurisdiction, status and dates, summary, key provisions with deadlines, impact areas, the company types it affects, the countries it applies in, related acts and a link to the official text. /regulation
search_ev_models q, brand, vehicle_class, limit, page Electric vehicle models with their charging specifications: battery, maximum DC and AC charging power, plug and range. /ev-models
get_ev_model slug (required) One EV model: full charging and battery specifications, range, price where known, description and markets. /ev-model
search_charger_models q, manufacturer, power_class, limit, page Charging hardware models from AC wallboxes to high-power DC chargers: manufacturer, power class, maximum power, connectors, bidirectional capability. /charger-models
get_charger_model slug (required) One charger model: electrical and physical specifications, connectors, communication protocols, power sharing, bidirectional charging, certifications and links to the product page and datasheet. /charger-model

Results and limits

A tool returns the same JSON as the REST endpoint, data and meta, as text and as structured content. meta carries the credit line, retrieved_at, upstream_attribution, coverage and method notes; see Responses in the API documentation. The server also tells your assistant to quote the credit line and name the upstream sources when it presents figures.

  • Every tool call counts as one request against the 1,000 a day for your account, shared with the REST API.
  • Connecting and listing tools do not use up the daily allowance, but every message counts toward the 60 a minute per key.
  • A bad argument, a country or month that is not available, or a rate limit comes back as a tool error with a plain-language message, so your assistant can correct itself or tell you. A missing, invalid or revoked key is refused with HTTP 401, ended access with 403.

The first call for a country can take a few seconds while we assemble its figures; later calls that day are fast. Long content comes in pieces your assistant can ask for in turn: an article over 40,000 characters in parts, and an event's full programme 20 sessions at a time.

Testing by hand

curl -s https://www.chargalytics.com/api/research/mcp \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $CHARGALYTICS_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Accept: application/json, text/event-stream" \
  -d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"tools/call",
       "params":{"name":"get_country","arguments":{"country":"NO"}}}'

Using the figures and content

An assistant's summary is still your publication: check the figures against meta and content against its linked sources, put the credit line Source: Chargalytics (chargalytics.com) next to anything you publish, and name the upstream sources. You may not republish the retrieved data as a dataset, and republishing a whole article needs our permission. The full rules are in the Research & Press terms. Questions: [email protected].