LADU MCP Server

Real ADU data for Los Angeles County, available to any MCP-compatible AI assistant.

Endpoint: https://www.ladu.co/mcp
Protocol: MCP JSON-RPC 2.0 (HTTP transport)
Auth: None — free, public, read-only
Docs: ladu.co/mcp-server

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Quick start

Add to your MCP client config (Claude Desktop, Cursor, Cline, etc.):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ladu": {
      "url": "https://www.ladu.co/mcp"
    }
  }
}

No API key. No signup. Restart your client and the tools are available.

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Tools

Tool	What it does
check_buildability	Buildability verdict for any LA County address — zoning, overlays (hillside, coastal, fire, flood, historic, fault), ADU rules, nearby permit count
lookup_parcel_rules	Full regulatory detail for a parcel: zoning, lot size, all applicable overlays, governing jurisdiction's ADU rules
get_adu_rules	Structured ADU rules for any of 51 supported cities: setbacks, max size, height, parking, permit fees, timeline
compare_jurisdictions	Side-by-side rule comparison for two cities
estimate_adu_cost	Cost range + timeline for a given city, square footage, ADU type, and finish level
get_adu_permit_counts	Total permits, most-recent-year count, YoY change, and median valuation for a city
get_adu_permit_trends	Year-by-year permit counts and median valuations (2018–present) for a city
get_adu_permit_valuations	25th/50th/75th percentile of declared permit valuations by city and optional year
find_nearby_adus	Permitted ADUs near an address within a radius (default 2 miles)
list_cities	All 51 supported LA-area cities with slugs, display names, and governing municipality

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Example questions

Once connected, ask your AI assistant:

• "Can I build an ADU at 1234 Main St, Los Angeles?"
• "What are the ADU rules in Santa Monica vs. Pasadena?"
• "How much would a 600 sq ft detached ADU cost in Culver City?"
• "How many ADUs were permitted in LA County in 2024, and what's the trend?"
• "Are people building ADUs near 456 Oak Ave, Pasadena?"

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Data

• Permit records: 19,000+ LA County ADU permits from public LA County Assessor and LA City/County Building & Safety records, deduplicated by case number, covering 2018–present
• Parcel data: ~2.4M LA County parcels with zoning, overlays, and regulatory facts
• City rules: Structured regulations for 51 LA-area jurisdictions

Methodology: stats.ladu.co/methodology

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Privacy

The server returns property characteristics, zoning, regulations, and aggregate permit statistics. It never returns owner names, contact information, financial details, or mortgage data. It runs against a least-privilege read-only database role — private information is not reachable at the database level.

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Rate limiting

Tool calls are rate-limited per client. The server returns HTTP 429 with a Retry-After header and a JSON-RPC -32000 error when the limit is reached.

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Built by LADU — Los Angeles ADU specialists.