VIN MCP

Free VIN decoder for humans and AI. No API keys. No accounts. No limits.

mcp.vin -- Try it now

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What It Does

Enter a 17-character VIN and get a comprehensive vehicle report by aggregating six free data sources into a single response:

Source	Data Provided
NHTSA vPIC	Make, model, year, trim, body class, engine specs, transmission, drive type, weight, plant info, 140+ decoded fields
NHTSA Recalls	Open recalls with campaign number, component, summary, consequence, and remedy
NHTSA Complaints	Consumer complaints with crash, fire, injury, and death statistics
NHTSA Safety Ratings	NCAP star ratings for overall, frontal, side, and rollover crash tests
EPA Fuel Economy	City/highway/combined MPG, annual fuel cost, CO2 emissions, EV range and charge time
IMAGIN.studio	Stock vehicle photos from multiple angles

Additionally, VIN validation (checksum, WMI country/manufacturer decode, model year) is computed locally with zero API calls.

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Quick Start -- Connect via MCP

Smithery (one command)

npx -y @smithery/cli install @keptlive/vin-mcp --client claude

Claude Code (stdio)

Add to your .mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "vin": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "vin-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Or if you have the repo cloned locally:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "vin": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/path/to/vin-mcp/server.mjs"]
    }
  }
}

Claude Desktop / claude.ai (HTTP)

Use the hosted MCP endpoint:

https://mcp.vin/mcp

Add to your Claude Desktop config:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "vin": {
      "url": "https://mcp.vin/mcp"
    }
  }
}

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MCP Tools

Tool	Description	Input
decode_vin	Full VIN decode with specs, recalls, complaints, safety ratings, fuel economy, and photos	{ vin: string }
validate_vin	Quick local validation -- checksum, WMI country/manufacturer, model year. No external API calls	{ vin: string }
lookup_recalls	Look up recalls by VIN or by make/model/year	{ vin?: string, make?: string, model?: string, year?: number }
batch_decode	Decode up to 50 VINs in a single request via NHTSA batch API	{ vins: string[] }

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REST API

All endpoints are available at https://mcp.vin or on your self-hosted instance.

Method	Endpoint	Description
GET	/api/vin/:vin	Full decode -- all 6 sources aggregated
GET	/api/vin/:vin/validate	Quick checksum and format validation
GET	/api/vin/:vin/recalls	Recall data only
GET	/api/vin/:vin/complaints	Consumer complaints only
GET	/api/vin/:vin/safety	NCAP safety ratings only
GET	/api/vin/:vin/fuel	EPA fuel economy only
GET	/api/vin/:vin/photo	Redirects to vehicle photo URL
POST	/api/batch	Batch decode (body: { "vins": ["VIN1", "VIN2", ...] }, max 50)

Rate limits: 30 requests/minute per IP for most endpoints, 60/minute for validation and photos, 5/minute for batch.

Example:

curl https://mcp.vin/api/vin/1HGCM82633A004352

Direct VIN URLs also work -- visit https://mcp.vin/1HGCM82633A004352 to see the web report.

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Self-Hosting

git clone https://github.com/keptlive/vin-mcp.git
cd vin-mcp
npm install
node server.mjs --http --port 3200

The server starts in HTTP mode with:

• Web frontend at http://localhost:3200
• REST API at http://localhost:3200/api/vin/{vin}
• MCP endpoint at http://localhost:3200/mcp

For stdio mode (Claude Code integration without a web server):

node server.mjs

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How VINs Work

A VIN (Vehicle Identification Number) is a 17-character code assigned to every vehicle manufactured since 1981. Each position encodes specific information:

1 H G C M 8 2 6 3 3 A 0 0 4 3 5 2
|_____| |___| | | | |_| |_________|
  WMI    VDS  | | | |yr  Sequential
              | | | plant
              | | check digit
              | vehicle attributes
              manufacturer ID

• Positions 1-3 (WMI): World Manufacturer Identifier -- country and manufacturer
• Positions 4-8 (VDS): Vehicle Descriptor Section -- model, body, engine, transmission
• Position 9: Check digit -- validates the VIN using a weighted algorithm
• Position 10: Model year code (A-Y, 1-9 on a 30-year cycle)
• Position 11: Assembly plant
• Positions 12-17: Sequential production number

The letters I, O, and Q are never used in VINs to avoid confusion with 1, 0, and 9.

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Tech Stack

• Runtime: Node.js 18+
• Server: Express 5
• MCP SDK: @modelcontextprotocol/sdk with stdio and Streamable HTTP transports
• Frontend: Vanilla HTML, CSS, and JavaScript
• Caching: In-memory LRU with TTL (1h for decodes, 6h for recalls, 24h for ratings and fuel data)
• External dependencies: Zero API keys required -- all data sources are free public APIs

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License

MIT

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Built for mcp.vin