OpenFoodFacts MCP Server 🔌

A MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that provides access to the Open Food Facts dataset using DuckDB and parquet for fast queries. Supports both local Claude Desktop integration and remote deployment with authentication.

Usage 💻

This MCP server can operate in two distinct modes:

1. STDIO Mode (Local Claude Desktop Integration)

• Use case: Local development and Claude Desktop integration
• Command: ./openfoodfacts-mcp-server --stdio
• Transport: stdio pipes
• Authentication: None required
• Perfect for: Claude Desktop, local development, testing

2. HTTP Mode (Remote Deployment)

• Use case: Remote MCP server accessible over the internet
• Command: ./openfoodfacts-mcp-server (default mode)
• Transport: HTTP with JSON-RPC 2.0
• Authentication: Bearer token required (except /health endpoint)
• Perfect for: Shared deployments, cloud hosting, team access, mcp as a service

Demo 📹

demo.mp4

How It Works 💡

This MCP server downloads and caches the Open Food Facts Parquet dataset locally, then uses DuckDB for fast product searches. It provides two main tools:

• search_products_by_brand_and_name: Search products by name and brand
• search_by_barcode: Find product by barcode (UPC/EAN)
• search_products_by_brand_and_name_simplified: A lighter version of the search that returns fewer fields to save on token usage

The server automatically manages dataset updates, uses file locking for concurrent safety, and provides structured JSON logging.

Local Setup for Claude Desktop (STDIO Mode)

This setup uses STDIO mode for local Claude Desktop integration.

1. Build the Binary

script/build --simple

2. Fetch the Database

openfoodfacts-mcp-server --fetch-db

3. Configure Claude Desktop

Add this to your Claude Desktop MCP settings (~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json on macOS):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "openfoodfacts": {
      "command": "/path/to/openfoodfacts-mcp-server",
      "args": ["--stdio"],
      "env": {
        "OPENFOODFACTS_MCP_TOKEN": "your-secret-token",
        "DATA_DIR": "/full/path/to/openfoodfacts-mcp-server/data",
        "ENV": "development"
      }
    }
  }
}

3. Try it Out

Restart Claude Desktop. The mcp server will automatically start and be ready for food product queries.

Remote Deployment (HTTP Mode)

This setup uses HTTP mode for remote deployment with authentication.

Environment Variables

For production deployment (HTTP mode), configure these environment variables:

# Required: Authentication
OPENFOODFACTS_MCP_TOKEN=your-production-secret-token

# Optional: Data management
DATA_DIR=./data
PARQUET_URL=https://huggingface.co/datasets/openfoodfacts/product-database/resolve/main/product-database.parquet
REFRESH_INTERVAL_SECONDS=86400

# Optional: Server configuration  
PORT=8080
ENV=production

# Optional: DuckDB Performance Tuning
DUCKDB_MEMORY_LIMIT=4GB                    # Memory limit (e.g. 2GB, 4GB, 8GB, 16GB)
DUCKDB_THREADS=4                           # Number of threads (1-16 typically)
DUCKDB_CHECKPOINT_THRESHOLD=1GB            # When to write to disk (e.g. 512MB, 1GB, 2GB)
DUCKDB_PRESERVE_INSERTION_ORDER=true       # Set to false for large datasets to reduce memory

Running in HTTP Mode

For remote deployment, run without the --stdio flag (HTTP mode is the default):

./openfoodfacts-mcp-server

This will start an HTTP server on the configured port (default 8080) with:

• /health endpoint (no authentication required)
• /mcp endpoint (Bearer token authentication required)

Quick Reference

Command Options

Mode	Command	Use Case	Authentication	Transport
STDIO	./openfoodfacts-mcp-server --stdio	Claude Desktop, local development	None	stdio pipes
HTTP	./openfoodfacts-mcp-server	Remote deployment, shared access	Bearer token	HTTP/JSON-RPC
Fetch DB	./openfoodfacts-mcp-server --fetch-db	Download/update dataset locally	None	N/A

Environment Variables Reference

Variable	Required	Default	Description
OPENFOODFACTS_MCP_TOKEN	Yes (HTTP mode)	-	Bearer token for authentication
DATA_DIR	No	./data	Directory for dataset storage
PORT	No	8080	HTTP server port (HTTP mode only)
ENV	No	production	Environment (development/production)
DUCKDB_MEMORY_LIMIT	No	4GB	DuckDB memory limit (2GB, 4GB, 8GB, etc.)
DUCKDB_THREADS	No	4	Number of DuckDB threads (1-16)
DUCKDB_CHECKPOINT_THRESHOLD	No	1GB	Checkpoint threshold (512MB, 1GB, 2GB)
DUCKDB_PRESERVE_INSERTION_ORDER	No	true	Preserve insertion order (false for better performance)

HTTP Endpoints (HTTP Mode Only)

Endpoint	Authentication	Description
/health	None	Health check endpoint
/mcp	Bearer token	MCP JSON-RPC 2.0 endpoint

STDIO Mode (Local Development)

A cool tip for developing locally, you can actually do this and it will return a result from the MCP server:

echo '{"jsonrpc": "2.0", "id": 1, "method": "tools/call", "params": {"name": "search_products_by_brand_and_name_simplified", "arguments": {"name": "cream soda", "brand": "olipop", "limit": 1}}}' | go run cmd/openfoodfacts-mcp-server/main.go --stdio