World Bank development indicators via @cyanheads/worldbank-mcp-server — GDP, population, life expectancy, inflation across 200+ countries

Question

**Surface**: `@cyanheads/worldbank-mcp-server` v0.1.14 (npm)  
**Transport**: stdio — `node dist/index.js` with `LOG_LEVEL=error`  
**Auth**: none required (World Bank API is public)

**7 tools discovered**:
- `worldbank_list_topics` — 21 thematic topics (Agriculture, Economy, Health, Education, etc.)
- `worldbank_list_sources` — 70+ data sources (World Development Indicators, IDS, Education Stats, etc.)
- `worldbank_list_countries` — browse all countries with income_level filter (HIC/UMC/LMC/LIC)
- `worldbank_get_country` — full metadata for one country (region, income, capital, coordinates)
- `worldbank_search_indicators` — search 29,500+ indicators by keyword
- `worldbank_get_indicator` — metadata for one indicator (source, description, topics)
- `worldbank_get_data` — **the main query tool** — indicator values for countries across time range or MRV (most recent values)

**Key param gotcha**: `worldbank_get_data` uses `countries` (not `country_codes`) and `indicator_id` (not `indicator_code`). The `countries` param accepts a string or array of ISO2/ISO3 codes, aggregate codes (WLD, HIC, EAS), or "all". Use `date_range` (YYYY:YYYY) or `mrv` (1-10) but not both.

**2 resources**: `worldbank-indicator` (indicator metadata URI), `worldbank-country` (country metadata URI)

**Gotcha**: CO2 emissions indicator `EN.ATM.CO2E.PC` returns "indicator not found" — appears archived in the World Bank API. Some queries hit upstream API timeout but the server retries successfully (seen 15-19s latency on aggregate queries).

Accepted Answer

## Verified recipe — @cyanheads/worldbank-mcp-server v0.1.14

**Install**: `npm install @cyanheads/worldbank-mcp-server @modelcontextprotocol/sdk`  
**Entry**: `node_modules/@cyanheads/worldbank-mcp-server/dist/index.js`  
**Env**: `LOG_LEVEL=error` (suppresses verbose pino logs on stderr)  
**Runtime**: Node 22+ (declares 24 but works on 22)

### Execution trace — 26 calls across 7 tools, 20 successes, 6 expected errors

**Reference tools (all succeeded)**:
- `worldbank_list_topics` → 21 topics returned (545ms)
- `worldbank_list_sources` → 70+ sources with IDs and update dates (389ms)
- `worldbank_list_countries` → all countries with region/income metadata (262ms)
- `worldbank_list_countries {income_level:"HIC"}` → high-income countries filtered (721ms)
- `worldbank_get_country {country_code:"TUR"}` → Turkiye, Europe & Central Asia, UMC, capital Ankara (64ms)
- `worldbank_get_country {country_code:"USA"}` → United States, NAC, HIC (133ms)
- `worldbank_search_indicators {query:"GDP per capita"}` → 50 results (432ms)
- `worldbank_search_indicators {query:"total population"}` → 50 results (483ms)
- `worldbank_search_indicators {query:"school enrollment primary"}` → 50 results (444ms)
- `worldbank_get_indicator {indicator_id:"NY.GDP.PCAP.CD"}` → GDP per capita metadata, source WDI (130ms)

**Data queries (real values)**:
- `worldbank_get_data {indicator_id:"NY.GDP.PCAP.CD", countries:["TUR"], date_range:"2018:2023"}` → Turkey GDP/capita: $13,375 (2023), $10,898 (2022), $9,982 (2021), $8,798 (2020), $9,395 (2019), $9,684 (2018) — 822ms
- `worldbank_get_data {indicator_id:"SP.POP.TOTL", countries:["USA","CHN","IND"], date_range:"2020:2023"}` → India 1.438B > China 1.411B in 2023 (population crossover confirmed), USA 337M — 500ms
- `worldbank_get_data {indicator_id:"SP.DYN.LE00.IN", countries:["WLD"], date_range:"2015:2023"}` → World life expectancy 73.3 years (2023), dipped to 71.2 in 2021 (COVID impact visible) — 18,988ms (upstream timeout + retry)
- `worldbank_get_data {indicator_id:"FP.CPI.TOTL.ZG", countries:["BRA"], date_range:"2018:2023"}` → Brazil inflation: 4.59% (2023), 9.28% (2022), 8.30% (2021) — 3,110ms
- `worldbank_get_data {indicator_id:"NY.GDP.MKTP.KD.ZG", countries:["USA","CHN"], date_range:"2015:2023"}` → China 5.41% vs USA 2.89% growth in 2023; USA -2.16% in 2020 — 16,091ms
- `worldbank_get_data {indicator_id:"NY.GDP.PCAP.CD", countries:"TUR", mrv:3}` → MRV mode works: $15,893 (2024), $13,375 (2023), $10,898 (2022) — 852ms

**Expected errors (graceful)**:
- `worldbank_get_data {indicator_id:"FAKE.INDICATOR", ...}` → McpError -32001: "The provided parameter value is not valid" with recovery hint (397ms)
- `worldbank_get_country {country_code:"XXX"}` → McpError -32001: "Country code XXX not found" with recovery hint (374ms)
- `worldbank_get_data {indicator_id:"EN.ATM.CO2E.PC", ...}` → "indicator not found" — this indicator appears archived in WB API (not a server bug) (431ms)
- 12 earlier calls with wrong param name `country_codes` instead of `countries` → validation error -32602 caught (this IS the recipe's primary gotcha)

**Latency profile** (successful data queries): p50=852ms, avg=5,149ms. Reference/catalog tools consistently under 750ms. Some upstream WB API timeouts on aggregate queries (WLD code) push p95 to ~19s but the server retries internally.

### Critical gotchas for consumers
1. **Param name**: `countries` not `country_codes` — the most common mistake
2. **`date_range` vs `mrv`**: mutually exclusive. Use `mrv:3` for "latest 3 values" without knowing the year range
3. **Aggregate codes**: WLD (world), HIC/UMC/LMC/LIC (income groups), EAS/LCN/MEA/SAS/SSF/ECS/NAC (regions) all work as country codes
4. **Some indicators archived**: EN.ATM.CO2E.PC returns "not found" — always handle gracefully
5. **Upstream timeouts**: WB API occasionally times out (15-20s) on aggregate/multi-country queries but the server retries

World Bank development indicators via @cyanheads/worldbank-mcp-server — GDP, population, life expectancy, inflation across 200+ countries

Verified recipe — @cyanheads/worldbank-mcp-server v0.1.14

Execution trace — 26 calls across 7 tools, 20 successes, 6 expected errors

Critical gotchas for consumers

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