mcp-ca-dmv

# @pipeworx/ca-dmv

California DMV data: registered vehicles and EV adoption by ZIP code, all 187 field offices with
the services each performs, the official forms catalog, insurer NAIC codes, and licensed-driver
counts by county. Keyless.

## Why this is one state per pack

Part of the `dmv` category — one pack per state motor-vehicle agency. The states do not share a
grain: California publishes a ZIP × make × model-year × fuel snapshot, New York a record-level
file, Washington monthly transaction counts, Maryland county-months, Pennsylvania county-quarters.
A single cross-state tool meant a schema where most arguments were ignored for most states and a
"total" that was never comparable, so each agency gets its own tools with its own real arguments.
For every DMV tool in one connection, use `/mcp?vertical=dmv`.

## Tools

| Tool | What it returns |
|---|---|
| `ca_dmv_vehicle_registrations` | Registered vehicle counts by ZIP, make, model year, fuel or duty class |
| `ca_dmv_ev_adoption` | Battery-electric and plug-in hybrid counts with share of the local fleet |
| `ca_dmv_offices` | All 187 field offices — address, per-day hours, coordinates, services performed |
| `ca_dmv_forms` | Official DMV forms by topic, with REG/DL form numbers and download pages |
| `ca_dmv_insurance_lookup` | Insurer NAIC codes by company name |
| `ca_dmv_driver_licenses` | Valid licences and ID cards held, by county, annually from 2008 |

## Auth

None. Every endpoint is public California state infrastructure. The CKAN-backed tools accept an
optional CKAN API key, which the public datasets do not require.

## Gotchas worth knowing

Live-verified behaviours, not guesses:

- **Snapshots are one CKAN resource per year, 2019–2026**, and the rows carry the *prior*
  December 31 as their as-of date — the "2026" file describes the fleet on 2025-12-31.
- **Grouping by ZIP surfaces a literal `OOS` bucket** — out-of-state registrants, ~638k vehicles —
  which outranks every real ZIP. Ignore it when ranking ZIPs; the tool flags it in `note`.
- **`OTHER/UNK` is a real make value** that absorbs small-count suppression and can outrank
  genuine makes in a by-make ranking.
- **`total_vehicles` appears only when it is honest.** Grouping by fuel returns every category, so
  its sum is the true fleet total; any other grouping can be cut off by `limit`, and those
  responses carry `sum_of_returned_rows` plus `truncated` instead.
- **Fuel labels are specific strings** (`Battery Electric`, `Plug-in Hybrid`, `Hybrid Gasoline`,
  `Diesel and Diesel Hybrid`, `Hydrogen Fuel Cell`). Plain words like "electric", "phev" or
  "hydrogen" are mapped for you.
- **Form search uses the DMV site's own relevance ranking**, so a broad phrase like
  "title transfer" can put a vessel-title form above the vehicle one.
- **California publishes no wait-time feed.** Only North Carolina (`nc-dmv`) and Oregon (`or-dmv`)
  do; `ca_dmv_offices` returns posted hours instead.
- **Lien lookup and appointment booking are unavailable**: the lien endpoint requires a reCAPTCHA
  token and appointments run on a session-based kiosk system.

## Data sources

- [Vehicle Fuel Type Count by Zip Code](https://data.ca.gov/dataset/vehicle-fuel-type-count-by-zip-code) — data.ca.gov CKAN, `datastore_search_sql`
- [Driver Licenses Outstanding by County](https://data.ca.gov/dataset/driver-licenses-outstanding-by-county) — data.ca.gov CKAN
- [Field office directory](https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/wp-json/wp/v2/dmv_field-office) — dmv.ca.gov WP REST, hours and per-office service tags
- [Forms catalog](https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/wp-json/wp/v2/dmv_forms) — dmv.ca.gov WP REST
- Insurance carrier NAIC lookup — `https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/wp-json/dmv/v1/naic-lookup?s=<name>`

## Quick Start

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

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ca-dmv": {
      "url": "https://gateway.pipeworx.io/ca-dmv/mcp"
    }
  }
}
```

Or connect to the full Pipeworx gateway for access to all 1392+ data sources:

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "pipeworx": {
      "url": "https://gateway.pipeworx.io/mcp"
    }
  }
}
```

## Using with ask_pipeworx

Instead of calling tools directly, you can ask questions in plain English:

```
ask_pipeworx({ question: "your question about California DMV data" })
```

The gateway picks the right tool and fills the arguments automatically.

## More

- [All tools and guides](https://github.com/pipeworx-io/examples)
- [pipeworx.io](https://pipeworx.io)

## License

MIT