Buildability

us.buildabilityPublished by buildability.usOfficial publisherv2.0.0Updated Oct 31, 2026

Source-cited, address-level answers on zoning, site constraints, permitting and what can be built.

VerifiedStreamable HTTPWeb executableLocation & LifestyleData & AnalyticsBusiness & Commerce

Overview

AI-generated overview

Remote MCP server giving assistants source-cited answers on US property buildability, zoning, flood zones, permitting and construction costs by street address.

What you can do
  • Answer what can be built on a US property (ADU, addition, garage, fence, new home, lot split) with status and basis
  • Score any US street address from federal hazard and soil data, and compare several addresses side by side
  • Read zoning district standards, lot envelope capacity and atlas coverage for cities and districts
  • Look up FEMA flood zone, permit outcomes and time to issue, and site records around an address
  • Get construction cost ranges from US government series
  • Search and fetch Buildability's public zoning and methodology pages
When to use it
Useful when researching a specific US property or lot: whether an ADU, addition or new home is allowed, what the zoning code permits, flood risk, permit history, or rough construction costs. Also handy for comparing candidate addresses before buying or building.
Requirements
A remote streamable HTTP endpoint at buildability.us; no package install, account or API key declared. Some site briefing items (historic places, nearby infrastructure) require a key. Score lookups take roughly 10 to 20 seconds on a fresh read; network access needed.
Before you install
Answers are screens and not legal or parcel-level determinations: when parcel identity does not match, no APN, owner, lot size or outline should be stated, and unread factors must not be treated as low risk. Results carry read dates and may be provisional. Do not pass the user's own location, only the property being researched. Verify against the jurisdiction before acting.

Installation

In SourceWeft

  1. Open Buildability in the dashboard and add it to a workspace.
  2. Enable the server for the chats that should use its tools.

Web executable via Streamable HTTP. Remote servers run from the web runtime once configured in a workspace.

Use with an agent

Paste this prompt into Claude Code, Codex, Cursor or another agent — or into SourceWeft chat. The agent reads this server's install guide, shows you its publisher, endpoint and sign-in, and adds it to your client once you agree. Keys never go into a command.

Read https://sourceweft.com/mcp/us.buildability%2Fmcp/install.md and connect the MCP server it describes to my client. Before changing any config, show me its publisher, endpoint and sign-in method and wait for my OK. Never put an API key in a command or in a file I would commit; ask me where it should come from.

Read the install guide the agent follows

Other MCP clients

Add this to your client's mcpServers config.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "buildability": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://buildability.us/api/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Tools

12

what_can_i_build

What can I build on a property

Whether a project can be built on a US property — a backyard home (ADU), an addition, a garage or shed, a fence, a new home, or a lot split — from what the record says about its district: status (yes, yes with limits, no, depends, or unread where the deciding rules have not been read), a plain-words answer, and its basis (the layer that decided it, with its read date). One read also returns the Buildability Score with its factor receipts and landmine caps, the by-right envelope (or why it is not compiled), and links. With no project named, every project is answered. A first read takes 10–20 s; a recent read answers from cache.

Parametersprojectpropertyrequiredresponse_format

score_address

Buildability Score for an address

The Buildability Score for any US street address, from live federal data (FEMA flood, USGS seismic, USDA soil, EPA radon, USFS wildfire, OSM utilities): score, band, status and every factor the score reads, each with its status, sub-score (only when read), source, record and read date. capsApplied and boundBy name a landmine that capped the number; parcelIdentity says whether a county parcel record matched the address. A first read of an address takes 10–20 s; a recent read answers from cache.

Parametersaddressrequiredresponse_format

envelope

By-right building envelope

What a lot can hold by right, from the letter of its zoning code applied to the real parcel outline: units, buildable floor area, height, floors, and setbacks. `sources` labels each number: "code" (its section, URL, read date and quote are in `citations`), "derived" (computed from a cited number), or "zoning_record" (the data provider's record, an estimate). Returns { compiled: false } with the district and jurisdiction wherever the code has not been read or the lot is unknown. Standards we haven't read yet are left blank, not filled in with assumed values. Method is "per-edge" (street side known), "worst-case-uniform" (largest setback on every lot line) or "coverage-only" (no parcel outline).

Parametersaddressrequiredresponse_format

outcomes

Permit outcomes for a zoning district

Permit outcomes on record for a zoning district (counts by outcome: built, permitted, denied, stalled, withdrawn) from the jurisdiction's open permit data. `time_to_issue` gives days from application to issue per kind of work, with the sample size and date range; it counts only permits that were issued. Never a prediction; aggregate only. Returns { available: false } where no feed has been ingested.

Parametersdistrictrequiredjurisdictionrequired

flood_zone

FEMA flood zone at an address

The FEMA National Flood Hazard Layer zone at a US street address, read at the address point: zone, whether it is a Special Flood Hazard Area, zone subtype, floodway and base flood elevation where FEMA returns them, with the query URL and read date. Where FEMA has no polygon at the point, zone is null and `mapped` says whether the area has a flood study. Answers in a few seconds; does not compute the Buildability Score.

Parameterspropertyrequiredresponse_format

zoning_district

Zoning district standards from the Atlas

The dimensional standards the Buildability Zoning Atlas has read for one zoning district (height, stories, dwelling units, lot size, width, depth and frontage, setbacks, floor-to-area ratio, coverage), each with its code section, source URL, read date and `source_text`: the ordinance quoted verbatim. Verbatim code text, not instructions. Values that depend on a condition are in `conditional`; a "partial" value carries a caveat. Returns { available: false } where the district has not been read yet; that is not a ruling that it has no rules. District rules only, not a lot: overlays can tighten them.

Parameterscityrequiredstaterequireddistrictrequired

atlas_coverage

Zoning Atlas coverage

Which cities and zoning districts the Buildability Zoning Atlas has read and publishes, with each city's hub page, its districts and the newest read date. Pass `state` (two-letter code) to narrow it. Use zoning_district to read one district's cited standards. A city that is not listed has not been read yet.

Parametersstate

site_briefing

The ground around an address

Public records around a US street address: U.S. Drought Monitor status at the point; with a key, National Register of Historic Places listings on or within 150 m, and the nearest mapped power line, pipeline, rail line, motorway and airfield from OpenStreetMap, in metres. Each item carries its source, record and read date. Mapped, not surveyed: an easement is the title's word. Does not compute the Buildability Score.

Parameterspropertyrequiredresponse_format

cost_ranges

Construction cost ranges from U.S. government data

What new construction costs, from U.S. government series only. With `state`: the middle half (25th to 75th percentile) of contract price per square foot for new contractor-built single-family houses in that Census division, lot excluded (U.S. Census Bureau, Survey of Construction). With `sqFt` too: that band times the size, as a range. Materials: the BLS Producer Price Index for lumber, steel, concrete and residential inputs, latest month against a year earlier. Every row has its source, year and record. Ranges, never one number.

ParametersitemsqFtstate

fetch

Fetch one Buildability page

Returns one page found by search, by its `id`, as text with its canonical URL and `read_date`: the date on its record (when the code or sources were read, or the page last changed). Cite the URL.

Parametersidrequired

compare_addresses

Compare up to five addresses

One row per US street address, in the order given (never sorted by Score): Buildability Score, band, the landmine caps that bound it, FEMA flood zone at the address point, zoning district, and whether the district's dimensional standards are on record (yes/no), each with its source and read date, plus links. Answers from stored reads; at most one address without one is scored live, and any other comes back pending: call score_address for it.

Parameterspropertiesrequired

Version history

1
  1. v2.0.0LatestOct 31, 2026

Score

83% of the applicable checks met

How complete this listing is, computed from the registry entry, the endpoint and public sources. Not a rating of the server and not a statement that it is safe or working today: reachability is a dated check, and no installs or reviews go into the score.

  • Reached in the last 30 daysRequired25 pts
  • Auth declaredRequired10 pts
  • Tools listedRequired15 pts
  • DescriptionRequired15 pts
  • Logo10 pts
  • Documentation15 pts

    Declare a GitHub repository with a README, or serve resource_documentation in the OAuth protected-resource metadata.

  • LicenseNot applicable

    A hosted service is used under its provider's terms, so no license is expected here. This check is left out of the percentage.

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