Mapbox MCP

Mapbox MCP is the Model Context Protocol server maintained by Mapbox, Inc. It gives an AI client geocoding, place search, routing, travel-time matrices, route optimization, map matching, isochrones and map images, plus a set of geospatial calculations that run without calling any API. It is a Node.js project released under the MIT License, and you need a Mapbox access token to use it. Mapbox also hosts the server at https://mcp.mapbox.com/mcp.

Quick facts (as of November 3, 2026)

What the tools cover

The README groups the tools into offline geospatial tools and Mapbox API tools.

Offline geospatial tools (no API calls) include distance between two coordinates, points within a polygon, destination from a bearing and distance, bearing, midpoint, centroid, area, bounding box, buffer, simplify, length, convex hull, nearest point, nearest point on a line, and union, intersect and difference for polygons.

Mapbox API tools include:

• Directions (directions_tool): driving with live or typical traffic, walking and cycling, with 2 to 25 waypoints, alternative routes, an arrive-by time (driving only), vehicle height, width and weight constraints, exclusions such as tolls, ferries and up to 50 custom points, and GeoJSON output.
• Matrix: travel times and distances for one-to-many, many-to-one and many-to-many requests.
• Isochrone: travel-time or distance contours for driving, walking or cycling.
• Search and geocode (search_and_geocode_tool), category search (category_search_tool) and reverse geocoding (reverse_geocode_tool, via Geocoding V6).
• Ground location (ground_location_tool): a location lookup tool listed in the README.
• Place details: photos, opening hours, ratings, phone numbers and website URLs.
• Map matching: up to 100 coordinate pairs per request.
• Optimization: a traveling-salesperson solver for 2 to 12 locations. The V2 API needs beta access and is not registered by default.
• Static map images (static_map_image_tool), which return a base64 image, and an interactive map (render_map_tool) for clients that support MCP Apps. The README lists Claude Desktop, VS Code with GitHub Copilot, Claude Code and Goose for interactive maps, but the Claude Desktop setup guide says Claude Desktop does not support MCP-UI interactive embeds and shows static images instead.

Two tools are marked in the README as support or legacy: resource_reader_tool (for clients without resource support; it reads mapbox://categories) and category_list_tool (deprecated).

Setup

Hosted server in Claude Code

Mapbox's hosted-server guide gives this command:

claude mcp add --transport http mapbox-mcp-production https://mcp.mapbox.com/mcp

Then start Claude Code and run /mcp. The guide says OAuth opens a browser login where you sign in to Mapbox and click Allow. For programmatic use, send your Mapbox token in the authorization header as Bearer <your_mapbox_token>.

Hosted server in Claude Desktop

The guide says Claude Desktop needs the mcp-remote middleware:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mapbox-mcp": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["mcp-remote", "https://mcp.mapbox.com/mcp"]
    }
  }
}

VS Code and Cursor

For VS Code, add a servers entry with "type": "http" and "url": "https://mcp.mapbox.com/mcp" to mcp.json. For Cursor, add an mcpServers entry with "url": "https://mcp.mapbox.com/mcp" to .cursor/mcp.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json.

Local server in Claude Desktop

The Claude Desktop setup guide offers a DXT package (marked recommended, mcp-server.dxt from the GitHub releases page, which asks for your token during install) or manual configuration. The manual options are the npm package run through npx with -y @mapbox/mcp-server, a local Node build, or Docker with the mapbox-mcp-server image. The access token goes in the environment as MAPBOX_ACCESS_TOKEN. The guide does not state a required Node.js version.

Privacy and safety notes from the README

• API calls go directly from your environment to Mapbox, with no intermediary server.
• The token stays on your machine and is not stored or transmitted by the server.
• The README says the server does not store, log or collect your data or requests. Mapbox's privacy policy governs the data sent to Mapbox APIs.

Limitations and things to watch

• You need a Mapbox token. Sign-up and a token are required before any API tool works.
• Hosted server is Streamable HTTP only. SSE is not currently supported.
• Claude Desktop needs a bridge for the hosted server. The guide uses mcp-remote.
• Interactive maps need client support. render_map_tool depends on MCP Apps support; clients without it should use static_map_image_tool, and Claude Desktop shows static images.
• Optimization V2 is beta. It needs beta access.
• Hosted rate limits are not stated in the guide we read.

Pros and cons

Pros

• Described in its README as officially maintained by Mapbox, Inc., and MIT licensed.
• Broad coverage: geocoding, routing, isochrones, matrices, map matching and offline geometry tools.
• The offline geospatial tools make no API calls.
• Both a local and a hosted option, with OAuth for the hosted one.

Cons

• Requires a Mapbox account and token.
• Some tools depend on client features or beta access.
• The README does not cover API pricing, and this listing does not verify current prices.

Who it is for

A good fit if:

• You want an assistant to plan routes, find places, compare travel times or work with GeoJSON.
• You already use Mapbox APIs and want them available to an agent.

Not the right tool if:

• You use Google's mapping platform. See the Google Maps MCP server.
• You need no account at all. Offline geometry is possible here, but most tools call Mapbox APIs.

What we could not verify

• Current Mapbox API pricing and free tier.
• Required Node.js version. The README and setup guide do not state one.
• Hosted server rate limits.
• How the tools behave in practice. This listing is based on the documentation alone.
• The npm registry page. We could not load it, so the package name comes from the setup guide.

How this page was put together

We read the Mapbox MCP server README, the Claude Desktop setup guide and the hosted MCP guide in the official repository on November 3, 2026.

Sources

• mapbox/mcp-server README (GitHub)
• Claude Desktop setup guide
• Hosted MCP server guide