NGSS

You can access NGSS Middle School standards programmatically through this MCP server, which provides fast, validated 3D standards data (SEP, DCI, CCC) for quick lookup, search, and unit planning. It’s designed to help educators, curriculum designers, and AI assistants retrieve NGSS MS content efficiently and reliably.

How to use

You use this MCP server by connecting your MCP client to the server’s input channel. You can look up a single standard by code, search within a domain, filter by specific 3D components, or perform full‑text searches across all standards. Each standard returned includes the performance expectation (SEP), the disciplinary core idea (DCI), and the crosscutting concept (CCC) to support 3D learning planning. You can also generate unit suggestions anchored to a reference standard to help design cohesive lessons.

How to install

Prerequisites: you need Node.js 18+ or Bun runtime and either npm, bun, or a compatible package manager.

Option A: Install from npm

npm install ngss-mcp

npm install ngss-mcp@1.0.0

npm install -g ngss-mcp

Option B: Configure as an MCP Server (example using macOS/Linux command)”

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ngss": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "ngss-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Option C: Install via Smithery

npx -y @smithery/cli install @sallvainian/ngss-mcp --client claude

This will automatically configure the server in your Claude Desktop settings.

Option D: Install via Docker (recommended docker-compose approach)

version: '3.8' services: ngss-mcp: image: node:18-alpine working_dir: /app command: npx -y ngss-mcp stdin_open: true tty: true volumes: - ngss-data:/root/.npm volumes: ngss-data:

Then run:

docker-compose up -d

If you prefer a direct Docker command, you can also run the image with the same start command.

Additional sections

Configuration notes: The MCP server can be integrated into your client with different hosting options, including local runtime via npx and Docker containers. No sensitive environment variables are required to run the default server, but you may configure your MCP client to point at the local runtime or container as described above.

Security and reliability: The server includes input validation and sanitization for all query parameters to guard against malformed requests. The MCP server is designed to gracefully shut down on SIGINT/SIGTERM and to provide structured error responses when something goes wrong.

Notes on usage: You’ll typically perform lookups, searches, and 3D component extractions via your MCP client. All tool outputs conform to a single object data model where SEP, CCC, and DCI each appear as a single object per standard, ensuring consistent filtering and integration with AI assistants.

Troubleshooting and tips

If you encounter a missing standard, you’ll receive a standardized error with code STANDARD_NOT_FOUND and a clear message. Ensure your input matches the expected standard code pattern and that the server is initialized before making queries.

Available tools

get_standard

Retrieve a specific NGSS standard by its code, returning SEP, DCI, CCC, and topic details.

search_by_domain

Find all NGSS standards within a chosen science domain, returning a count and a list of matching standards.

get_3d_components

Extract the three-dimensional components (SEP, DCI, CCC) for a given standard code.

search_standards

Perform a full-text search across NGSS standard content with optional domain filtering and limit.

search_by_practice

Filter standards by a specific Science & Engineering Practice (SEP) and provide matching standards.

search_by_crosscutting_concept

Filter standards by a Crosscutting Concept (CCC) to find related standards.

search_by_disciplinary_core_idea

Filter standards by a Disciplinary Core Idea (DCI) with optional detail level.

get_unit_suggestions

Suggest intelligent curriculum units anchored to an anchor standard, scoring compatibility across domain, SEP, CCC, and DCI.