NY Dept. of State MCP Server

NY Dept. of State MCP server

An MCP server, built with FastMCP, that gives an AI agent tools to search NY Dept. of State public data:

• Business entity search — mirrors apps.dos.ny.gov/publicInquiry (corporations, LLCs, LPs, LLPs, assumed names).
• Local law search — mirrors dos.ny.gov/local-law-search (filed local laws and county administrative codes).
• UCC lien search — mirrors ucc-efiling.dos.ny.gov (UCC and federal tax liens).

Tools

search_business_entities

Search by entity name, DOS ID, or assumed name. Params: search_value, search_by (EntityName / DosId / AssumedName / AssumedNameId), search_expression (BeginsWith / Contains / BaseWord), status (AllStatuses / Active / Inactive / Suspended), entity_types (list, defaults to all of Corporation/LLC/LP/LLP), limit, offset.

Returns entityName, dosID, entityType, entityStatus, county, jurisdiction, initialFilingDate per match. The upstream service caps how many matches a single search returns — narrow your terms if totalMatchingCount looks truncated.

get_business_entity_details

Full record for one entity: dos_id and entity_name (both from a search result), plus is_assumed_name if the record's nameType wasn't ACTUAL. Returns filing info, Service of Process address, registered agent, CEO, location/PO addresses, and stock share info. DOS does not serve filing documents as direct PDFs through this API — copies must be ordered separately via dos.ny.gov/copies-corporation-or-business-entity-documents.

search_local_laws

Search filed local laws or county codes. Params: law_type (localLaws / countyCodes), municipality_name, municipality_type (COUNTY/CITY/TOWN/VILLAGE, localLaws only), law_number, date_filed_from/date_filed_to (YYYY-MM-DD), search_terms (full-text, searches document text too), limit (max 100), offset (offset + limit must be ≤ 10000, an upstream limit).

Each result includes metadata (municipality, law number, year, date filed, title) and a direct pdfUrl — every local law/county code is a PDF, so the URL is just included in the output rather than fetched.

search_ucc_filings

Search by filing number, or by debtor name (individual or organization). Params: search_by (FilingNumber / DebtorName), filing_number, debtor_type (Individual / Organization), name fields (last_name/first_name/middle_name or org_name/org_id/org_jurisdiction), search_logic (Standard/StartsWith/ExactMatch/ContainsAllWordsInOrder), lien_type (All/UCCLien/FederalTaxLien), lien_status (All/Active/Released/Withdrawn/Purged/Lapsed), filing_date_from/filing_date_to, lapse_date_from/lapse_date_to (all dates YYYY-MM-DD), limit, offset.

Returns matching liens (lienId, lienNumber, debtor name/address/type, filing/lapse dates, status). Pass a result's lienId to get_ucc_lien_details for the full record.

get_ucc_lien_details

Full record for one lien: lien_id (from a search result). Returns lien info, every debtor, every secured party, and the filing history (each UCC-1/UCC-3 action against the lien).

Note: UCC filing documents are scanned images served only through an authenticated download flow on the source site, not direct URLs — neither UCC tool returns document links.

Connect to this MCP server

No installation, no code to write — you just need an Apify account and its API token.

1. Get your Apify API token

1. Go to console.apify.com and sign in (a free account works — this actor is billed per tool call via Pay Per Event, not a subscription).
2. Open Settings → Integrations and copy your Personal API token.

This token is yours (the caller's) — it identifies you for billing and usage, not the actor's owner. Keep it secret; anyone with it can run actors and spend on your account.

2. Find the endpoint URL

Once this actor is published on Apify, its Standby MCP endpoint is:

https://rl1987--ny-dos-mcp-server.apify.actor/mcp

You can also find this exact URL on the actor's page in Apify Console, under the Integrations / MCP tab — copy it from there rather than guessing the owner's username.

3. Connect your AI tool

Claude Code (CLI):

claude mcp add --transport http ny-dos \
  https://rl1987--ny-dos-mcp-server.apify.actor/mcp \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_APIFY_API_TOKEN>"

Claude Desktop / other JSON-config MCP clients — add to your MCP config file:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ny-dos": {
      "url": "https://rl1987--ny-dos-mcp-server.apify.actor/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer <YOUR_APIFY_API_TOKEN>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Any other MCP-compatible client (Cursor, Windsurf, etc.): the same URL + Authorization: Bearer <token> header pattern applies — look for an "MCP server" or "custom connector" setting that takes a URL and custom headers.

4. Verify it worked

• Claude Code: run claude mcp list or type /mcp in a session — you should see ny-dos connected with 5 tools.
• Other clients: ask your AI assistant something like "search NY business entities for Apple" — if it calls a tool and returns results, you're connected.

Sharing with a team

Commit a .mcp.json with just the url (no token) to a shared repo. Each teammate then adds their own token locally:

claude mcp add --scope local ny-dos https://rl1987--ny-dos-mcp-server.apify.actor/mcp \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer <THEIR_OWN_APIFY_API_TOKEN>"

This way nobody's token ends up in version control, and each person is billed individually for their own tool calls.

What it costs

Every completed tool call (a search or a detail lookup) charges one flat fee — see the price on the actor's Console page under Pricing. There's no charge for a failed call or for just connecting/listing tools. New Apify accounts get free platform credits, so light testing is typically free.

Resources

• What is Anthropic's Model Context Protocol?
• FastMCP documentation
• Apify MCP server documentation
• Apify SDK for Python documentation