Florida Business API — Model Context Protocol

Florida Business API ships a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server so AI coding agents and copilots can search Florida business records directly, without you scraping or writing custom integrations.

Florida Business API is an independent data platform and is not affiliated with Sunbiz.org, the Florida Department of State, or the Florida Division of Corporations.

What is MCP

MCP is an open transport for connecting LLM agents to live tools and data sources. Once installed, your agent gains 8 new tools that hit Florida Business API on your behalf — same data as /api/v1, same auth key, but invoked by the model.

Connection

Setting	Value
Endpoint	https://floridabusinessapi.com/api/mcp
Transport	HTTP streaming (MCP 2025-06-18+)
Auth header	Authorization: Bearer fbapi_live_...
Plan needed	Any plan with mcp in surfaces (all tiers)

The cheapest path is the $5 MCP Starter tier (1,000 calls/mo, MCP-only). It does not include /api/v1 REST access — REST requests return 403 rest_disabled.

Install

Claude Desktop

Add to ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json (macOS) or %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json (Windows):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "florida-business-api": {
      "transport": "http",
      "url": "https://floridabusinessapi.com/api/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer fbapi_live_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"
      }
    }
  }
}

Restart Claude Desktop. The 8 tools appear under the slider icon in the prompt bar.

Claude Code

claude mcp add florida-business-api \
  --transport http \
  --url https://floridabusinessapi.com/api/mcp \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer fbapi_live_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"

Run claude mcp list to confirm. New tools are namespaced mcp__florida-business-api__<tool>.

Cursor

Add to ~/.cursor/mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "florida-business-api": {
      "url": "https://floridabusinessapi.com/api/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer fbapi_live_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"
      }
    }
  }
}

OpenClaw / Hermes

Add to your gateway config (e.g. ~/.claude/mcp.json or the Hermes profile MCP block):

{
  "florida-business-api": {
    "type": "http",
    "url": "https://floridabusinessapi.com/api/mcp",
    "headers": {
      "Authorization": "Bearer fbapi_live_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"
    }
  }
}

Restart the gateway. Tools route through the standard MCP envelope.

Tools

Tool	What it does	Example prompt
search_entities	Fuzzy-search FL business entities by name/status/type.	"Find every active LLC in Florida whose name starts with 'Coastal'."
get_entity	Fetch full entity detail by document number.	"Pull the full record for document L26000123456."
search_officers	Search officers/principals across all FL entities.	"Which Florida companies list 'John Smith' as an officer?"
search_agents	Search registered agents.	"Show me entities using 'Northwest Registered Agent' in FL."
search_addresses	Reverse-lookup entities by address or ZIP.	"What companies are registered at 33602?"
list_daily_filings	Today's (or any date's) new business filings.	"List every business filed in Florida yesterday."
list_recent_filings	Filings from the last N days.	"Give me Florida LLC filings from the past 7 days."
list_new_business_leads	Filtered lead-feed: county + city + entity_type + date_from.	"Pull new LLCs filed in Hillsborough County, Tampa, this month."

Each tool returns the same JSON shape as the corresponding REST endpoint at /api/v1/*, so agent-built workflows can graduate to direct REST integration without changing data contracts.

Account & Credits

Your MCP calls draw from a separate monthly bucket (monthlyMcpQuota) — REST burn does not affect MCP burn and vice versa. Check your remaining budget any time:

GET /api/v1/account/usage

Top up or change plans at /account/billing. All plans except MCP Starter also include /api/v1 REST access.

Worked Examples

Try these in a chat after install:

1. Lead generation. "Pull all new Florida LLC filings in Hillsborough County for the last 14 days, then group them by city."
2. KYB lookup. "Look up document number P26000045678 and tell me the officers, registered agent, and principal address."
3. Officer cross-reference. "Find every Florida company that lists 'Jane Doe' as an officer and summarize their entity types."
4. Address sweep. "Which businesses are registered at addresses in the 33602 ZIP code?"
5. Daily intake. "Give me yesterday's new business filings in Florida and save the list as a CSV."

Errors

• 403 rest_disabled — your plan is MCP-only (likely MCP Starter); hit /api/mcp instead of /api/v1, or upgrade.
• 403 mcp_disabled — your plan has no MCP access; upgrade to any tier ≥ Free.
• 429 rate_limited — monthly MCP quota exceeded; top up or wait until reset.

See Errors for the full error envelope.