Simap MCP

simap MCP Server

An MCP (Model Context Protocol) server for interacting with simap.ch, Switzerland's public procurement platform.

Enables Claude and other AI assistants to search and view public tenders in Switzerland.

Developed by Digilac.

Features

Prerequisites

• An MCP-compatible client — [Claude Desktop](#claude-desktop-recommended) is the easiest if you are not a developer.
• Node.js ≥ 22 — *only* for clients that do not bundle it. Claude Desktop ships with its own Node.js, so there is nothing to install. For every other client, get it from nodejs.org (pick the LTS version).
• No simap account, no API key, no payment — the simap API is public and read-only.

Installation & Configuration

Claude Desktop (recommended)

1. In Claude Desktop, open Settings → Developer → Edit Config. This opens the folder holding claude_desktop_config.json:

• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
• Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

1. Open that file in a text editor and paste the block below. If the file already contains an mcpServers section, add only the "simap" entry inside it.

   {

"mcpServers": { "simap": { "command": "npx", "args": ["-y", "@digilac/simap-mcp"] } } }

1. Save the file, then fully quit Claude Desktop (macOS: ⌘Q — closing the window is not enough) and reopen it.
2. Check it worked: the simap tools now show up under the tools icon in the message box. Ask *"List the Swiss cantons in simap"* — Claude should answer with the 26 cantons.

The very first launch downloads the server, which takes a few seconds. If the tools do not appear, check Settings → Developer for the server status and logs.

LM Studio

LM Studio follows the same mcp.json notation. Open the Program tab in the right-hand sidebar, then Install → Edit mcp.json, and add:

{

"mcpServers": { "simap": { "command": "npx", "args": ["-y", "@digilac/simap-mcp"] } } }

LM Studio does not bundle Node.js — install it from nodejs.org first. Tender search leans on the model's ability to chain tool calls, so results depend a lot on which local model you load.

Code editors & developer tools

Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code, Windsurf

They all take the same snippet — only the file and the top-level key change:

{

"mcpServers": { "simap": { "command": "npx", "args": ["-y", "@digilac/simap-mcp"] } } }

• Claude Code — add --scope user to enable it in every project, or --scope project to write a .mcp.json shared with your team. Claude Code does not read mcpServers from settings.json. Verify with claude mcp list.
• VS Code uses servers as the top-level key, not mcpServers.
• Cursor loads MCP servers only at startup — quit and reopen it fully.

Alternative: global install

npm install -g @digilac/simap-mcp

Then point your client at the command directly:

{

"mcpServers": { "simap": { "command": "simap-mcp" } } }

Alternative: from source

git clone https://github.com/Digilac/simap-mcp.git

cd simap-mcp npm install npm run build

Then point your client at the absolute path:

{

"mcpServers": { "simap": { "command": "node", "args": ["/absolute/path/to/simap-mcp/dist/index.js"] } } }

Usage

Once configured, just ask your AI assistant in natural language. Mention "in simap" to make sure the assistant routes the request through the MCP server:

• *"Show me new tenders published today in simap"*
• *"Find construction tenders in canton Vaud in simap"*
• *"Give me the details of this tender in simap"* (after a search)
• *"Search CPV codes for IT services in simap"*

Clients that support MCP prompts also expose analyze_tender: in Claude Code, run /mcp__simap__analyze_tender ; in Claude Desktop, pick it from the "+" menu and paste the tender's link.

Network behaviour

• Rate limit: requests to simap.ch are throttled to 60 per minute; extra calls wait their turn instead of failing.
• Caching: reference data (cantons, institutions, CPV/BKP/NPK/OAG codes) is cached in memory for 24 hours, so repeated lookups are instant and don't use up the rate limit. Tenders and organization lookups are always fetched live. The cache is cleared when the server restarts.
• Retries: transient simap failures (HTTP 408 / 429 / 5xx, network errors) are retried up to 2 times with exponential backoff, honouring Retry-After.

Listed on

• Official MCP Registry
• Awesome MCP Servers
• LobeHub
• MCP.so
• MCP Market
• MCP Marketplace

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! See CONTRIBUTING.md for development setup and commands, and ARCHITECTURE.md for architecture, internal patterns, and the full tool parameter reference.

simap API

This server uses the public API from simap.ch.

License

MIT