Find a dataset in the TerraLab catalogue

Search the TerraLab catalogue of open datasets by need or place, with each licence, coverage, size and the call that gets it.

Request

curl -X POST https://mcp.terra-lab.ai/v1/tools/find_datasets \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TERRALAB_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"query":"land cover","area":{"place":"Kenya"}}'

import os
import requests

response = requests.post(
    "https://mcp.terra-lab.ai/v1/tools/find_datasets",
    headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {os.environ['TERRALAB_API_KEY']}"},
    json={
        "query": "land cover",
        "area": {
            "place": "Kenya",
        },
    },
    timeout=120,
)
response.raise_for_status()
print(response.json()["structuredContent"])

const response = await fetch('https://mcp.terra-lab.ai/v1/tools/find_datasets', {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: {
    Authorization: `Bearer ${process.env.TERRALAB_API_KEY}`,
    'Content-Type': 'application/json',
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    "query": "land cover",
    "area": {
      "place": "Kenya"
    }
  }),
});
const data = await response.json();
console.log(data.structuredContent);

Other valid request bodies:

{"query":"administrative boundaries","area":{"place":"Indonesia"}}

{"ids":["esa_worldcover"],"area":{"place":"Belgium"}}

Parameters

A JSON object in the request body; in an MCP client, the arguments of the tool call.

Response

structuredContent holds the result, content the same result as text for a model, and isError is true when the tool refused the request or failed; then structuredContent.code, message and hint say what to change.

{
  "structuredContent": {
    "sources": [{ "name": "...", "licence": "...", "url": "..." }],
    "downloads": [{ "label": "...", "format": "...", "url": "...", "name": "..." }]
  },
  "content": [{ "type": "text", "text": "..." }],
  "isError": false
}

Every result lists its sources with their licence. File results come as downloads: each link builds its file when opened.

Errors

A missing key answers 401, an empty balance 402, too many calls 429. A call that fails or finds nothing is not counted. See Errors and rate limits.

Description for agents

The text the server gives an agent to decide when to call this tool:

Use this when the user asks what data exists for a need or a place before getting it: "what land cover data do you have for Kenya?", "official district boundaries of Indonesia", "is there a flood hazard map for Romania?". Searches the TerraLab catalogue of 344 hosted open datasets (land cover, boundaries, hazards, population, elevation, soil, buildings, hydrology, climate) and about 2,800 datasets TerraLab only points to. Give query (a few words), and area (a country or a place) to keep only datasets covering it and to get a size estimate. Returns at most 20 datasets (5 by default), best first, each with its licence and attribution quoted from the catalogue, resolution, date, coverage, whether TerraLab hosts it, and the call that gets it (extract_dataset, extract_open_data or get_elevation). Read hosted first: hosted false means TerraLab does not serve that data, so give its page and offer request_data; never present it as available. An empty list means the catalogue has nothing for this need here, not that the data does not exist. Not for OpenStreetMap features of a place (use extract_open_data). Never use the user's current location unless they type it.