--- title: "Roadmap" description: "The twelve planned ameriflux-mcp tools, the build step that delivers each, and which work over HTTP or need a download identity." type: Reference tags: - tools - roadmap - planning generated: by: "claude/opus-5.5" at: "2026-10-24T00:00:00Z" sources: - id: design resource: "https://github.com/idss-mesa/ameriflux-mcp/blob/main/DESIGN.md" title: "ameriflux-mcp design (tool surface and build order)" author: "team:idss-mesa" - id: research resource: "https://github.com/idss-mesa/ameriflux-mcp/blob/main/RESEARCH.md" title: "ameriflux-mcp verified research" author: "team:idss-mesa" status: draft stale_after: "2027-01-23T00:00:00Z" --- # Roadmap ameriflux-mcp v0.1.0 was built in eight steps, one pull request each[^design]. This page records what each step delivered and what comes next; the generated [tool reference](reference.md) is the authoritative list of tools. ## Build steps | Step | Delivers | Status | | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | Design, verified API research, a read-only API probe | done | | 2 | The MCP core ported from edi-mcp, configuration, identity settings, `amf_ping`, CI | done | | 3 | AmeriFlux API client, rate limiting, cache, site catalog and name resolution, policy engine, recorded test fixtures | done | | 4 | Site discovery and availability tools | done | | 5 | Variable, citation and BADM tools | done | | 6 | Local file readers and previews | done | | 7 | The download tool | done | | 8 | Prompts, resources, full documentation, Docker image, PyPI release v0.1.0 | done | The [tool reference](reference.md) is generated from the server's registry and lists exactly the tools the current build offers. ## Planned tools | Tool | Step | HTTP | What it does | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | `amf_ping` | 2 | yes | Version, protocol, transport; which identity fields are configured (booleans only); whether the AmeriFlux API answers. | | `amf_search_sites` | 4 | yes | Find AmeriFlux (856 sites), FLUXNET2015 (212) and FLUXNET-CH4 (81) towers[^research] by name, place, bounding box, IGBP ecosystem class, Köppen climate, years, product, data policy and measured variables. | | `amf_get_site` | 4 | yes | One site by ID, name, NEON code or FLUXNET2015 alias: location, ecosystem, climate, data policy, DOIs, years per product, team (no emails by default) and links to NEON and EDI. | | `amf_get_availability` | 4 | yes | Published years per site, product and policy, with the sites that have no data listed separately and the effective policy of the selection. | | `amf_search_variables` | 5 | yes | Search the FP Standard (145 base names) and FLUXNET FULLSET/SUBSET dictionaries, with units per time resolution. | | `amf_describe_variables` | 5 | yes | Parse names such as `TA_F_1_1_1` or `GPP_NT_VUT_REF`: qualifiers, gap-filling and partitioning method, QC scheme, units by resolution, sign convention, measurement heights. | | `amf_get_citation` | 5 | yes | The versioned citation AmeriFlux recommends per site, required acknowledgments, the obligations of the CC-BY-4.0, Legacy or Tier 2 policy, and a data-availability sentence. | | `amf_get_badm` | 5 | yes | Site metadata (BADM) the API exposes: location, IGBP, climate, team, disturbance and management, funding, reference papers, instruments and measurement heights. | | `amf_download_data` | 7 | no | BASE-BADM, AmeriFlux FLUXNET and bulk BADM through AmeriFlux's logged download route: a plan first, then `confirm=true`; checksummed files. Needs a [download identity](../getting-started/identity.md). | | `amf_list_files` | 6 | no | Classify downloaded zips and CSVs by product, site, resolution, years and version. | | `amf_preview_data` | 6 | no | Column summaries and row windows from local BASE, FLUXNET and FLUXNET2015 files, with time windows, QC filtering, missing values as nulls and a SUBSET view. | | `amf_read_bif` | 6 | no | Read BADM Interchange Format files (xlsx or CSV), including UTC offsets and the site's DOI citation. | ## Data products covered | Product | Discover | Availability | Cite | Download | Read locally | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | AmeriFlux BASE (BASE-BADM) | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | | AmeriFlux BADM / BIF | yes | yes (membership) | yes (BASE DOI) | yes (bulk) | yes | | AmeriFlux FLUXNET (FLUXNET-1F) | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | | FLUXNET2015 FULLSET / SUBSET | yes | yes | yes | no (login-protected form) | yes | | FLUXNET-CH4 | yes | yes | v0.2 | no | v0.2 | ## After v0.1.0 Version 0.2 focuses on analysis: server-side summaries by year, month or hour with QC handling, Parquet export with a hand-off to the CyVerse Data Store and mesa-ducklake, DuckDB as an optional extra, FLUXNET-CH4 readers and citations, and possibly the European and Australian networks served through the FLUXNET Shuttle. [^design]: ameriflux-mcp design. [^research]: ameriflux-mcp verified research.