---
title: "License"
description: "The neon-mcp server code is MIT-licensed by The Regents of the University of New Mexico; this documentation is CC-BY 4.0; NEON data are CC-BY 4.0."
type: Policy
tags:
  - about
  - license
  - MIT
  - CC-BY
generated:
  by: "claude/fable-5.1"
  at: "2026-09-10T00:00:00Z"
sources:
  - id: neon-mcp-license
    resource: "https://github.com/idss-mesa/neon-mcp/blob/main/LICENSE"
    title: "neon-mcp LICENSE file (MIT)"
    author: "team:idss-mesa"
  - id: mit
    resource: "https://opensource.org/license/mit"
    title: "The MIT License"
    author: "team:opensource-org"
  - id: cc-by-4
    resource: "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
    title: "Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)"
    author: "team:creativecommons"
status: stable
---

# License

Three things meet on this site — the server software, the documentation
you are reading, and the NEON data the server gives access to — and each has
its own, mutually compatible license.

## Server code — MIT

The neon-mcp source code (the `neon_mcp` Python package, the `neon-mcp`
command-line program, tests and build scripts) is released under the
[MIT License](https://opensource.org/license/mit){target=_blank}[^mit]:

> Copyright (c) 2026 The Regents of the University of New Mexico

The full text is in the repository's
[`LICENSE`](https://github.com/idss-mesa/neon-mcp/blob/main/LICENSE){target=_blank}
file[^neon-mcp-license]. In short: you may use, copy, modify, merge, publish,
distribute, sublicense and sell the software, provided the copyright notice
and permission notice are included; the software is provided "as is",
without warranty.

## Documentation text — CC-BY 4.0

The prose, tables and examples on this site (everything under `docs/` in the
repository, including the OKF frontmatter) are licensed under
[Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/){target=_blank}[^cc-by-4].
You may share and adapt the material for any purpose, provided you give
appropriate credit ("neon-mcp documentation, idss-mesa / The Regents of the
University of New Mexico, CC-BY 4.0") and indicate whether changes were made.
Code snippets embedded in the documentation may alternatively be used under
the MIT terms above.

## NEON data — CC-BY 4.0

Data and data products retrieved from the NEON Data API through neon-mcp are
not part of this project and are not covered by either license above. NEON
publishes them under CC-BY 4.0 with its own citation and acknowledgement
expectations — see [Citing NEON data](citing-neon.md).

## Trademarks and affiliation

neon-mcp is an independent project of
[idss-mesa](https://github.com/idss-mesa){target=_blank} at the University
of New Mexico. It is not developed, endorsed or supported by the National
Ecological Observatory Network, Battelle, or the U.S. National Science
Foundation. "NEON" and the NEON logo are the property of their respective
owners; this site uses its own original artwork.

[^mit]: The MIT License. <https://opensource.org/license/mit>
[^neon-mcp-license]: neon-mcp `LICENSE` file. <https://github.com/idss-mesa/neon-mcp/blob/main/LICENSE>
[^cc-by-4]: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International. <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/>