
Connects Claude to France's official Base Adresse Nationale geocoding API without requiring authentication. Part of the Pipeworx gateway that bundles 250+ data sources into a single MCP endpoint. You can call BAN tools directly or use the ask_pipeworx interface to query French address data in plain English and let the gateway handle tool selection and parameters. Useful when you need to geocode French addresses, reverse lookup coordinates, or validate location data for France specific applications. Runs over streamable HTTP, so no local installation needed.
Base Adresse Nationale (BAN) MCP — France's official keyless geocoding API
Part of Pipeworx — an MCP gateway connecting AI agents to 1476+ live data sources.
| Tool | Description |
|---|---|
geocode | Forward-geocode a French address, street, locality or commune. Returns scored GeoJSON matches (score 0-1) with label, coordinates, postcode, citycode (INSEE) and context. France only. |
reverse_geocode | Reverse-geocode a coordinate to the nearest French address/feature. Returns scored GeoJSON matches with label, postcode, citycode (INSEE), context and distance (metres). France only. |
search_municipality | Look up a French commune (municipality) by name to resolve its INSEE citycode, postcode, population and centre coordinates. Shortcut for geocode with type=municipality. |
Add to your MCP client (Claude Desktop, Cursor, Windsurf, etc.):
{
"mcpServers": {
"ban-fr": {
"url": "https://gateway.pipeworx.io/ban-fr/mcp"
}
}
}
tools/list at https://gateway.pipeworx.io/ban-fr/mcp returns the tools in the table
above plus the shared Pipeworx meta-tools — ask_pipeworx,
discover_tools, search_within, remember/recall and the rest of the
gateway-wide set. So the tool count you see is larger than this table: a
single-pack endpoint currently lists roughly 30 shared tools alongside the
pack's own. The connection's initialize response states its exact scope, and
is the authoritative answer for a given day.
This is deliberate, not multiplexing by accident. The meta-tools are what let a
scoped connection answer a question this pack does not cover — via
ask_pipeworx, which routes across the whole catalog — without you adding a
second MCP server. There is currently no way to mount a pack endpoint without
them; if the extra schemas cost you more context than the routing is worth,
connect to the full gateway once rather than to several pack endpoints.
Or connect to the full Pipeworx gateway to get every pack's tools listed directly, instead of just this one's:
{
"mcpServers": {
"pipeworx": {
"url": "https://gateway.pipeworx.io/mcp"
}
}
}
Both URLs reach the same gateway and the same 1476+ data sources. The
only difference is which pack's tools are listed directly; ask_pipeworx
reaches all of them from either one.
Instead of calling tools directly, you can ask questions in plain English — this works on the pack endpoint above as well as on the full gateway:
ask_pipeworx({ question: "your question about Ban Fr data" })
The gateway picks the right tool and fills the arguments automatically.
MIT