eq-reference-mcp

MCP server for searching, browsing, solving, and interpolating engineering equations and reference tables.

Provides Claude (and other MCP clients) with access to 3,388 engineering equations across 10 subjects and 94 reference tables with 1,048 materials covering thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, heat transfer, dynamics, and more.

Features

• Search equations by keyword, subject, topic, or variable dimension
• Browse the full catalog: subjects, topics, equations
• Solve equations for any variable with unit-aware input (e.g., "100 kPa")
• Interpolate reference table data at arbitrary conditions (e.g., saturated water properties at T=150.5°C)
• Look up material properties from reference tables

Installation

Homebrew

brew tap joshuabryson/tap
brew install eq-reference-mcp

pip

pip install eq-reference-mcp

On first run, the server downloads the equation and table databases (~6MB) to ~/.cache/eq-reference/.

Configuration

Claude Code

claude mcp add eq-reference -- eq-reference-mcp

Claude Desktop

Add to your Claude Desktop config (~/.claude/claude_desktop_config.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "eq-reference": {
      "command": "eq-reference-mcp"
    }
  }
}

Local Development

Point at your own database files instead of downloading:

export EQ_REFERENCE_EQUATIONS_DB=/path/to/equations.sqlite
export EQ_REFERENCE_TABLES_DB=/path/to/tables.sqlite

Tools

Tool	Description
search	Full-text search across equations by name, variables, notes
get_equation	Get complete equation details (variables, notes, cross-references)
browse	Navigate the subject/topic/equation hierarchy
lookup_table	Search or retrieve reference tables
get_material	Get material property data from a table
interpolate	Linear interpolation on table data at specific conditions
solve	Solve equations for unknown variables with unit support

Examples

Ask Claude things like:

• "Find equations related to entropy"
• "What variables does Bernoulli's equation use?"
• "Solve F = ma for acceleration given F = 200 N and m = 50 kg"
• "What is the specific enthalpy of saturated water at 150°C?"
• "Show me thermal conductivity of copper"
• "Browse thermodynamics topics"

Subjects Covered

• Dynamics
• Fluid Mechanics
• Gas Dynamics
• Heat Transfer
• Mechanical Engineering Design
• Mechanics of Materials
• Physics
• System Dynamics
• Thermodynamics
• Trigonometric Identities

License

MIT