ctfg-build

The developer landing site for the Civic Tech Field Guide — a static Next.js app documenting how to build on the world's largest curated civic tech dataset.

Three ways to access the data

API host: the directory API is currently served from https://staging-directory.civictech.guide during infrastructure migration. It moves to https://directory.civictech.guide at DNS cutover — update the base URL below accordingly.

MCP server

A hosted, read-only MCP server is live over Streamable HTTP (no API key):

POST https://staging-directory.civictech.guide/api/mcp

Tools: search_projects, get_project, list_categories.

Connect from Claude Code:

claude mcp add --transport http civictech-guide https://staging-directory.civictech.guide/api/mcp

From Claude Desktop / Cursor / any config-file client (bridge stdio → HTTP with mcp-remote; a native @civictechguide/mcp package is coming soon):

"mcpServers": {
  "civictech-guide": {
    "command": "npx",
    "args": ["-y", "mcp-remote", "https://staging-directory.civictech.guide/api/mcp"]
  }
}

Once connected, your assistant can search listings, pull project detail, and traverse categories. Example queries:

• "Find active govtech projects in Kenya"
• "Open-source participatory budgeting tools"
• "Who works on election integrity?"

REST API

Clean JSON over HTTPS. No key required for public reads. Base: https://staging-directory.civictech.guide

Method	Endpoint	Description
GET	/api/v1/projects/search	Search and filter listings (q, category, status, limit)
GET	/api/v1/projects/:slug	Single project detail
GET	/api/v1/projects/export	Bulk export, paginated
GET	/api/v1/categories	Category index + counts
GET	/api/v1/facets	Filter option values

curl "https://staging-directory.civictech.guide/api/v1/projects/search?q=participatory+budgeting&limit=5"

Showcase

Apps already running on the dataset:

• CTFG Directory — the flagship search and explore app
• CTFG PilotCity Mashup — Field Guide data blended with PilotCity for project-based learning
• CTFG Taxonomy Recommender — suggests categories and tags for any project using the directory's taxonomy

Code & examples

Open-source packages are being prepared for release (coming soon):

Package	What it is
@civictechguide/mcp	Native one-line MCP server (npx) — until it ships, use mcp-remote as above
api-examples	Copy-paste fetch snippets in curl, Python, and JS
data	Export scripts and JSON dumps of the full directory
notebooks	Jupyter notebooks for analysing the dataset

Getting started

npm install
npm run dev

Opens at http://localhost:3000.

Building

npm run build

Output goes to out/ as a fully static export. If the site is deployed at a sub-path:

NEXT_PUBLIC_BASE_PATH=/your-path npm run build

Stack

• Next.js 16 with output: "export" (static)
• React 19
• TypeScript
• Tailwind CSS v4
• Google Fonts: Space Grotesk, Archivo, Inter

License

The Field Guide dataset is CC BY 4.0 — free to use and adapt with attribution.