The tools are built to chain: read the plate off an image, decode it to a VIN, pull the history and the recalls, then ask what it is worth at this mileage and condition. Each step hands the next its input, so a pre-purchase check is a conversation rather than four tabs.
CarsXE's own hosted server over its vehicle data API. Twelve tools cover identification, specification, history and valuation, and each answers in grouped Markdown meant to be read in a chat rather than parsed.
- A 17-character VIN decoded into full specifications — year, make, model, engine, dimensions, colours, equipment — with a separate decoder for international VINs and their emissions data
- A licence plate decoded to a VIN and the basics, with state and country to disambiguate it
- Both identifiers readable out of a photo: plates recognised from an image URL with confidence scores and bounding boxes, and a VIN lifted off a dashboard shot by OCR
- A full history report — junk and salvage records, insurance, title brands, odometer readings, owner count
- Open safety recalls by VIN, each with date, description, risk, remedy and status
- Estimated market value by VIN, adjusted for state, mileage and a condition of excellent, clean, average or rough, broken out as retail, trade-in and MSRP
- Lien and theft records: lienholder, theft entries, recovery dates and status
- Vehicle information by year, make, model and trim when there is no VIN to hand, and images by make and model filtered on year, trim, colour, angle and background
- OBD codes decoded into a diagnosis, for the check-engine light rather than the paperwork
- Live data on every call — each query hits the CarsXE API rather than a cache
A CarsXE API key on an active subscription. The hosted endpoint at https://mcp.carsxe.com/mcp speaks streamable HTTP and takes the key as an X-API-Key header, an Authorization bearer token, or a query parameter; Claude Desktop and other stdio-only clients reach it through mcp-remote. Hosted clients such as the Claude.ai custom connector can use OAuth 2.1 instead — dynamic client registration, browser sign-in, then authorization code with PKCE, with access tokens good for an hour and refresh tokens rotated on every use.
One command plus a key — npx mcp-remote@latest https://mcp.carsxe.com/mcp --header X-API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY, then supply credentials