Catalog›MCP servers›io.github.chrischall/charlotteonthecheap-mcpIGio.github.chrischall/charlotteonthecheap-mcpCharlotte On The Cheap MCP — free and cheap Charlotte events, deals and local guides Open site Open in the app JSON README (API)Charlotte On The Cheap MCP — free and cheap Charlotte events, deals and local guidesREADMELoading documentation…# onthecheap-mcp MCP server for the [On the Cheap](https://livingonthecheap.com) network — local guides to free and cheap things to do across 14 US cities. Daily event listings with times, prices and venues, plus a searchable archive of deals and guides. > Developed and maintained by AI (Claude Code). Use at your own discretion. **No credentials required.** Every site is public, so the server reads them server-side over plain HTTPS. There is nothing to configure beyond which city you want, and no browser extension involved. ## Install ```bash npx onthecheap-mcp ``` Or as a Claude Code plugin: ``` /plugin marketplace add chrischall/onthecheap-mcp /plugin install onthecheap-mcp ``` ## Choosing a city One server reads the **whole network**. Every tool takes a `site` argument naming the city to read — there is no default and no configuration step: | Key | Site | Area | | --- | --- | --- | | `charlotte` | Charlotte On The Cheap | Charlotte, NC | | `denver` | Mile High on the Cheap | Denver, CO | | `atlanta` | Atlanta on the Cheap | Atlanta, GA | | `chicago` | Chicago on the Cheap | Chicago, IL | | `columbus` | Columbus on the Cheap | Columbus, OH | | `seattle` | Greater Seattle on the Cheap | Seattle–Tacoma | | `kansascity` | Kansas City on the Cheap | Kansas City | | `miami` | South Florida on the Cheap | Miami / Broward / Palm Beach | | `orlando` | Orlando on the Cheap | Orlando, FL | | `portland` | Portland Living on the Cheap | Portland, OR | | `richmond` | RVA on the Cheap | Richmond, VA | | `southernmaine` | Southern Maine on the Cheap | Southern Maine | | `triangle` | Triangle on the Cheap | Raleigh / Durham / Chapel Hill | | `national` | Living On The Cheap | US-wide deals (no local events calendar) | Common aliases work too — `milehigh`, `raleigh`, `rva`, `kc`, `southflorida`. `otc_list_sites` reports the same list. `site` is required rather than defaulted on purpose: a server that quietly fell back to one city would answer a question about Denver with Charlotte's data and give no sign anything was wrong. An unknown key is refused with the valid ones listed. ## Tools All tools are read-only. Every tool except `otc_list_sites` takes a required `site` argument. The two event tools **reject `national`**, which has no local events calendar — it is still searchable via the other tools. | Tool | What it does | | --- | --- | | `otc_list_events` | Everything on a given day — time, price, venue. `free_only` filters to no-cost listings. Defaults to today. | | `otc_events_month_overview` | Day-by-day counts for a month, to find the busiest days. Each day's list is a preview; `total` is the real count. | | `otc_search_posts` | Search articles by text, category, location and date range. Returns slim summaries by default. | | `otc_get_post` | One article in full, as readable text or raw HTML. Accepts an id, slug, or URL. | | `otc_list_categories` | Category ids and post counts, for filtering searches by topic. | | `otc_list_locations` | Local area ids and post counts, for filtering geographically. | | `otc_list_sites` | The cities in the network and their `site` keys. Takes no arguments. | | `otc_healthcheck` | Confirm one site is reachable; on failure `error.kind` is `edge_blocked`, `http`, `timeout` or `transport`. | ### Examples > What's free in Charlotte this Saturday? > Find kids' events in Lake Norman in August > Compare free things to do in Denver and Portland next weekend ## Two things worth knowing **Retired deals are excluded by default.** Each site parks expired offers in an `expired` category, so searches skip them and you don't get deals that no longer exist. Pass `include_expired: true` to search the archive. The category's id differs on every site, so it's resolved by slug at request time — a hardcoded id silently disables the filter elsewhere. **Category and location ids are per-site.** Each site is a separate WordPress install, so id 13 is a different category on every one of them. Resolve ids against the same `site` you then search — an id borrowed from another city will filter to something unrelated rather than error. **Month overviews are previews, with honest counts.** The calendar shows at most four listings per day. `otc_events_month_overview` reports each day's *true* total alongside the preview — call `otc_list_events` with a date for the complete schedule. ## Configuration None. The city is a per-call `site` argument, not an environment variable, so there is nothing to set up before use. ## Development ```bash npm install npm test npm run build ``` See [`docs/OTC-API.md`](https://github.com/chrischall/charlotteonthecheap-mcp/blob/HEAD/docs/OTC-API.md) for the verified data surface, including the events calendar's US `M-D-YYYY` date routing (an ISO date is silently parsed as 1970), the month-view truncation, and why term ids are never hardcoded. ## License MIT DetailsTypeMCP serversPublisherchrischallSourceofficialCategoryToolsWhere it runsOn my computerVersion0.1.1Proposed changes1Last update2026-10-25T05:54:12ZProject statusActiveLanguageTypeScriptLicenseMITAdded2026-08-29 03:02:34Updated2026-08-29 03:02:34Source idio.github.chrischall/charlotteonthecheap-mcpMoreMCP serversAll from chrischallA–Z index
