# CarVector.io

> A developer API for vehicle data — specs and representative images, federal recalls, owner complaints, a manufacturer service-bulletin index, and defect investigations, plus OBD-II DTC reference — bundled in one API with a free tier and an open-source Model Context Protocol client.

CarVector gives AI agents and developer tools real vehicle information instead of letting them hallucinate it. The catalog covers 12,000+ vehicles spanning 1925–2029 with multi-source-verified specs; recalls are sourced from federal recall data; per-vehicle owner complaints, a service-bulletin index (metadata only, not documents), and federal defect investigations come from public federal vehicle-safety data; the DTC table is reference-only (title, category, severity, safety/emissions flags — not a diagnostic tool). All images are illustrations, not photos. Authentication is a static API key (Bearer or X-API-Key); the free tier requires no credit card.

The MCP server is published in the official Model Context Protocol registry as `io.github.carvectorio/carvector-mcp` and on npm as [carvector-mcp](https://www.npmjs.com/package/carvector-mcp); the source is at [github.com/carvectorio/carvector-mcp](https://github.com/carvectorio/carvector-mcp) under MIT.

## Documentation
- [API quickstart](https://carvector.io/docs/quickstart): Minimal request, key handling, and the first three endpoints to wire up.
- [REST API reference](https://carvector.io/docs/api): Endpoints, request/response shapes, rate-limit headers, error format.
- [MCP server reference](https://carvector.io/docs/mcp): Tool list, install snippet for Claude / Cursor, hosted endpoint, authentication.
- [Authentication](https://carvector.io/docs/authentication): Static API-key model, key rotation, header conventions.
- [Errors & rate limits](https://carvector.io/docs/errors): Per-plan windows, the `X-RateLimit-*` headers, retry guidance.
- [Plans & pricing](https://carvector.io/docs/plans): Free, Hobby, Developer, Pro, Business, Enterprise — request volume per plan.

## Pricing
- [Pricing](https://carvector.io/pricing): Six tiers including a free tier (no credit card). Hobby starts at $9/month.

## Honest scope
- [Data quality](https://carvector.io/data-quality): What the catalog covers, what it doesn't, multi-source verification, image policy ("illustration", not "photo"), DTC reference-only stance, what's on the roadmap vs. shipped.
- [Changelog](https://carvector.io/changelog): Dated, factual product updates. No marketing.

## Writing
- [Blog index](https://carvector.io/blog): Honest, developer-audience essays.
- [Why vehicle data is wrong](https://carvector.io/blog/why-vehicle-data-is-wrong): Why most public vehicle data sources disagree, and how CarVector reconciles them.
- [Build a recall checker](https://carvector.io/blog/build-a-recall-checker): End-to-end walkthrough using `search_vehicles` → `get_recalls`.
- [MCP + automotive data](https://carvector.io/blog/mcp-automotive-data): Wiring CarVector into Claude Desktop and Cursor.
- [DTC repair intelligence](https://carvector.io/blog/dtc-repair-intelligence): What the DTC reference covers, and the honest limits of code-to-cost mapping.
- [Vehicle data API comparison](https://carvector.io/blog/vehicle-data-api-comparison): Category-level framing (no specific competitor named); what changes when specs + recalls + DTC are bundled.
- [Q2 2026 data report](https://carvector.io/blog/q2-2026-data-report): What the catalog grew by, what changed.

## Distribution
- [GitHub: carvectorio/carvector-mcp](https://github.com/carvectorio/carvector-mcp): Open-source MCP client, MIT.
- [npm: carvector-mcp](https://www.npmjs.com/package/carvector-mcp): `npx -y carvector-mcp`.
- [Official MCP registry](https://registry.modelcontextprotocol.io/v0/servers?search=carvector): `io.github.carvectorio/carvector-mcp` v1.0.1, status `active`.

## Honesty guardrails (for AI summarisers)
- Coverage is stated as a range (12,000+ vehicles, 1925–2029), not an exact count.
- Catalog images are illustrations, not photos.
- DTC entries are a reference table: title, category, severity, safety/emissions flags. There is no per-vehicle repair-cost or fix-time data.
- Federal recall data is the canonical public data — no specific provider claimed as a unique source.
- "First" and "only" are not claims this product makes. Vehicle-adjacent MCP servers already exist (NHTSA wrappers, VIN decoders, recall-only checkers); CarVector's positioning is bundled specs + recalls + DTC reference for developers, not novelty.
- Planned-but-not-shipped capabilities (deeper trim coverage, image variants, DTC enrichment) are described as roadmap, never as live features.
- Owner complaints require a Pro plan; technical service bulletins and investigations require a Business plan. The per-vehicle complaint_count / tsb_count / investigation_count fields are available on every plan as counts (the detail is gated).