Questions it answers
Check a US car's public record before you buy or while you own it: decode a VIN, see its recalls, crash test ratings and owner complaints, and compare fuel economy.
Ask "what car is VIN 1HGCM82633A004353?", "any recalls on a 2018 Toyota Camry?", "give me a report on a 2016 Honda Civic" or "what mpg does a 2022 Toyota RAV4 hybrid get?".
Car Check reads two free official sources: the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) for VIN decoding, recalls, 5-star crash test ratings and consumer complaints, and the US Environmental Protection Agency's fueleconomy.gov for mpg, mpge, electric range, tailpipe CO2 and estimated annual fuel cost.
The report answers in one call: the vehicle, its crash ratings, how many recalls NHTSA lists and the newest ones, how many complaints were filed and which components they name most often, and its fuel economy.
Complaints are shown only as a count and the components named. Individual complaint texts and VIN fragments are never returned, and a complaint is a report from an owner, not a confirmed defect.
It covers vehicles sold in the US. Recalls and complaints are listed by year, make and model, not by VIN, so for one specific car confirm at nhtsa.gov/recalls. A VIN you enter is sent to NHTSA to decode it and is never stored.
Car Check is a data lookup. It is not a valuation, a vehicle history or accident report, an inspection, or safety, mechanical or buying advice.
Data from NHTSA (nhtsa.gov) and the US EPA (fueleconomy.gov), which are public US government sources. It stores nothing about you: answers are cached for a day, and the only lasting record is a daily count of calls per tool.
What it can do
- Decodes a 17-character VIN into year, make, model, trim, body style, engine and fuel, with NHTSA's own error codes
- Lists NHTSA recalls for a year, make and model with the component, consequence and remedy
- Shows NHTSA 5-star crash test ratings: overall, front, side and rollover
- Counts owner complaints filed with NHTSA and names the components reported most often
- Shows EPA fuel economy: city, highway and combined mpg, mpge, electric range and annual fuel cost
- Builds a one-call report from a VIN or from year, make and model
- Covers US vehicles only and never gives valuation, history or safety advice
Tools
decode_vin, Decode a VIN. Use this when the user gives a 17-character vehicle identification number (VIN) and wants to know what car it is, such as "what car is 1HGCM82633A004353?". Returns the model year, make, model, trim, body class, engine, fuel, plant country and NHTSA's error codes and error text, which flag a wrong check digit or an incomplete decode. US-market vehicles. A data lookup, not a history report.get_vehicle_report, Get a vehicle report. Use this when the user wants an overview of a US car, such as "give me a report on a 2016 Honda Civic". Pass a VIN, or the year, make and model. Returns NHTSA 5-star crash ratings per variant, the number of recalls and the newest ones, the number of owner complaints with the components named most often, and EPA fuel economy. Complaint texts and VIN fragments are never returned; complaints are not confirmed defects. Not a valuation, history report or advice.list_recalls, List recalls. Use this when the user asks about recalls for a car model, such as "any recalls on a 2018 Toyota Camry?". Pass the year, make and model and optionally a limit of up to 25. Returns each recall's campaign number, date, component, summary, consequence and remedy, and whether NHTSA says to park the car. Recalls are listed by year, make and model, not by VIN: to check one specific car, use nhtsa.gov/recalls. A model with no recalls listed is not a safety guarantee.get_fuel_economy, Get fuel economy. Use this when the user asks about mpg, electric range or fuel cost for a car, such as "what mpg does a 2022 Toyota RAV4 hybrid get?". Pass the year, make and model, and optionally words such as AWD or hybrid to narrow it. Returns the EPA's city, highway and combined mpg (mpge for electric vehicles) for each configuration, with electric range, tailpipe CO2 and estimated annual fuel cost, and lists the configurations not shown. EPA estimates, not a promise of real-world mileage.
Add Car Check in VS Code
VS Code reads MCP servers from mcp.json and offers their tools to Copilot Chat in Agent mode. A workspace file at .vscode/mcp.json applies to that project. For every workspace, run MCP: Open User Configuration from the Command Palette and add the same entry there. These steps were checked against the VS Code MCP servers guide on 2026-10-09.
Create or edit the file so it contains this server. VS Code uses a top-level servers object, not mcpServers. Merge it with servers you already have.
{
"servers": {
"cars": {
"type": "http",
"url": "https://cars.openkrill.app/mcp"
}
}
}No command, no headers and no input variables for a key: Car Check answers without a login. Save the file and select Start above the entry. VS Code asks once whether you trust the server: confirm it. Run MCP: List Servers to check that Car Check is running. You should see decode_vin, get_vehicle_report, list_recalls, get_fuel_economy.
Open the Chat view, choose Agent mode and ask: Give me a report on a 2016 Honda Civic The Configure Tools button in the chat input lists the tools of each server, and VS Code may ask you to confirm the first call. The server is public and read-only. It sees only the arguments of each call, so do not paste secrets into the question.
Command line users can add it to the user profile in one step with code --add-mcp and the same name, type and url as JSON. The portable .mcp.json at the project root also works in VS Code, with mcpServers as its top-level key. An organization can turn MCP off through Copilot policy: if the MCP commands are missing, ask the admin.
If it does not work
The tool does not show up
Run MCP: List Servers, select the server and choose Restart. If it shows an error, choose Show Output to read the log. Check that the entry sits under servers with "type": "http", and that Chat is in Agent mode, where MCP tools are offered.
429 or rate_limited
Each server takes 60 calls a minute from one network, and some tools take fewer. Past that the call comes back as a tool error that starts with rate_limited: wait a minute and ask again. daily_limit means the server reached its shared daily cap, which resets at 00:00 UTC. A limit is not an answer, so do not read it as no results. For higher limits, ask support@openkrill.app for a key.
JSON entry has no type
Claude Code skips an entry in .mcp.json that has a url but no type. Add "type": "http" next to the url, or add the server with claude mcp add --transport http, which writes the type for you. The VS Code entry needs the same type field. Cursor and Pi read the url alone.
A call checked on 2026-10-17
This is the sample VIN in the plugin's starter prompts. NHTSA decodes it; it is not a history report. The request below was posted to https://cars.openkrill.app/mcp as tools/call. HTTP 200. Source: the Car Check server, read 2026-10-17.
{
"method": "tools/call",
"params": {
"name": "decode_vin",
"arguments": {
"vin": "1HGCM82633A004353"
}
}
}- status. ok
- notice. US vehicles only. This is public vehicle data from NHTSA and the US EPA, not a valuation, vehicle history or condition report, and not safety, mechanical or buying advice. Recalls and complaints are listed by year, make
Repeat the call yourself if you need a newer reading. Cached answers expire. A rate limit is not a result: wait and try again. Nothing in the call is a ranking, a filing, or advice.
Using it in production
Nothing to install and nothing to run: no package, no Python or Node.js version and no environment variable. Car Check runs on our servers, and your client only needs the URL https://cars.openkrill.app/mcp.
| Rate limit | 60 tool calls a minute from one network. initialize and tools/list do not count. |
|---|---|
| Daily cap | 5000 tool calls a day per server, shared by every caller. It resets at 00:00 UTC. |
| At a limit | The call comes back as a tool error that starts with rate_limited (wait a minute) or daily_limit (try after 00:00 UTC), never as a partial answer. |
| Key | None. Do not add an Authorization header or a key field. |
| Higher limits | Email support@openkrill.app with the server name, the calls a day you expect and what they are for. We answer within 1 business day. |
| Freshness | Some answers come from a short cache. Each guide shows the date of its checked call; repeat a call when you need a newer reading. |
| Uptime | Scheduled test calls check the servers through the same endpoint. There is no SLA yet. |
| Data | What each server receives and keeps is on the privacy page. |
Use it in other apps
Frequently asked questions
How do I install the Car Check MCP server in VS Code?
Add cars with type http and the url https://cars.openkrill.app/mcp under servers in .vscode/mcp.json and save the file. Select Start above the entry, confirm that you trust the server, then use it from Chat in Agent mode.
Do I need an API key to run Car Check in VS Code?
No. This server takes no API key. For higher limits, email support@openkrill.app with the server name (Car Check), the calls a day you expect and what they are for. We answer within 1 business day.
What should I do if Car Check does not connect in VS Code?
Check that the entry sits under servers, not mcpServers, and has type http. Run MCP: List Servers, select cars and choose Restart, then open Show Output if it still fails.