Questions it answers
Check what the UK and US governments currently advise about a country, and see live delays and weather at an airport.
Ask "what is the travel advice for Thailand?", "what are the entry requirements for Japan?", "compare Mexico, Colombia and Peru" or "is JFK delayed right now?".
Travel Check reads the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) travel advice on GOV.UK, the US State Department travel advisories, the FAA National Airspace System status and the NOAA Aviation Weather Center.
Every answer shows the advisory level or alert, the date it was last reviewed, and a link to the official page.
UK advice is written for British citizens and US advice for US citizens, and the answer says so: entry rules and risks differ by passport, so check your own government's advice. It does not include visa rules for other nationalities.
It is not medical, legal or safety advice and not for flight planning. Advisories change, so confirm on the official page before you travel. FAA delay data covers US airports only.
UK content is published under the Open Government Licence v3.0, © Crown copyright. It stores nothing about you: answers are cached for a few hours, and the only lasting record is a daily count of calls per tool.
What it can do
- Shows the UK FCDO travel advice alert and last review date for a country
- Shows the US State Department advisory level, summary and date for a country
- Quotes the UK entry requirements, safety or health section on request
- Compares the UK and US advice for up to five countries at once
- Reports FAA delays and closures at a US airport
- Shows the latest weather observation and forecast for an airport by IATA or ICAO code
- Links every answer to the official source and says which citizens the advice is written for
Tools
get_travel_advice, Get travel advice. Use this when the user asks about the official travel advice, safety warnings or entry requirements for one country, such as "is it safe to travel to Thailand?" or "what are the entry requirements for Japan?". Returns: the UK FCDO alert (which parts of the country it advises against travelling to) with its review date and latest change, and the US State Department level (1 to 4), summary and date, with official links. Input tips: pass one country name or two-letter ISO code; set section to entry-requirements, safety or health to add that part of the UK advice. If status is ambiguous, ask the user to pick one of candidates and call again with that name. If uk or us is none or unavailable, report the other side and its link; do not guess. Not for: visa rules for other passports (UK advice is for British citizens, US advice for US citizens), medical advice, or calling a country safe in your own words.get_airport_status, Get airport status. Use this when the user asks about airport delays, closures or weather right now, such as "is JFK delayed?" or "what is the weather at Heathrow?". Returns: active FAA delays, ground stops and closures with reason and times (US airports only), the latest METAR observation (flight category, temperature, wind, visibility) and the raw TAF forecast. Input tips: pass the four-letter ICAO code (EGLL) for an airport outside the US, or the IATA code (JFK) for a US airport. If status is not_found, ask the user for the ICAO code and call again. Not for: looking up a flight by number (such as BA117), schedules, seats or whether a flight will leave on time, or for flight planning.compare_advisories, Compare travel advisories. Use this when the user wants to compare the travel advice for several countries side by side, such as "compare Mexico, Colombia and Peru" or "which of these countries has the highest advisory level?". Returns: for each country the UK FCDO alert and review date and the US State Department level (1 to 4) and date, with official links. Input tips: pass 1 to 5 country names or ISO codes. Check each country's own status: one can be not_found, or ambiguous with candidates to ask the user about, while the rest are ok. If uk or us is none or unavailable for a country, report the other side and its link; do not guess. Not for: the full text of one country (use get_travel_advice) or visa rules for other passports. UK advice is for British citizens and US advice for US citizens.
Add Travel 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": {
"travel": {
"type": "http",
"url": "https://travel.openkrill.app/mcp"
}
}
}No command, no headers and no input variables for a key: Travel 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 Travel Check is running. You should see get_travel_advice, get_airport_status, compare_advisories.
Open the Chat view, choose Agent mode and ask: What is the current travel advice for Thailand? 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
Thailand is the country in the plugin's starter prompts. The answer is the published advisory, not a visa ruling. The request below was posted to https://travel.openkrill.app/mcp as tools/call. HTTP 200. Source: the Travel Check server, read 2026-10-17.
{
"method": "tools/call",
"params": {
"name": "get_travel_advice",
"arguments": {
"country": "Thailand"
}
}
}- status. ok
- country. Thailand
- notice. Government advisory text with its date and source, for information only. It is not medical, legal or safety advice, and advisories change: confirm on the linked official page before you travel.
- uk name. Thailand
- uk status. ok
- us name. Thailand
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. Travel Check runs on our servers, and your client only needs the URL https://travel.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
Roles that use Travel Check
Frequently asked questions
How do I install the Travel Check MCP server in VS Code?
Add travel with type http and the url https://travel.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 Travel Check in VS Code?
No. This server takes no API key. For higher limits, email support@openkrill.app with the server name (Travel Check), the calls a day you expect and what they are for. We answer within 1 business day.
What should I do if Travel 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 travel and choose Restart, then open Show Output if it still fails.