# CivicFM

> CivicFM reports on local governments' public meetings: what each city council, county board, or commission took up, how it voted, and what officials said, item by item, with a link to each moment in the recording. Each show covers one place. Every item was produced with AI from the meeting's public recording and checked against it.

Each show is a podcast with a site and a feed. Everything here is read-only and open: no key and no sign-in.

## Connect

- [MCP server](https://civic.fm/mcp): Streamable HTTP, with 8 tools: list_shows, list_topics, search_items, get_item, find_place, get_briefing, list_officials, follow. In Claude Code: `claude mcp add --transport http civicfm https://civic.fm/mcp`
- [For agents](https://civic.fm/agents): how to connect, a real call and its answer, paging, and every field
- [OpenAPI description](https://civic.fm/api/v1/openapi.json): the API, as OpenAPI 3.1
- [/api/v1/items](https://civic.fm/api/v1/items): Items, newest meeting first, or best match first when you give `q`, or oldest change first when you give `updated_since`. Each filter is optional.
- [/api/v1/topics](https://civic.fm/api/v1/topics): The topics, by area, each with how many items it has.
- [/api/v1/shows](https://civic.fm/api/v1/shows): The shows, each with the place it covers, its site, and its feed.
- [/api/v1/places](https://civic.fm/api/v1/places): A city, town, county, or ZIP code: the governments over it, each with the show that covers it, and the shows to listen to for it, roundups included. Words that fit several places answer only `choices`.
- [/api/v1/briefing](https://civic.fm/api/v1/briefing): What a place's local governments did lately: the stories their shows' latest episodes told in the last 14 days, as the front page ranks them, with those episodes. Give `place` or `show`.
- `/api/v1/shows/{slug}/officials`: A show's bodies: where each takes written comment, and who holds each of its seats today, with their office's email, phone, and page where CivicFM has them. A committee drawn from another body's seats names that body.

## Reading it well

The MCP server's instructions, which hold for the API too (`list_shows` is `/api/v1/shows`, and so on):

- Start with list_shows: it says which places there are, each one's bodies (a city's council may be called a Board of Supervisors), and the meeting dates each has reported.
- For a question about a subject, find its topics with list_topics and search by `topic`. Add words (`q`) only to narrow: words match words, not meanings.
- `since` and `until` are meeting dates. For "recently" or "the past two weeks", count back from today's date.
- Before saying nothing happened, read `searched` in the answer: a show's `covers.last` is the latest meeting it has reported, and nothing after it is in yet. Say what dates you searched.
- Cite each item you use by its `link` (its moment in the recording) or `episode.item_url` (its place on the episode's page).
- A point is a paraphrase of what was said, never the speaker's words: don't put it in quotation marks.
- A person whose `name` is null, such as "a councilmember", is someone the recording didn't show; don't guess who. Members of the public are never named.
- An item's `highlights` are stretches of the meeting's own audio. Its `audio` is the meeting's own words; its `context` is a paraphrase, as a point is.
- For "what's going on" where someone lives, call find_place with their city, town, or ZIP code, then get_briefing, and offer the episode to listen to.
- To share a story, give its `episode.item_url`, whose link preview is the story's headline and vote, or a highlight's `url`, its own page. To subscribe to a show, give its `apps` (list_shows or find_place), or its `feed` for any other podcast app. Offer either only when the person asks.
- To say where to write, offer the body's `comment` first (an item's, or list_officials'): it reaches every member and goes into the record. A member's own office reaches one person.
- A comment counts most on an item still ahead. CivicFM reports meetings after they happen: for what's ahead, open the body's `agendas` page (list_shows or list_officials). On an item already decided, a comment reaches the body as correspondence.
- Help the person say it in their own words. Send it only from their own email, with their go-ahead for that message or a standing instruction they gave you. CivicFM sends nothing for anyone.
- Follow only an address the person gave you for themselves.

## Shows

- [Bay Area in 5](https://bayarea.civic.fm): San Francisco Bay Area, California; made from its shows' episodes. [Apple Podcasts](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bay-area-in-5/id6824764313) · [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/2rThQwhn6yjLxvUnn67jWj) · [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVLVl-6nRSGY) · [Feed](https://bayarea.civic.fm/feed.xml)
- [Burbank](https://burbank.civic.fm): Burbank, California; City Council, Planning Commission. [Apple Podcasts](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/burbank/id6822553918) · [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/74nSI09u0gnLSgPTUsd2fb) · [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLD4qbor9ArTw) · [Feed](https://burbank.civic.fm/feed.xml)
- [California in 5](https://california.civic.fm): California; made from its shows' episodes. [Apple Podcasts](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/california-in-5/id6824915484) · [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/0CZ6T7EjyhD2mamXpJOIsv) · [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLI-oCRDJNBfg) · [Feed](https://california.civic.fm/feed.xml)
- [California in Depth](https://indepth.civic.fm): California; made from its shows' episodes. [Apple Podcasts](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/california-in-depth/id6829075277) · [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/64kVVIz1IwfqLChbynA9pT) · [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLIlOqiYaqPVo) · [Feed](https://indepth.civic.fm/feed.xml)
- [LA Area in 5](https://laarea.civic.fm): Los Angeles area, California; made from its shows' episodes. [Apple Podcasts](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/la-area-in-5/id6824773399) · [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/5gOw22ssnvx0GoOoVryHaJ) · [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbh9xGM8ASsM) · [Feed](https://laarea.civic.fm/feed.xml)
- [LA County](https://lacounty.civic.fm): Los Angeles County, California; Board of Supervisors, Regional Planning Commission. [Apple Podcasts](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/la-county/id6822552639) · [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/6thbEzCP6Le0h8ZfhHTzRs) · [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQkhe-BRB0i8) · [Feed](https://lacounty.civic.fm/feed.xml)
- [Los Angeles](https://losangeles.civic.fm): Los Angeles, California; City Council. [Apple Podcasts](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/los-angeles/id6823034738) · [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/0REcc61IXv2PatMuYQI1C2) · [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLewd2YuzkoRs) · [Feed](https://losangeles.civic.fm/feed.xml)
- [Oakland](https://oakland.civic.fm): Oakland, California; City Council, Finance and Management Committee, Public Works and Transportation Committee, Community and Economic Development Committee, Life Enrichment Committee, Public Safety Committee, Rules and Legislation Committee, Education Partnership Committee. [Apple Podcasts](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/oakland/id6826748633) · [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/11xKTyssBmjJStQ2kXL5Z2) · [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLe9qijj3exSU) · [Feed](https://oakland.civic.fm/feed.xml)
- [Pasadena](https://pasadena.civic.fm): Pasadena, California; City Council, Planning Commission, Finance Committee, Legislative Policy Committee, Public Safety Committee, Economic Development & Technology Committee, Municipal Services Committee, Housing, Homelessness & Planning Committee. [Apple Podcasts](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/pasadena/id6822553472) · [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/6RNeLQWXBGUbuMnE9Vqo6N) · [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLYJ2AgjabUw) · [Feed](https://pasadena.civic.fm/feed.xml)
- [San Diego](https://sandiego.civic.fm): San Diego, California; City Council. [Apple Podcasts](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/san-diego/id6828668656) · [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/2xaDJcemkfiG5p9p94XHgH) · [Feed](https://sandiego.civic.fm/feed.xml)
- [San Francisco](https://sf.civic.fm): San Francisco, California; Board of Supervisors, Planning Commission. [Apple Podcasts](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/san-francisco/id6822553424) · [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/7llS3IpqVrvmcMt4snlpEB) · [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVGbbh-OU2E4) · [Feed](https://sf.civic.fm/feed.xml)
- [San Jose](https://sanjose.civic.fm): San Jose, California; City Council, Planning Commission. [Apple Podcasts](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/san-jose/id6824764071) · [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/1jUkGqb16lYdvIBiWEYg40) · [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLSIn0xmJ7deA) · [Feed](https://sanjose.civic.fm/feed.xml)

## Optional

- [Topics](https://civic.fm/topics): every topic, by area, each with its items
- [Terms](https://civic.fm/terms)