US Safety Recalls

Search NHTSA vehicle recalls, FDA food/drug recalls, and CFPB consumer complaints. 3 tools for product safety monitoring.

Security Scan

The skill's stated purpose (search US government recalls/complaints) matches the instructions, but it routes queries through a third‑party MCP endpoint and requires adding that endpoint to your local MCP config — this poses a privacy/logging risk that users should understand before installing.

Purpose & Capability

Name/description (NHTSA, FDA, CFPB searches) align with the runtime instructions and declared requirement (the mcporter binary). Requiring mcporter makes sense because the SKILL.md shows adding a remote MCP server via mcporter.

Instruction Scope

The SKILL.md instructs the agent/operator to add a remote MCP server at https://us-safety-recalls-mcp.apify.actor/mcp (via mcporter or by editing ~/.openclaw/mcp.json). That means all queries and responses will flow through that third‑party server (hosted on apify.actor) rather than directly to government APIs — the server could log or modify requests/responses. The instructions also suggest editing a config file in the user's home directory (~/.openclaw/mcp.json), which is persistent and could contain other MCP entries; the skill does not explicitly warn about backing up or inspecting that file.

Install Mechanism

No install spec or code is included (instruction-only), so nothing will be written by the skill itself. However it depends on an external tooling binary (mcporter) being present. The runtime behavior depends on a remote URL (apify.actor) which is a third‑party proxy rather than an official government endpoint; that external network dependency increases risk compared with direct API calls.

Credentials

The skill requests no environment variables, credentials, or config paths beyond the optional MCP config entry. This is proportionate to the described read-only data retrieval use case.

Persistence & Privilege

The skill is not always-included and is user-invocable. It does instruct adding a persistent MCP server entry to ~/.openclaw/mcp.json (or adding it via mcporter), which grants the remote server ongoing ability to receive queries; that persistent routing is a privacy consideration but not an elevated platform privilege.

What to consider before installing

Before installing or using this skill, consider the following: - The SKILL.md routes all queries through a third‑party MCP endpoint (us-safety-recalls-mcp.apify.actor). This is not an official government domain — the operator of that endpoint could log, store, or modify queries and results. If your queries include any sensitive information, do not use this skill. - Verify the mcporter binary provenance (where it comes from) before installing/running it. Only install binaries from sources you trust. - Inspect the GitHub homepage/repo (https://github.com/martc03/gov-mcp-servers) and confirm who runs the apify actor and what their privacy/security practices are. If the repo or actor is not from a trusted maintainer, treat the endpoint as untrusted. - Backup ~/.openclaw/mcp.json before editing; adding the server creates a persistent routing rule. Ensure adding the entry will not overwrite or expose other MCP credentials/config. - If you prefer not to trust a third party, consider pointing mcporter to your own proxy or directly querying the official government APIs (NHTSA, FDA, CFPB) instead of using the hosted apify actor. - Test the skill with non-sensitive/sample queries first to observe behavior and responses. Given the external proxying behavior, only proceed if you trust the operator of the apify.actor endpoint or if you host/operate the MCP server yourself.

Real-time access to NHTSA vehicle recalls, FDA product recalls, and CFPB consumer complaints.

Setup

mcporter add gov-safety --url https://us-safety-recalls-mcp.apify.actor/mcp --transport streamable-http

Or add to your OpenClaw MCP config (~/.openclaw/mcp.json):

{
  "servers": {
    "gov-safety": {
      "url": "https://us-safety-recalls-mcp.apify.actor/mcp",
      "transport": "streamable-http"
    }
  }
}

Available Tools

safety_search_vehicle_recalls

Search NHTSA vehicle safety recalls by make, model, and year. Returns recall campaigns with defect summaries, consequences, and remedies.

Search for Ford F-150 recalls in 2024
Are there any Toyota Camry recalls?

Parameters: make, model, modelYear

safety_search_fda_recalls

Search FDA enforcement actions (recalls) for drugs, food, or medical devices. Returns classification, status, distribution, and reason for recall.

Search FDA recalls for infant formula
Any recent Class I drug recalls?

Parameters: searchQuery, classification (I/II/III), status, limit

safety_search_consumer_complaints

Search the CFPB Consumer Complaint Database for complaints against financial companies.

Show consumer complaints about Wells Fargo
Search CFPB complaints about mortgage servicing

Parameters: company, product, issue, limit

Data Sources

• NHTSA — National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (vehicle recalls)
• FDA — Food and Drug Administration (food, drug, device recalls)
• CFPB — Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (consumer complaints)

Use Cases

• Check if your vehicle has open recalls
• Monitor food safety alerts
• Research company complaint history
• Product safety due diligence

All data from free US government APIs. Zero cost. No API keys required.