Nutrition Grounding Data
The tool
Ground agents in verifiable USDA nutrition data — calories, macros and micronutrients — so food and diet answers cite the official record, not guesswork.
Once your client is connected to the VerveContext MCP server, this appears in its tool list as NutritionGroundingData. It is read-only and open-world: it fetches, it never mutates anything on your side, so most clients will call it without asking you to confirm.
{
"name": "NutritionGroundingData",
"arguments": {
"food": "banana"
}
}What that looks like in a conversation
You don't name the tool — the model picks it. Asking about banana in the terms this source covers is enough for it to reach for NutritionGroundingData on its own.
Connecting
One server URL covers every source in the catalog, including this one. Authorization is OAuth — the client opens a browser once and there is no key to paste into a config file.
{
"mcpServers": {
"vervecontext": {
"url": "https://api.vervecontext.com/v1/mcp"
}
}
}https://api.vervecontext.com/v1/mcpPer-client setup — Claude Desktop, Cursor, VS Code, ChatGPT — is on the MCP setup page.
Arguments
These are the properties on the tool's inputSchema, so a well-behaved client validates them before the call is made.
| Argument | Type | Example | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
foodRequired | string | banana | Name of the food to look up (e.g. banana, chicken breast, olive oil) |
gramsPremium | number | 118 | Serving weight in grams to scale the nutrition panel to. Defaults to a per-100-gram basis. |
What the model gets back
The result carries a structuredContent object matching the tool's declared outputSchema, so a client can read fields without parsing prose. status is "ok" on success and error is null; a null field means the value wasn't available for that input, not that the call failed.
{
"status": "ok",
"error": null,
"data": {
"food": "Bananas, raw",
"fdcId": 173944,
"category": "Fruits and Fruit Juices",
"basis": "per 100g",
"servingSizes": [
{
"label": "1 NLEA serving",
"grams": 126
},
{
"label": "1 extra large (9\" or longer)",
"grams": 152
},
{
"label": "1 large (8\" to 8-7/8\" long)",
"grams": 136
}
],
"nutrition": {
"calories": 89,
"protein": 1.09,
"totalFat": 0.33,
"carbohydrates": 22.8,
"fiber": 2.6,
"sugars": 12.2
},
"micronutrients": {
"sodium": 1,
"potassium": 358,
"cholesterol": 0,
"saturatedFat": 0.112,
"transFat": 0,
"monounsaturatedFat": 0.032,
"polyunsaturatedFat": 0.073,
"calcium": 5,
"iron": 0.26,
"magnesium": 27,
"phosphorus": 22,
"zinc": 0.15,
"vitaminC": 8.7,
"vitaminA": 3,
"vitaminD": 0,
"vitaminE": 0.1,
"vitaminK": 0.5,
"thiamin": 0.031,
"riboflavin": 0.073,
"niacin": 0.665,
"vitaminB6": 0.367,
"folate": 20,
"vitaminB12": 0,
"water": 74.9
},
"analytics": {
"caloriesPerGram": 0.89,
"proteinCaloriePercent": 4.4,
"fatCaloriePercent": 3,Fields
| Field | Type | Example | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
food | string | Matched food name from the USDA database | |
fdcId | number | USDA FoodData Central unique identifier for the food | |
category | string | USDA food category the item belongs to | |
basis | string | Basis the nutrition values are reported on (per 100g, or the requested serving) | |
servingSizes | array[3] | Common household serving sizes reported for the food | |
└ servingSizes.0.label | string | Description of the serving size (e.g. 1 cup, sliced) | |
└ servingSizes.0.grams | number | Weight of the serving in grams | |
nutrition | object | Headline calories and macronutrients | |
└ nutrition.calories | number | Energy in kilocalories | |
└ nutrition.protein | number | Protein in grams | |
└ nutrition.totalFat | number | Total fat in grams | |
└ nutrition.carbohydrates | number | Total carbohydrates in grams | |
└ nutrition.fiber | number | Dietary fiber in grams | |
└ nutrition.sugars | number | Total sugars in grams | |
micronutrients | object | Full micronutrient panel | |
└ micronutrients.sodiumPremium | number | Sodium in milligrams | |
└ micronutrients.potassiumPremium | number | Potassium in milligrams | |
└ micronutrients.cholesterolPremium | number | Cholesterol in milligrams | |
└ micronutrients.saturatedFatPremium | number | Saturated fat in grams | |
└ micronutrients.transFatPremium | number | Trans fat in grams | |
└ micronutrients.monounsaturatedFatPremium | number | Monounsaturated fat in grams | |
└ micronutrients.polyunsaturatedFatPremium | number | Polyunsaturated fat in grams | |
└ micronutrients.calciumPremium | number | Calcium in milligrams | |
└ micronutrients.ironPremium | number | Iron in milligrams | |
└ micronutrients.magnesiumPremium | number | Magnesium in milligrams | |
└ micronutrients.phosphorusPremium | number | Phosphorus in milligrams | |
└ micronutrients.zincPremium | number | Zinc in milligrams | |
└ micronutrients.vitaminCPremium | number | Vitamin C in milligrams | |
└ micronutrients.vitaminAPremium | number | Vitamin A in micrograms | |
└ micronutrients.vitaminDPremium | number | Vitamin D in micrograms | |
└ micronutrients.vitaminEPremium | number | Vitamin E in milligrams | |
└ micronutrients.vitaminKPremium | number | Vitamin K in micrograms | |
└ micronutrients.thiaminPremium | number | Thiamin (B1) in milligrams | |
└ micronutrients.riboflavinPremium | number | Riboflavin (B2) in milligrams | |
└ micronutrients.niacinPremium | number | Niacin (B3) in milligrams | |
└ micronutrients.vitaminB6Premium | number | Vitamin B6 in milligrams | |
└ micronutrients.folatePremium | number | Folate in micrograms | |
└ micronutrients.vitaminB12Premium | number | Vitamin B12 in micrograms | |
└ micronutrients.waterPremium | number | Water content in grams | |
analytics | object | Derived nutrition intelligence | |
└ analytics.caloriesPerGramPremium | number | Energy density in calories per gram | |
└ analytics.proteinCaloriePercentPremium | number | Share of calories from protein (percent) | |
└ analytics.fatCaloriePercentPremium | number | Share of calories from fat (percent) | |
└ analytics.carbCaloriePercentPremium | number | Share of calories from carbohydrate (percent) | |
└ analytics.proteinPer100CaloriesPremium | number | Grams of protein per 100 calories | |
dailyValues | object | Percent of the FDA Daily Value each nutrient supplies on the reported basis | |
└ dailyValues.proteinPremium | number | Protein as a percent of the Daily Value | |
└ dailyValues.totalFatPremium | number | Total fat as a percent of the Daily Value | |
└ dailyValues.saturatedFatPremium | number | Saturated fat as a percent of the Daily Value | |
└ dailyValues.cholesterolPremium | number | Cholesterol as a percent of the Daily Value | |
└ dailyValues.sodiumPremium | number | Sodium as a percent of the Daily Value | |
└ dailyValues.carbohydratesPremium | number | Total carbohydrates as a percent of the Daily Value | |
└ dailyValues.fiberPremium | number | Dietary fiber as a percent of the Daily Value | |
└ dailyValues.potassiumPremium | number | Potassium as a percent of the Daily Value | |
└ dailyValues.calciumPremium | number | Calcium as a percent of the Daily Value | |
└ dailyValues.ironPremium | number | Iron as a percent of the Daily Value | |
└ dailyValues.magnesiumPremium | number | Magnesium as a percent of the Daily Value | |
└ dailyValues.phosphorusPremium | number | Phosphorus as a percent of the Daily Value | |
└ dailyValues.zincPremium | number | Zinc as a percent of the Daily Value | |
└ dailyValues.vitaminCPremium | number | Vitamin C as a percent of the Daily Value |
Why ground on it
A model can produce something that looks like this answer from its training data, and be confidently out of date or simply wrong. This source returns the current value with a shape you can check, which is the difference between an answer you can cite and one you have to hedge.
Point an evaluation at fdcId: it is the field most worth pinning a claim to, and it is either present and current or absent — never plausibly invented.
Failure modes
Errors come back as tool errors with a sentence the model can act on, not a bare status code.
| Status | What it means |
|---|---|
400 / 422 | The arguments didn't validate. The message names the offending one. |
401 | The OAuth session is invalid or expired — reconnect the server. |
403 | Out of credits. Not a bad key — the month's allowance is spent. |
404 | This source isn't part of VerveContext. Check the catalog. |
429 | Brief rate limit. Retrying after a moment succeeds. |
Other ways to use Nutrition Grounding Data
Set up Nutrition Grounding Data on VerveContext, or reach the same source a different way. Your VerveContext account and credits work on all of them — one key, one balance.
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to tell the agent to use NutritionGroundingData?
No. The tool's name and description are in the model's context once the server is connected, so it selects the tool when the question calls for it. Naming it explicitly works too and is useful when you want to force the call.
Does connecting the server expose every tool at once?
Yes — one connection lists the whole VerveContext catalog. Clients with a tool budget can usually filter the list; the credit cost is per call, so an unused tool costs nothing.
What does a call cost?
1 credit each time the tool actually runs. A model that reasons about the tool without calling it costs nothing.
Is there a REST version of this?
Yes — the same source is available as a plain HTTPS endpoint on APIVerve, linked above. Same data, same credits, same account.