Service documentation
GovBot Soils service
This host runs the runtime for GovBot Soils, an independent service that prepares source-cited soil-survey briefs from USDA NRCS Soil Data Access (SDA) and SSURGO data.
Plugin status: in preparation; not published. This page documents the GovBot Soils service. It does not indicate approval, review, or listing by OpenAI or any agency. No sign-in, API key, payment, or subscription is required, and there are no purchases.
Runtime versus plugin availability
The runtime is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server. Whether this server responds is separate from whether GovBot Soils is available as a plugin in ChatGPT. GovBot Soils is not published as a plugin. For the product journey, start with the GovBot Soils product guide.
Documents
- Product guide: workflows, sample prompts, sources, and limitations
- Privacy: what is sent to USDA NRCS, caching, operational logging, and support email
- Terms: appropriate use and limits
Technical details
- Service base URL
https://soils-api.govbot.ai/- MCP endpoint
https://soils-api.govbot.ai/mcp- Workflows
soil-survey-brief,land-use-limitations-brief,area-soils-comparison- Accepted inputs
- Finite coordinates, a bounded radius (max 1000 m) or polygon (max 10 km² and 0.1 degree span), map-unit keys, and fixed NRCS interpretation names. SQL and URLs are never accepted from clients.
Tools
- Map unit at a point
- The mapped soil map unit at a coordinate.
- Map units in a small area
- Map units within a bounded radius or polygon.
- Component and horizon properties
- Recorded components of a map unit and their horizon properties.
- NRCS interpretation ratings
- Fixed, named NRCS interpretation ratings for a map unit.
- Farmland classification
- Recorded farmland classification, including conditional wording as recorded.
- Soil survey area and version
- The survey area and its version for provenance.
Source attribution
Data comes from USDA NRCS Soil Data Access (SDA) and the Soil Survey Geographic Database (SSURGO), through direct requests to fixed agency endpoints. Live queries are required; empty or failed records are reported as unknown, and no data is invented.
Results are mapped soil-survey information at survey scale, not site investigations, approvals, or engineering determinations. See the product guide for the full limitations.
Contact
Ideation Lab, Corp. — hello@govbot.ai