Building an MCP Server for a Niche Local Service: Philadelphia Restoration

Building an MCP Server for a Niche Local Service: Philadelphia Restoration How we built a Model Context Protocol server to make Philadelphia's water and fire damage restoration expertise available to every AI agent. Why Build an MCP Server for a Local Service? Most MCP servers expose general-purpose tools — file systems, databases, code interpreters. We built one for a very specific use case: helping Philadelphia homeowners deal with water and fire damage. Philadelphia Restoration started as a concierge service connecting homeowners with vetted restoration professionals. We had a REST API with 7 tools covering damage assessment, insurance coverage analysis, cost estimation, emergency guidance, neighborhood-specific risk profiles, a deep knowledge base, and professional callback scheduling. The question was: how do we make this expertise accessible to AI agents — Claude, ChatGPT, LangChain agents, custom assistants — so they can help homeowners directly during conversations? The answer: