Rewrite landing page: ELI5 intro, no AI buzzwords

- Lead with "One question away" — explains NOAA's station network, the
  API gap, and what mcnoaa-tides does, in plain language
- Progressive disclosure: simple explanation → use cases → technical
  details → install
- Remove all "AI" references across docs (tagline, getting-started)
- Install section leads with generic MCP JSON config, not product-specific
This commit is contained in:
Ryan Malloy 2026-02-24 11:16:25 -07:00
parent a900581af5
commit 7e10496e0a
2 changed files with 75 additions and 47 deletions

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@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ sidebar:
import { Card, CardGrid } from '@astrojs/starlight/components'; import { Card, CardGrid } from '@astrojs/starlight/components';
**mcnoaa-tides** is an [MCP](https://modelcontextprotocol.io/) server that **mcnoaa-tides** is an [MCP](https://modelcontextprotocol.io/) server that
connects AI assistants to the connects your assistant to the
[NOAA CO-OPS Tides and Currents API](https://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/api/). [NOAA CO-OPS Tides and Currents API](https://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/api/).
It exposes tide predictions, observed water levels, and meteorological It exposes tide predictions, observed water levels, and meteorological
observations from approximately 301 U.S. coastal stations — all through a observations from approximately 301 U.S. coastal stations — all through a

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@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
title: mcnoaa-tides title: mcnoaa-tides
template: splash template: splash
hero: hero:
tagline: Real-time NOAA tide and marine data for AI assistants tagline: Tides, weather, and conditions from 300 U.S. coastal stations
image: image:
html: | html: |
<svg viewBox="0 0 440 320" fill="none" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" class="hero-wave" aria-hidden="true"> <svg viewBox="0 0 440 320" fill="none" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" class="hero-wave" aria-hidden="true">
@ -70,72 +70,67 @@ import { Card, CardGrid, LinkCard } from '@astrojs/starlight/components';
<div class="splash-section"> <div class="splash-section">
## What's inside ## One question away
<CardGrid> NOAA — the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration — runs a network of
<Card title="14 Tools" icon="rocket"> tide stations along every U.S. coast. About 300 of them, from Eastport, Maine
Station discovery, tide predictions, water levels, weather data, marine to Pago Pago, American Samoa. They measure water levels every six minutes.
condition snapshots, tidal phase classification, deployment intelligence, Many also track wind speed, air pressure, and water temperature. All of it gets
chart visualization, and diagnostics. published as free, public data.
</Card>
<Card title="4 Prompt Templates" icon="document"> The catch? The raw API isn't exactly conversational. Station IDs, product
Guided workflows for fishing trip planning, marine safety checks, codes, datum references, time formats — it's built for machines, not people.
crab pot deployment assessment, and catch-to-tide correlation analysis.
</Card> **mcnoaa-tides sits in the middle.** It's a server that knows how to talk to
<Card title="3 MCP Resources" icon="open-book"> NOAA's API, and it lets your assistant handle the details. You ask
Station catalog, station detail, and nearby station lookup — structured *"when's the best time to fish near Seattle?"* and behind the scenes, the
context that any MCP client can read directly. nearest station gets found, 48 hours of tide predictions get pulled, weather
</Card> conditions get checked, and you get a window you can actually plan around.
<Card title="Visualization" icon="seti:image">
Tide charts and multi-panel conditions dashboards rendered as PNG images No API keys. No data wrangling. Just ask.
or interactive HTML with Plotly.
</Card>
</CardGrid>
</div> </div>
<div class="splash-section"> <div class="splash-section">
## What can you do with it? ## What does that look like?
Ask your assistant a question. It calls the right tools and comes back with an answer grounded in real NOAA data.
<CardGrid> <CardGrid>
<Card title="Plan a fishing trip" icon="star"> <Card title="Plan a fishing trip" icon="star">
*"When's the best time to fish near Newport this weekend?"* *"When's the best time to fish near Newport this weekend?"*
Finds nearby stations, pulls tide turning points, checks wind and Finds nearby stations, pulls tide turning points, checks wind and
barometric pressure, and identifies the optimal incoming-tide window. barometric pressure, and identifies the best incoming-tide window.
</Card> </Card>
<Card title="Check before you launch" icon="warning"> <Card title="Check before you launch" icon="warning">
*"Is it safe to take the boat out from Seattle today?"* *"Is it safe to take the boat out from Seattle today?"*
Runs a marine safety check — wind speed, gust, visibility, water Checks wind, gusts, visibility, water temperature, and pressure trend.
temperature, and pressure trend — returns a GO / CAUTION / NO-GO. Comes back with GO, CAUTION, or NO-GO — and tells you why.
</Card> </Card>
<Card title="Snorkeling at low tide" icon="sun"> <Card title="Snorkeling at low tide" icon="sun">
*"When's the next good low tide for snorkeling at La Jolla?"* *"When's the next good low tide for snorkeling at La Jolla?"*
Finds extreme low tides that expose reefs, checks water temperature Finds extreme low tides that expose reefs, checks water temperature and
and wind to confirm conditions are worth the trip. wind to confirm the trip is worth the drive.
</Card> </Card>
<Card title="Tide pooling with kids" icon="magnifier"> <Card title="Tide pooling with kids" icon="magnifier">
*"Find the lowest tide this week near Monterey for tide pooling"* *"Find the lowest tide this week near Monterey for tide pooling"*
Scans 7 days of predictions for the deepest lows — negative values Scans a full week of predictions for the deepest lows. Negative values
mean water drops below the average low-water mark, exposing more pools. mean the water drops below the usual low-water mark — more pools exposed.
</Card> </Card>
<Card title="Deploy crab pots" icon="setting"> <Card title="Deploy crab pots" icon="setting">
*"Should I deploy pots near Anacortes right now?"* *"Should I deploy pots near Anacortes right now?"*
Checks tidal phase, runs a deployment briefing with wind/temp/pressure Checks tidal phase, runs a deployment briefing against wind and pressure
thresholds, and recommends an optimal soak window. thresholds, and recommends a soak window with a recovery time.
</Card> </Card>
<Card title="Beachcombing" icon="heart"> <Card title="Beachcombing after a storm" icon="heart">
*"When will the tide be low enough to reach the tidepools at Cannon Beach?"* *"When's the next low tide at Cannon Beach? I want to look for agates."*
Finds the next low-tide window, checks for post-storm debris potential Confirms a recent storm passed through by checking pressure drops,
by looking at recent pressure drops and wind events. then finds the first post-storm low-tide window.
</Card> </Card>
</CardGrid> </CardGrid>
@ -143,21 +138,54 @@ Ask your assistant a question. It calls the right tools and comes back with an a
<div class="splash-section"> <div class="splash-section">
## Install ## What's inside
The fastest way to run the server — no permanent install needed: The server ships with 14 tools, 4 guided workflows, and 3 data resources.
If your assistant supports [MCP](https://modelcontextprotocol.io/) (most do),
it can use all of them.
<CardGrid>
<Card title="14 Tools" icon="rocket">
Find stations, pull tides, check weather, classify tidal phases, assess
deployment conditions, detect anomalies, generate charts — plus a few
more for diagnostics and capability testing.
[Full tool reference →](/reference/tools/)
</Card>
<Card title="4 Prompt Templates" icon="document">
Pre-built workflows that walk through multi-step tasks: fishing trip
planning, marine safety checks, crab pot deployment, and catch pattern
analysis. Your assistant follows the steps, you get the results.
[Prompt reference →](/reference/prompts/)
</Card>
<Card title="3 MCP Resources" icon="open-book">
Station catalog, station detail, and nearby station lookup — structured
data your assistant can read directly without calling a tool first.
[Resource reference →](/reference/resources/)
</Card>
<Card title="Visualization" icon="seti:image">
Tide charts and multi-panel conditions dashboards, rendered as PNG
(shows inline) or interactive HTML (pan, zoom, hover for values).
[How-to: Charts →](/how-to/visualization/)
</Card>
</CardGrid>
</div>
<div class="splash-section">
## Get started
Run the server — no permanent install needed:
```bash ```bash
uvx mcnoaa-tides uvx mcnoaa-tides
``` ```
Register it with your MCP client. For example, in Claude Code: Then register it with your MCP client. Most accept a JSON config:
```bash
claude mcp add mcnoaa-tides -- uvx mcnoaa-tides
```
Or add to any MCP client's JSON config:
```json ```json
{ {