Compare country indicators with AI and World Bank MCP

Run the workflow

1. 1. Choose the question and indicator

   Use population for total population; gdp_usd for GDP in current US dollars; gdp_per_capita_usd for GDP per person in current US dollars; inflation_pct for annual consumer-price inflation; or internet_users_pct for individuals using the Internet as a percentage of population. These five keys are the full ToolCargo selection. Total GDP, GDP per person and real GDP growth answer different questions; a change in current-dollar GDP is not a measure of real growth.

2. 2. Fix the countries and comparison year

   Call compare_countries with two to eight distinct country codes, one indicator and one year from 1960 through the current year. Use the same year for every country instead of silently comparing each country’s latest available observation. Annual publication can lag, so a recent year may have gaps. Choose another explicit year if needed and record that choice.

3. 3. Preserve the returned result and its gaps

   Keep the country names, year, indicator label and returned values. The connector formats numbers to at most two decimal places. A not reported entry is missing data, not zero. For a single-country trend, country_trend accepts start and end spanning at most 31 years; it omits missing years, so do not assume the sequence is complete.

4. 4. Verify definitions before writing the brief

   Open the World Bank indicator metadata and dated source query separately. Record the upstream indicator code, unit, retrieval date and any caveat that affects your comparison. These links and dates are your evidence ledger; the connector returns a generic World Bank source note rather than a full metadata record. GDP in current US dollars is not adjusted for inflation or purchasing-power differences.

5. 5. Explain the comparison within its scope

   Ask the agent for a short table and explanation grounded in the reported figures. Keep observations separate from hypotheses about why countries differ. Recheck the same query before sharing or updating a report because values can be revised. Use a separate data source when your question needs an unsupported indicator, a forecast or a live feed.

What a useful result looks like

A useful comparison ledger contains country → indicator/code → year → value or not reported → units → source query → retrieval date → caveat. A trend adds the requested year range and identifies gaps through source review. Preserve the tool’s rounded output and avoid presenting it as the upstream record’s full numeric precision.

Know the limits

ToolCargo provides two tools and five curated annual indicators, not the whole World Bank catalogue. No external provider account or API key is needed, but hosted calls require a ToolCargo account and scoped key or OAuth and consume the shared plan allowance. The tools return text, not a downloadable dataset or generated chart. Source figures may arrive late or be revised; comparisons do not establish causation, forecasts or real-time conditions.