Source Library

MCP Server

v2.0

The Model Context Protocol server gives Claude and other MCP-compatible AI clients direct access to Source Library's full collection — search, full-text reading, entity knowledge graph, and 50,000+ historical illustrations. No API keys, no authentication.

Claude Code

claude mcp add source-library -- npx -y @source-library/mcp-server

Claude DesktopmacOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/ • Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "source-library": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@source-library/mcp-server"]
    }
  }
}

npm package View source

11 Tools

Discovery & Browse

search_library

Full-text search across books and page content. Filter by language, date range, DOI, translation status.

list_books

Browse the collection with filters. Sort by recent translation, title, or date.

Reading & Text

get_book

Detailed book metadata: summary, index stats, edition info, DOI, page list.

get_book_text

Full text of a book in one call. OCR, translation, or both. Page ranges supported.

get_quote

Specific page with formatted academic citations (inline, footnote, DOI).

Knowledge Graph & Entities

search_index

Search AI-generated indexes for concepts, people, places, keywords, and quotes.

search_entities

Cross-book entity network. Find people, places, and concepts connecting multiple books.

get_entity

Full entity detail: all book appearances, page references, aliases, related entities.

Gallery & Images

search_images

Search 50,000+ historical illustrations by subject, figure, symbol, type, or date.

get_image

Full image metadata with museum description and source book context.

get_book_images

All extracted images from a specific book.

Example Research Prompts

“Search for references to "prima materia" across the collection. Which authors discuss it, and how do their treatments differ?”

Uses: search_library + get_book_text

“Find all entities connected to Hermes Trismegistus. What books discuss this figure, and what other entities appear alongside?”

Uses: search_entities + get_entity

“Read the full translation of Fludd's History of Both Worlds, pages 1-50. Summarize the cosmological framework.”

Uses: get_book_text

“Find all alchemical emblems depicting the ouroboros. What texts are they from?”

Uses: search_images

“I need a quote from Copernicus's De Revolutionibus about the Sun's centrality, with a proper DOI citation.”

Uses: search_library + get_quote

“Compare how Ficino, Bruno, and Pico della Mirandola discuss the relationship between the soul and the cosmos.”

Uses: search_entities + get_book_text

REST API

Direct HTTP access. No authentication required. The MCP server uses these same endpoints.

Base URL: https://sourcelibrary.org/api

GET/search

Full-text search across books and page content

q	string	Search query (required)
language	string	Filter by language
year_from / year_to	number	Publication year range
has_doi	boolean	Only books with DOIs
sort	string	relevance, date_asc, date_desc, title

GET /search?q=philosopher's stone&language=Latin&has_doi=true

GET/books/:id/text

Get full book text (OCR, translation, or both) in a single call

content	string	ocr, translation, or both (default)
from / to	number	Page range (inclusive)
format	string	json (structured) or plain (concatenated text)

GET /books/694f49d3.../text?content=translation&from=1&to=50&format=plain

GET/books/:id/quote

Get a passage with formatted academic citations and DOI

GET /books/6836f8ee.../quote?page=57&include_context=true

GET/books/:id

Full book metadata, summary, and DOI

GET/books/library

Browse collection with language/category filters

GET/entities

Search entity knowledge graph

GET/search/index

Search AI-generated book indexes

Citation Format

All published editions have DOIs via Zenodo. The get_quote tool returns pre-formatted citations:

Inline

(Author Year, p. N)

Footnote

Author, Title, trans. Source Library (Year), Page. DOI: ...

Bibliography

Author. Title. Translated by Source Library. Year. DOI: ...

For AI Systems

Complete API documentation optimized for LLM consumption:

/llms.txt

Browse the Library Read the announcement GitHub Repository

MCP Server

v2.0

Claude Code

claude mcp add source-library -- npx -y @source-library/mcp-server

Claude DesktopmacOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/ • Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "source-library": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@source-library/mcp-server"]
    }
  }
}

npm package View source

11 Tools

Discovery & Browse

search_library

Full-text search across books and page content. Filter by language, date range, DOI, translation status.

list_books

Browse the collection with filters. Sort by recent translation, title, or date.

Reading & Text

get_book

Detailed book metadata: summary, index stats, edition info, DOI, page list.

get_book_text

Full text of a book in one call. OCR, translation, or both. Page ranges supported.

get_quote

Specific page with formatted academic citations (inline, footnote, DOI).

Knowledge Graph & Entities

search_index

Search AI-generated indexes for concepts, people, places, keywords, and quotes.

search_entities

Cross-book entity network. Find people, places, and concepts connecting multiple books.

get_entity

Full entity detail: all book appearances, page references, aliases, related entities.

Gallery & Images

search_images

Search 50,000+ historical illustrations by subject, figure, symbol, type, or date.

get_image

Full image metadata with museum description and source book context.

get_book_images

All extracted images from a specific book.

Example Research Prompts

“Search for references to "prima materia" across the collection. Which authors discuss it, and how do their treatments differ?”

Uses: search_library + get_book_text

“Find all entities connected to Hermes Trismegistus. What books discuss this figure, and what other entities appear alongside?”

Uses: search_entities + get_entity

“Read the full translation of Fludd's History of Both Worlds, pages 1-50. Summarize the cosmological framework.”

Uses: get_book_text

“Find all alchemical emblems depicting the ouroboros. What texts are they from?”

Uses: search_images

“I need a quote from Copernicus's De Revolutionibus about the Sun's centrality, with a proper DOI citation.”

Uses: search_library + get_quote

“Compare how Ficino, Bruno, and Pico della Mirandola discuss the relationship between the soul and the cosmos.”

Uses: search_entities + get_book_text

REST API

Direct HTTP access. No authentication required. The MCP server uses these same endpoints.

Base URL: https://sourcelibrary.org/api

GET/search

Full-text search across books and page content

q	string	Search query (required)
language	string	Filter by language
year_from / year_to	number	Publication year range
has_doi	boolean	Only books with DOIs
sort	string	relevance, date_asc, date_desc, title

GET /search?q=philosopher's stone&language=Latin&has_doi=true

GET/books/:id/text

Get full book text (OCR, translation, or both) in a single call

content	string	ocr, translation, or both (default)
from / to	number	Page range (inclusive)
format	string	json (structured) or plain (concatenated text)

GET /books/694f49d3.../text?content=translation&from=1&to=50&format=plain

GET/books/:id/quote

Get a passage with formatted academic citations and DOI

GET /books/6836f8ee.../quote?page=57&include_context=true

GET/books/:id

Full book metadata, summary, and DOI

GET/books/library

Browse collection with language/category filters

GET/entities

Search entity knowledge graph

GET/search/index

Search AI-generated book indexes

Citation Format

All published editions have DOIs via Zenodo. The get_quote tool returns pre-formatted citations:

Inline

(Author Year, p. N)

Footnote

Author, Title, trans. Source Library (Year), Page. DOI: ...

Bibliography

Author. Title. Translated by Source Library. Year. DOI: ...

For AI Systems

Complete API documentation optimized for LLM consumption:

/llms.txt

Browse the Library Read the announcement GitHub Repository

For Developers & AI

MCP Server

11 Tools

Discovery & Browse

Reading & Text

Knowledge Graph & Entities

Gallery & Images

Example Research Prompts

REST API

Citation Format

For AI Systems

For Developers & AI

MCP Server

11 Tools

Discovery & Browse

Reading & Text

Knowledge Graph & Entities

Gallery & Images

Example Research Prompts

REST API

Citation Format

For AI Systems