Libofcongress MCP Server
@cyanheads/libofcongress-mcp-server Search LOC digital collections, browse Chronicling America newspapers with full OCR text, and look up LC Subject Headings via MCP. STDIO or Streamable HTTP. Its README documents 6 tools, including libofcongress_search, libofcongress_get_item, libofcongress_search_newspapers.
People who work with chronicling america, digital collections and historical research and want it reachable from Claude, Cursor, VS Code, or another MCP client. The project is written in TypeScript.
VERIFIED ACTIVE
LAST COMMIT 2026-09-22 · ★ 4 · #270 OF 998 MAINTAINED OTHER · VERIFIED 2026-09-30
Apache-2.0 · TypeScript servers · how we verify → /methodology
01 · Install Libofcongress MCP Server
before you install - you'll need
Set MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE, MCP_SESSION_MODE, MCP_LOG_LEVEL before connecting.
Claude Code
claude mcp add cyanheads-libofcongress-mcp-server --transport http https://libofcongress.caseyjhand.com/mcpClaude Desktop / Cursor / VS Code - add to config
{
"mcpServers": {
"cyanheads-libofcongress-mcp-server": {
"url": "https://libofcongress.caseyjhand.com/mcp"
}
}
}Same JSON for Cursor. For VS Code, rename the top-level key from `mcpServers` to `servers`.
Using another client? Same JSON, different key
Claude Desktop · mcpServers
Cursor · mcpServers
VS Code · servers
Windsurf · mcpServers
Zed · context_servers
Cline · mcpServers
Roo Code · mcpServers
Continue · mcpServers
LibreChat · mcpServers
Gemini CLI · mcpServers
Codex CLI · mcp_servers
Full setup guides: every client.
02 · Evidence
https://libofcongress.caseyjhand.com/mcp
transport: streamable-http
endpoint alive - responded to MCP initialize · probed 2026-09-30
Security posture
What to check before giving this server access to your agent - from the registry, GitHub, and our own probes. We don't score safety; we show what's verifiable.
runs as local process (stdio) - runs on your machine with your user's permissions · remote - your agent's requests go to libofcongress.caseyjhand.com
endpoint auth accepted our unauthenticated MCP initialize - no credentials needed to connect
license Apache-2.0 - declared in the repository
npm package @cyanheads/libofcongress-mcp-server - published under the repo owner's npm scope (@cyanheads)
registry namespace io.github.cyanheads is GitHub-verified and matches the repo owner
03 · What Libofcongress MCP Server can do
Prose above is summarized from the project's README and registry record - no invented capabilities.
What you can build
With this server connected, an agent can retrieve full metadata for a specific LOC digital item - contributors, subjects, rights, formats, and resource links, search historical newspaper pages in the Chronicling America corpus with OCR excerpts, retrieve the full OCR text and metadata for a specific newspaper page, and list and browse LOC curated digital collections, optionally filtered by keyword.
The 6 tools it gives your agent
Extracted from the project's README - what libofcongress-mcp-server lets an agent do.
- libofcongress_search
- - Search LOC digital collections by keyword with format, date range, subject, location, and collection filters.
- libofcongress_get_item
- - Retrieve full metadata for a specific LOC digital item - contributors, subjects, rights, formats, and resource links.
- libofcongress_search_newspapers
- - Search historical newspaper pages in the Chronicling America corpus with OCR excerpts.
- libofcongress_get_newspaper_page
- - Retrieve the full OCR text and metadata for a specific newspaper page.
- libofcongress_search_subjects
- - Search Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) by keyword.
- libofcongress_browse_collections
- - List and browse LOC curated digital collections, optionally filtered by keyword.
Latest releases
v0.3.0 · 2026-09-22
Newspaper states, recovery hints, out-of-range pages · Out-of-range search pages return an empty result with a notice pointing back to page 1, instead of surfacing as an error (#40) · Recovery hints reach the wire…
v0.2.18 · 2026-09-19
Framework 0.13.5 and a stateless session default · Hosted endpoint - server.json lists the public streamable-http remote at · Stateless session mode is explicit - createApp now declares sessionMode: 'stateless', so a…
v0.2.17 · 2026-08-22
MCP 2026 compatibility and stateless HTTP · Serves MCP 2026-07-28 alongside 2025-era clients and rejects undeclared tool arguments. · Makes stateless HTTP mode explicit across every runtime and distribution surface.…
04 · Who maintains Libofcongress MCP Server
libofcongress-mcp-server is maintained by cyanheads. We track 137 MCP servers from cyanheads - 131 actively maintained, 1,856 combined GitHub stars, oldest repo from Dec 2024. Full record: all servers from cyanheads.
- obsidian-mcp-server Read, write, search, and surgically edit Obsidian notes, tags, and frontmatter via MCP. ★ 690
- mcp-ts-core Agent-native TypeScript framework for MCP servers. ★ 152
- git-mcp-server Comprehensive Git MCP server enabling native git tools including clone, commit, worktree, & more. ★ 240
- clinicaltrialsgov-mcp-server Search ClinicalTrials.gov - find studies, retrieve results, match patients to eligible trials. ★ 96
- openalex-mcp-server Access the OpenAlex academic research catalog - 270M+ publications. ★ 14
- mcp-ts-template TypeScript template for building MCP servers with declarative tooling, observability, and auth. ★ 152
05 · Facts
- category
- other - ranked #270 of 998 actively-maintained other servers as of 2026-09-30.
- release cadence
- 9 releases in the last 90 days (latest 2026-09-22)
- registry
- io.github.cyanheads/libofcongress-mcp-server (active, first published 2026-05-24 · 20 versions)
- packages
- npm:@cyanheads/libofcongress-mcp-server · npm:@cyanheads/libofcongress-mcp-server
06 · Libofcongress MCP Server FAQ
Is Libofcongress MCP Server still maintained?
Yes - as of 2026-09-30, its last commit was 2026-09-22 and it shipped 9 releases in the last 90 days. We re-verify nightly.
What can Libofcongress MCP Server do?
With this server connected, an agent can retrieve full metadata for a specific LOC digital item - contributors, subjects, rights, formats, and resource links, search historical newspaper pages in the Chronicling America corpus with OCR excerpts, retrieve the full OCR text and metadata for a specific newspaper page, and list and browse LOC curated digital collections, optionally filtered by keyword.
How do I install Libofcongress MCP Server?
Run `npx -y @cyanheads/libofcongress-mcp-server`. The README documents 3 environment variables (MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE, MCP_SESSION_MODE, MCP_LOG_LEVEL) to set first. Set MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE, MCP_SESSION_MODE, MCP_LOG_LEVEL before connecting. You can also paste the ready-made client config above.
Does Libofcongress MCP Server require authentication?
No - the endpoint accepted our unauthenticated MCP initialize when probed on 2026-09-30; you can connect without credentials.
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