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govinfo-mcp

Overview

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that provides LLM-friendly access to the official GovInfo API v4. This server enables searching and retrieving U.S. government documents, including bills, laws, regulations, and other official publications, for precise legal research and citation verification. The GovInfo MCP Server provides comprehensive access to through the GovInfo API. It is designed for LLMs and legal research tools to programmatically access up-to-date U.S. government information. - Access to bills, statutes, regulations (CFR), and more - Real-time updates from the official GovInfo API - Retrieve full document text and metadata in HTML, XML, PDF, or plain text - Search by keyword, collection, date, and more - Explore related documents and cross-references See app/README.md for full tool parameter documentation. - Python 3.

README

GovInfo MCP Server

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that provides LLM-friendly access to the official GovInfo API v4. This server enables searching and retrieving U.S. government documents, including bills, laws, regulations, and other official publications, for precise legal research and citation verification.

🎯 Purpose

The GovInfo MCP Server provides comprehensive access to federal regulations, statutes, and government documents through the GovInfo API. It is designed for LLMs and legal research tools to programmatically access up-to-date U.S. government information.

📦 Key Features

  • Access to bills, statutes, regulations (CFR), and more
  • Real-time updates from the official GovInfo API
  • Retrieve full document text and metadata in HTML, XML, PDF, or plain text
  • Search by keyword, collection, date, and more
  • Explore related documents and cross-references

🛠️ Available MCP Tools

Tool Name Description Example Call
get_collections List all available GovInfo collections get_collections(page_size=10)
get_collection_details Get details for a specific collection get_collection_details(collection_code="CFR")
search_packages Search packages by query and filters search_packages(query="discovery procedures", collection="CFR", page_size=5)
advanced_search Advanced search with Lucene syntax and filters advanced_search(query="title:discovery AND collection:CFR", sort_by="relevance")
get_packages_by_collection List packages from a collection get_packages_by_collection(collection="BILLS", congress=118, page_size=5)
get_package_summary Get metadata for a specific package get_package_summary(package_id="CFR-2023-title5-vol3")
get_package_content Download package content in various formats get_package_content(package_id="CFR-2023-title5-vol3", content_type="html")
get_published_packages Get packages published on a specific date get_published_packages(date_issued="2024-01-15", collection="CFR")
get_published_range Get packages published within a date range get_published_range(start_date="2024-01-01", end_date="2024-01-31", collection="PLAW")
get_related_packages Find packages related to a specific package get_related_packages(package_id="BILLS-118hr1234-ih")
get_granule_related Find items related to a specific granule get_granule_related(package_id="CFR-2023-title5-vol3", granule_id="CFR-2023-title5-vol3-sec1201-72")
search_statutes Search US statutes across statute collections search_statutes(query="civil rights", collection="USCODE", page_size=5)
get_public_laws_by_congress List public laws from a specific Congress get_public_laws_by_congress(congress=117, page_size=5)
get_statutes_at_large Search Statutes at Large by volume get_statutes_at_large(volume="137", page_size=5)
get_uscode_title Search US Code sections within a title get_uscode_title(title_number="42", page_size=5)
list_statute_collections List all statute-related collections list_statute_collections()

See app/README.md for full tool parameter documentation.

🚀 Setup

Prerequisites

  • Python 3.14+
  • uv for dependency management (Poetry is NOT used)
  • Internet connection for GovInfo API access
  • GovInfo API key (set GOVINFO_API_KEY in your environment)
  • Ubuntu/Linux recommended (all commands below are for bash)

Installation

  1. Clone the repository and navigate to the GovInfo project directory:

    git clone 
cd GovInfo

  2. Install dependencies (creates a project-local .venv from the committed uv.lock):

    uv sync

  3. Set your GovInfo API key:

    export GOVINFO_API_KEY=your_api_key_here

  4. (Optional) Copy .env.example to .env and edit as needed.

Running the Server

By default the server speaks STDIO, which is what most local MCP clients expect:

uv run python -m app.server

Or use the VS Code task “Run MCP Server”.

Streamable HTTP (standalone Linux service)

To run the server as a networked ASGI service, either start the exported app with Uvicorn:

uv run uvicorn app.server:app --host 0.0.0.0 --port 8775

or let the entry point select the transport:

MCP_TRANSPORT=http MCP_HOST=0.0.0.0 MCP_PORT=8775 uv run python -m app.server

The MCP endpoint is then http://:8775/mcp and the operational health probe is http://:8775/health. For horizontally scaled deployments set FASTMCP_STATELESS_HTTP=true (or MCP_STATELESS_HTTP=true); to enable Host/Origin request protection set MCP_ALLOWED_HOSTS/MCP_ALLOWED_ORIGINS, and to allow specific browser origins set MCP_CORS_ALLOW_ORIGINS.

Docker

docker compose up --build

The container serves Streamable HTTP on port 8775 and exposes /health for its HEALTHCHECK.

Running Tests

See tests/README.md for details. Typical usage:

uv run pytest

API Usage

See app/README.md for detailed tool documentation and usage examples.

🔗 Links

📝 Notes

  • All code examples are tested and working.
  • File paths use relative references from the project root.
  • All commands use uv run where needed.
  • For Ubuntu/Linux. For Windows, adapt commands as needed.

💖 Support

This project is maintained by travisprall. It is free to use, and support is always optional — but if it saves you time, a coffee is very much appreciated:

📄 License

Copyright © travisprall.

Released under the PolyForm Noncommercial License 1.0.0 (SPDX: PolyForm-Noncommercial-1.0.0). Noncommercial use is permitted; commercial use requires a separate license.

📚 Citation

If you use this software in research, please cite it using the metadata in CITATION.cff.

View the full README on GitHub

Install

This server does not publish a one-line install command.

Open the repository installation guide New to MCP? Start with the mcpskill.org guide →