CycleCalcs Astronomy

Dark moonless observing window

astro_dark_window

Read-onlyIdempotent

The genuinely dark, moonless observing window for a night: astronomical night intersected with the Moon being down, ranked across up to 62 nights with a trend. The right tool for "when should I stargaze / photograph the Milky Way / observe deep-sky objects". Location required. For plain twilight times use astro_sun.

Input Schema

Name	Required	Description
`tz`	No	IANA timezone like "Europe/Lisbon" to render event times in local time. Optional; a resolved place supplies its own timezone.
`lat`	No	Latitude in decimal degrees, north positive. Send lat and lon together.
`lon`	No	Longitude in decimal degrees, east positive (Lisbon is about -9.14). Send lat and lon together.
`date`	No	Night to start from. ISO 8601 UTC date or datetime, e.g. "2026-08-06" or "2026-08-06T21:00:00Z". With a location, a bare date means that date there: its day, its evening and its night. Or jd: followed by a Julian Day on the UT scale, e.g. "jd:2461000.5". On astro_positions, date may list up to 24 datetimes separated by commas, answered in the order sent. Omit for the current moment. Years 1700 to 2200 only; outside that range the API refuses with DATE_OUT_OF_RANGE because the ephemeris is not reliable there.
`place`	No	The place NAME only, one to three words, instead of lat/lon: "City" or "City,CC" with an ISO country code, e.g. "Lisbon,PT". Never a question or a sentence. Resolved server-side; the response then carries a required GeoNames CC BY 4.0 credit in its attribution field, which must be preserved when shown.
`nights`	No	How many nights to evaluate and rank. Default 1.
`moon_illumination_max`	No	Treat the Moon as tolerable below this illuminated fraction (0..1) even when up.

Output Schema

Name	Required	Description
`data`	Yes	The best genuinely dark observing windows across a range of nights.
`rights`	No	Either unrestricted, or attribution_required when third-party place data was used. When attribution_required, the attribution line must be shown.
`warnings`	No	Machine-readable notices about this answer. Present only when non-empty. Never changes whether the call succeeded.
`attribution`	No	The credit line to display verbatim when rights is attribution_required.
`next_cursor`	No	Present only when more rows exist. Send it back with the SAME start/end arguments as the first call to get the next page.
`not_computed`	No	Data this API deliberately does not serve, and why. Present only when the question touched such a field. An absence named here is information: treat it as "withheld", never as "none exists".

Schema Changelog

Changes observed during successful MCP inspections.

Changed1 schema field changedOct 23, 2026

changedInput schema / properties / place / description

Previous value: -"Place name instead of lat/lon, as \"City\" or \"City,CC\" with an ISO country code, e.g. \"Lisbon,PT\". Resolved server-side; the response then carries a required GeoNames CC BY 4.0 credit in its attribution field, which must be preserved when shown."New value: +"The place NAME only, one to three words, instead of lat/lon: \"City\" or \"City,CC\" with an ISO country code, e.g. \"Lisbon,PT\". Never a question or a sentence. Resolved server-side; the response then carries a required GeoNames CC BY 4.0 credit in its attribution field, which must be preserved when shown."

Changed1 schema field changedOct 23, 2026

changedInput schema / properties / date / description

Previous value: -"Night to start from. ISO 8601 UTC date or datetime, e.g. \"2026-08-06\" or \"2026-08-06T21:00:00Z\". Or jd: followed by a Julian Day on the UT scale, e.g. \"jd:2461000.5\". On astro_positions, date may list up to 24 datetimes separated by commas, answered in the order sent. Omit for the current moment. Years 1700 to 2200 only; outside that range the API refuses with DATE_OUT_OF_RANGE because the ephemeris is not reliable there."New value: +"Night to start from. ISO 8601 UTC date or datetime, e.g. \"2026-08-06\" or \"2026-08-06T21:00:00Z\". With a location, a bare date means that date there: its day, its evening and its night. Or jd: followed by a Julian Day on the UT scale, e.g. \"jd:2461000.5\". On astro_positions, date may list up to 24 datetimes separated by commas, answered in the order sent. Omit for the current moment. Years 1700 to 2200 only; outside that range the API refuses with DATE_OUT_OF_RANGE because the ephemeris is not reliable there."

Changed1 schema field changedSep 27, 2026

changedInput schema / properties / date / description

Previous value: -"Night to start from. ISO 8601 UTC date or datetime, e.g. \"2026-08-06\" or \"2026-08-06T21:00:00Z\". Omit for the current moment. Years 1700 to 2200 only; outside that range the API refuses with DATE_OUT_OF_RANGE because the ephemeris is not reliable there."New value: +"Night to start from. ISO 8601 UTC date or datetime, e.g. \"2026-08-06\" or \"2026-08-06T21:00:00Z\". Or jd: followed by a Julian Day on the UT scale, e.g. \"jd:2461000.5\". On astro_positions, date may list up to 24 datetimes separated by commas, answered in the order sent. Omit for the current moment. Years 1700 to 2200 only; outside that range the API refuses with DATE_OUT_OF_RANGE because the ephemeris is not reliable there."

Changed1 schema field changedAug 9, 2026

changedOutput schema / (root)

Previous value: -nullNew value: +{
+  "additionalProperties": true,
+  "description": "The MCP projection of a CycleCalcs v2 response: the answer, plus the provenance a caller needs to use it honestly.",
+  "properties": {
+    "attribution": {
+      "description": "The credit line to display verbatim when rights is attribution_required.",
+      "type": "string"
+    },
+    "data": {
+      "additionalProperties": true,
+      "description": "The best genuinely dark observing windows across a range of nights.",
+      "properties": {
+        "best_night_index": {
+          "description": "Index into `nights` of the best one.",
+          "type": "integer"
+        },
+        "high_latitude_caution": {
+          "description": "True when latitude makes true darkness scarce or absent, so the ranking means less.",
+          "type": "boolean"
+        },
+        "high_latitude_note": {
+          "description": "The explanation when that caution is set.",
+          "type": [
+            "string",
+            "null"
+          ]
+        },
+        "method": {
+          "description": "How darkness was defined and how nights were ranked.",
+          "type": "object"
+        },
+        "nights": {
+          "description": "Each night with its dark window and what the Moon does to it.",
+          "type": "array"
+        },
+        "ranked": {
+          "description": "Night indices best to worst.",
+          "type": "array"
+        },
+        "summary": {
+          "description": "The recommendation in brief.",
+          "type": "object"
+        }
+      },
+      "type": "object"
+    },
+    "next_cursor": {
+      "description": "Present only when more rows exist. Send it back with the SAME start/end arguments as the first call to get the next page.",
+      "type": "string"
+    },
+    "not_computed": {
+      "description": "Data this API deliberately does not serve, and why. Present only when the question touched such a field. An absence named here is information: treat it as \"withheld\", never as \"none exists\".",
+      "type": "array"
+    },
+    "rights": {
+      "description": "Either unrestricted, or attribution_required when third-party place data was used. When attribution_required, the attribution line must be shown.",
+      "type": "string"
+    },
+    "warnings": {
+      "description": "Machine-readable notices about this answer. Present only when non-empty. Never changes whether the call succeeded.",
+      "type": "array"
+    }
+  },
+  "required": [
+    "data"
+  ],
+  "type": "object"
+}

First observedAug 9, 2026

TDQS

A4.3/5.0

Behavior3/5

Does the description disclose side effects, auth requirements, rate limits, or destructive behavior?

Annotations already declare readOnly, idempotent, non-destructive, and closed-world, so the safety profile is covered. The description adds that results are ranked across up to 62 nights with a trend and that a location is mandatory — useful beyond the annotations — but says nothing about timezone/attribution behavior or the empties (e.g. nights with no astronomical darkness), which matters at high latitudes.

Agents need to know what a tool does to the world before calling it. Descriptions should go beyond structured annotations to explain consequences.

Conciseness5/5

Is the description appropriately sized, front-loaded, and free of redundancy?

Three sentences, front-loaded with the definition, then selection guidance, then the exclusion. Nothing is redundant and the ordering matches how an agent decides whether to call.

Shorter descriptions cost fewer tokens and are easier for agents to parse. Every sentence should earn its place.

Completeness5/5

Given the tool's complexity, does the description cover enough for an agent to succeed on first attempt?

An output schema exists so return values need not be described, annotations cover safety, and the schema documents all seven parameters. Combined with the description's purpose, intents, location prerequisite, and sibling routing, an agent has everything needed to call it correctly.

Complex tools with many parameters or behaviors need more documentation. Simple tools need less. This dimension scales expectations accordingly.

Parameters3/5

Does the description clarify parameter syntax, constraints, interactions, or defaults beyond what the schema provides?

Schema coverage is 100%, so baseline 3 applies; the schema already explains tz, lat/lon, date, nights, and moon_illumination_max in detail. The description's only added semantic is 'Location required', which usefully flags the anyOf constraint, but it does not explain nights ranking or the moon tolerance beyond what the schema says.

Input schemas describe structure but not intent. Descriptions should explain non-obvious parameter relationships and valid value ranges.

Purpose5/5

Does the description clearly state what the tool does and how it differs from similar tools?

States a specific composite resource — astronomical night intersected with the Moon being down — plus scope (ranked across up to 62 nights with a trend). It explicitly names the sibling it is not (astro_sun for plain twilight times), so an agent can separate the two without opening either schema.

Agents choose between tools based on descriptions. A clear purpose with a specific verb and resource helps agents select the right tool.

Usage Guidelines5/5

Does the description explain when to use this tool, when not to, or what alternatives exist?

Gives concrete user intents it serves (stargazing, Milky Way photography, deep-sky observing) and an explicit alternative with the condition that selects it: 'For plain twilight times use astro_sun.' It also states the location prerequisite up front.

Agents often have multiple tools that could apply. Explicit usage guidance like "use X instead of Y when Z" prevents misuse.

All CycleCalcs Astronomy tools Inspect

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