Payments Law — EU payments legislation

Read and compare legal definitions

get_defined_term

Read-onlyIdempotent

Use this to read and compare the held legislative definitions of a term, such as payment transaction in PSD2 and PSR. These are source definitions, not a general dictionary or a legal opinion. Every definition verbatim and resolved, clustered by what the text actually says, with the chronological and concurrent views and word-level comparisons between them. Resolution follows the CITED version, never legislative succession: a definition citing a repealed act resolves to that act and is labelled repealed, not silently replaced by its successor's wording. A term the corpus does not define is refused with suggestions — nothing is substituted. references_in gives the reverse edges: which definitions lean on this one.

Input Schema

TableJSON Schema

Name	Required	Description
`term`	Yes	The defined term, as written in the legislation ("payment account"). Matched exactly after normalisation; a term the corpus does not define is refused with suggestions, never answered with a neighbouring one.
`view`	No	Which text clusters and comparisons run on. "resolved" (default) follows each definition's pointers to its root; "verbatim" uses the text as each instrument prints it.
`on_date`	No	ISO date. Adds operative_on_date and temporal_state_on_date per definer, and makes the concurrent view that date's rather than the release's.
`comparison`	No	Which comparisons to compute. "adjacent" (default) compares consecutive distinct clusters in chronological order; {baseline: cluster_id} compares one cluster against every other; {pair: [cite, cite]} compares two named definitions; {concurrent_pairs: {}} compares every pair that was in force at once.
`instrument`	No	Narrow the definitions listed to one definer. The clusters, views and comparisons stay corpus-wide: what the term means elsewhere does not change because you asked about one instrument.

Output Schema

TableJSON Schema

Name	Required	Description	Default
`data`	Yes
`error`	Yes
`coverage`	Yes
`warnings`	Yes
`pagination`	Yes
`provenance`	Yes
`derivations`	Yes
`corpus_release`	Yes

Schema Changelog

Changes observed during successful MCP inspections.

Changed6 schema fields changedOct 4, 2026

changedInput schema / properties / comparison / anyOf

Previous value: -[
-  {
-    "anyOf": [
-      {
-        "const": "adjacent",
-        "type": "string"
-      },
-      {
-        "properties": {
-          "baseline": {
-            "type": "string"
-          }
-        },
-        "required": [
-          "baseline"
-        ],
-        "type": "object"
-      },
-      {
-        "properties": {
-          "pair": {
-            "items": false,
-            "maxItems": 2,
-            "minItems": 2,
-            "prefixItems": [
-              {
-                "type": "string"
-              },
-              {
-                "type": "string"
-              }
-            ],
-            "type": "array"
-          }
-        },
-        "required": [
-          "pair"
-        ],
-        "type": "object"
-      },
-      {
-        "properties": {
-          "concurrent_pairs": {
-            "properties": {
-              "cursor": {
-                "type": [
-                  "string",
-                  "null"
-                ]
-              }
-            },
-            "type": "object"
-          }
-        },
-        "required": [
-          "concurrent_pairs"
-        ],
-        "type": "object"
-      }
-    ]
-  },
-  {
-    "type": "null"
-  }
-]New value: +[
+  {
+    "anyOf": [
+      {
+        "const": "adjacent",
+        "type": "string"
+      },
+      {
+        "properties": {
+          "baseline": {
+            "maxLength": 64,
+            "pattern": "^[0-9a-f]+$",
+            "type": "string"
+          }
+        },
+        "required": [
+          "baseline"
+        ],
+        "type": "object"
+      },
+      {
+        "properties": {
+          "pair": {
+            "items": false,
+            "maxItems": 2,
+            "minItems": 2,
+            "prefixItems": [
+              {
+                "maxLength": 128,
+                "pattern": "^[A-Za-z0-9 ()-]+$",
+                "type": "string"
+              },
+              {
+                "maxLength": 128,
+                "pattern": "^[A-Za-z0-9 ()-]+$",
+                "type": "string"
+              }
+            ],
+            "type": "array"
+          }
+        },
+        "required": [
+          "pair"
+        ],
+        "type": "object"
+      },
+      {
+        "properties": {
+          "concurrent_pairs": {
+            "properties": {
+              "cursor": {
+                "anyOf": [
+                  {
+                    "maxLength": 512,
+                    "pattern": "^[A-Za-z0-9_-]+$",
+                    "type": "string"
+                  },
+                  {
+                    "type": "null"
+                  }
+                ]
+              }
+            },
+            "type": "object"
+          }
+        },
+        "required": [
+          "concurrent_pairs"
+        ],
+        "type": "object"
+      }
+    ]
+  },
+  {
+    "type": "null"
+  }
+]

addedInput schema / properties / instrument / anyOf

Added value: +[
+  {
+    "maxLength": 64,
+    "pattern": "^[a-z0-9]+(?:-[a-z0-9]+)*$",
+    "type": "string"
+  },
+  {
+    "type": "null"
+  }
+]

removedInput schema / properties / instrument / type
```
Removed value: -[
-  "string",
-  "null"
-]
```

addedInput schema / properties / on_date / anyOf

Added value: +[
+  {
+    "maxLength": 32,
+    "type": "string"
+  },
+  {
+    "type": "null"
+  }
+]

removedInput schema / properties / on_date / type
```
Removed value: -[
-  "string",
-  "null"
-]
```
addedInput schema / properties / term / maxLength
```
Added value: +256
```

Changed7 schema fields changedSep 20, 2026

changedInput schema / properties / comparison / anyOf

Previous value: -[
-  {
-    "anyOf": [
-      {
-        "const": "adjacent",
-        "type": "string"
-      },
-      {
-        "properties": {
-          "baseline": {
-            "type": "string"
-          }
-        },
-        "required": [
-          "baseline"
-        ],
-        "type": "object"
-      },
-      {
-        "properties": {
-          "pair": {
-            "prefixItems": [
-              {
-                "type": "string"
-              },
-              {
-                "type": "string"
-              }
-            ],
-            "type": "array"
-          }
-        },
-        "required": [
-          "pair"
-        ],
-        "type": "object"
-      },
-      {
-        "properties": {
-          "concurrent_pairs": {
-            "properties": {
-              "cursor": {
-                "anyOf": [
-                  {
-                    "type": "string"
-                  },
-                  {
-                    "type": "null"
-                  }
-                ]
-              }
-            },
-            "type": "object"
-          }
-        },
-        "required": [
-          "concurrent_pairs"
-        ],
-        "type": "object"
-      }
-    ]
-  },
-  {
-    "type": "null"
-  }
-]New value: +[
+  {
+    "anyOf": [
+      {
+        "const": "adjacent",
+        "type": "string"
+      },
+      {
+        "properties": {
+          "baseline": {
+            "type": "string"
+          }
+        },
+        "required": [
+          "baseline"
+        ],
+        "type": "object"
+      },
+      {
+        "properties": {
+          "pair": {
+            "items": false,
+            "maxItems": 2,
+            "minItems": 2,
+            "prefixItems": [
+              {
+                "type": "string"
+              },
+              {
+                "type": "string"
+              }
+            ],
+            "type": "array"
+          }
+        },
+        "required": [
+          "pair"
+        ],
+        "type": "object"
+      },
+      {
+        "properties": {
+          "concurrent_pairs": {
+            "properties": {
+              "cursor": {
+                "type": [
+                  "string",
+                  "null"
+                ]
+              }
+            },
+            "type": "object"
+          }
+        },
+        "required": [
+          "concurrent_pairs"
+        ],
+        "type": "object"
+      }
+    ]
+  },
+  {
+    "type": "null"
+  }
+]

removedInput schema / properties / instrument / anyOf

Removed value: -[
-  {
-    "type": "string"
-  },
-  {
-    "type": "null"
-  }
-]

addedInput schema / properties / instrument / type
```
Added value: +[
+  "string",
+  "null"
+]
```

removedInput schema / properties / on_date / anyOf

Removed value: -[
-  {
-    "type": "string"
-  },
-  {
-    "type": "null"
-  }
-]

addedInput schema / properties / on_date / type
```
Added value: +[
+  "string",
+  "null"
+]
```

changedOutput schema / properties / data / anyOf

Previous value: -[
-  {
-    "additionalProperties": {},
-    "properties": {
-      "clusters": {
-        "items": {
-          "additionalProperties": {},
-          "properties": {
-            "cluster_id": {
-              "type": "string"
-            },
-            "member_cites": {
-              "items": {
-                "type": "string"
-              },
-              "type": "array"
-            }
-          },
-          "required": [
-            "cluster_id",
-            "member_cites"
-          ],
-          "type": "object"
-        },
-        "type": "array"
-      },
-      "comparisons": {
-        "items": {
-          "additionalProperties": {},
-          "properties": {
-            "from_cite": {
-              "type": "string"
-            },
-            "ops": {
-              "anyOf": [
-                {
-                  "items": {
-                    "prefixItems": [
-                      {
-                        "type": "string"
-                      },
-                      {
-                        "type": "string"
-                      }
-                    ],
-                    "type": "array"
-                  },
-                  "type": "array"
-                },
-                {
-                  "type": "null"
-                }
-              ]
-            },
-            "to_cite": {
-              "type": "string"
-            }
-          },
-          "required": [
-            "from_cite",
-            "to_cite",
-            "ops"
-          ],
-          "type": "object"
-        },
-        "type": "array"
-      },
-      "definitions": {
-        "items": {
-          "additionalProperties": {},
-          "properties": {
-            "cite": {
-              "type": "string"
-            },
-            "defined_within": {
-              "anyOf": [
-                {
-                  "type": "string"
-                },
-                {
-                  "type": "null"
-                }
-              ]
-            },
-            "instrument_id": {
-              "type": "string"
-            },
-            "qualifier": {
-              "anyOf": [
-                {
-                  "type": "string"
-                },
-                {
-                  "type": "null"
-                }
-              ]
-            },
-            "resolution_status": {
-              "type": "string"
-            },
-            "resolved_definition": {
-              "type": "string"
-            },
-            "verbatim_definition": {
-              "type": "string"
-            }
-          },
-          "required": [
-            "instrument_id",
-            "qualifier",
-            "defined_within",
-            "cite",
-            "verbatim_definition",
-            "resolved_definition",
-            "resolution_status"
-          ],
-          "type": "object"
-        },
-        "type": "array"
-      },
-      "references_in": {
-        "items": {
-          "additionalProperties": {},
-          "properties": {
-            "cite": {
-              "type": "string"
-            },
-            "instrument_id": {
-              "type": "string"
-            }
-          },
-          "required": [
-            "instrument_id",
-            "cite"
-          ],
-          "type": "object"
-        },
-        "type": "array"
-      },
-      "term": {
-        "type": "string"
-      },
-      "view": {
-        "type": "string"
-      },
-      "views": {
-        "additionalProperties": {},
-        "properties": {
-          "concurrent": {
-            "items": {
-              "additionalProperties": {},
-              "properties": {
-                "cite": {
-                  "type": "string"
-                }
-              },
-              "required": [
-                "cite"
-              ],
-              "type": "object"
-            },
-            "type": "array"
-          },
-          "evolution": {
-            "items": {
-              "additionalProperties": {},
-              "properties": {
-                "cite": {
-                  "type": "string"
-                }
-              },
-              "required": [
-                "cite"
-              ],
-              "type": "object"
-            },
-            "type": "array"
-          }
-        },
-        "required": [
-          "evolution",
-          "concurrent"
-        ],
-        "type": "object"
-      }
-    },
-    "required": [
-      "term",
-      "view",
-      "definitions",
-      "clusters",
-      "views",
-      "comparisons",
-      "references_in"
-    ],
-    "type": "object"
-  },
-  {
-    "type": "null"
-  }
-]New value: +[
+  {
+    "additionalProperties": {},
+    "properties": {
+      "clusters": {
+        "items": {
+          "additionalProperties": {},
+          "properties": {
+            "cluster_id": {
+              "type": "string"
+            },
+            "member_cites": {
+              "items": {
+                "type": "string"
+              },
+              "type": "array"
+            }
+          },
+          "required": [
+            "cluster_id",
+            "member_cites"
+          ],
+          "type": "object"
+        },
+        "type": "array"
+      },
+      "comparisons": {
+        "items": {
+          "additionalProperties": {},
+          "properties": {
+            "from_cite": {
+              "type": "string"
+            },
+            "ops": {
+              "anyOf": [
+                {
+                  "items": {
+                    "items": false,
+                    "maxItems": 2,
+                    "minItems": 2,
+                    "prefixItems": [
+                      {
+                        "type": "string"
+                      },
+                      {
+                        "type": "string"
+                      }
+                    ],
+                    "type": "array"
+                  },
+                  "type": "array"
+                },
+                {
+                  "type": "null"
+                }
+              ]
+            },
+            "to_cite": {
+              "type": "string"
+            }
+          },
+          "required": [
+            "from_cite",
+            "to_cite",
+            "ops"
+          ],
+          "type": "object"
+        },
+        "type": "array"
+      },
+      "definitions": {
+        "items": {
+          "additionalProperties": {},
+          "properties": {
+            "cite": {
+              "type": "string"
+            },
+            "defined_within": {
+              "type": [
+                "string",
+                "null"
+              ]
+            },
+            "instrument_id": {
+              "type": "string"
+            },
+            "qualifier": {
+              "type": [
+                "string",
+                "null"
+              ]
+            },
+            "resolution_status": {
+              "type": "string"
+            },
+            "resolved_definition": {
+              "type": "string"
+            },
+            "verbatim_definition": {
+              "type": "string"
+            }
+          },
+          "required": [
+            "instrument_id",
+            "qualifier",
+            "defined_within",
+            "cite",
+            "verbatim_definition",
+            "resolved_definition",
+            "resolution_status"
+          ],
+          "type": "object"
+        },
+        "type": "array"
+      },
+      "references_in": {
+        "items": {
+          "additionalProperties": {},
+          "properties": {
+            "cite": {
+              "type": "string"
+            },
+            "instrument_id": {
+              "type": "string"
+            }
+          },
+          "required": [
+            "instrument_id",
+            "cite"
+          ],
+          "type": "object"
+        },
+        "type": "array"
+      },
+      "term": {
+        "type": "string"
+      },
+      "view": {
+        "type": "string"
+      },
+      "views": {
+        "additionalProperties": {},
+        "properties": {
+          "concurrent": {
+            "items": {
+              "additionalProperties": {},
+              "properties": {
+                "cite": {
+                  "type": "string"
+                }
+              },
+              "required": [
+                "cite"
+              ],
+              "type": "object"
+            },
+            "type": "array"
+          },
+          "evolution": {
+            "items": {
+              "additionalProperties": {},
+              "properties": {
+                "cite": {
+                  "type": "string"
+                }
+              },
+              "required": [
+                "cite"
+              ],
+              "type": "object"
+            },
+            "type": "array"
+          }
+        },
+        "required": [
+          "evolution",
+          "concurrent"
+        ],
+        "type": "object"
+      }
+    },
+    "required": [
+      "term",
+      "view",
+      "definitions",
+      "clusters",
+      "views",
+      "comparisons",
+      "references_in"
+    ],
+    "type": "object"
+  },
+  {
+    "type": "null"
+  }
+]

changedOutput schema / properties / pagination / anyOf

Previous value: -[
-  {
-    "additionalProperties": false,
-    "properties": {
-      "complete": {
-        "type": "boolean"
-      },
-      "next_cursor": {
-        "anyOf": [
-          {
-            "type": "string"
-          },
-          {
-            "type": "null"
-          }
-        ]
-      },
-      "total": {
-        "type": "number"
-      }
-    },
-    "required": [
-      "complete",
-      "next_cursor"
-    ],
-    "type": "object"
-  },
-  {
-    "type": "null"
-  }
-]New value: +[
+  {
+    "additionalProperties": false,
+    "properties": {
+      "complete": {
+        "type": "boolean"
+      },
+      "next_cursor": {
+        "type": [
+          "string",
+          "null"
+        ]
+      },
+      "total": {
+        "type": "number"
+      }
+    },
+    "required": [
+      "complete",
+      "next_cursor"
+    ],
+    "type": "object"
+  },
+  {
+    "type": "null"
+  }
+]

First observedSep 6, 2026

TDQS

A4.6/5.0

Behavior5/5

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

Annotations already declare readOnly/idempotent/non-destructive, so the bar is met cheaply, yet the description adds substantial behavior beyond them: verbatim resolution, clustering by text, chronological and concurrent views, refusal-with-suggestions on undefined terms, repealed-citation labelling, and the references_in reverse edges.

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

Conciseness4/5

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

Front-loaded with the purpose and then packed with dense, non-redundant detail about resolution and refusal rules. Sentences are long but each carries distinct information; only minor tightening is possible.

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?

With an output schema present, return values need not be spelled out, yet the description still covers the key response semantics (clustering, views, references_in). For a 5-parameter analytical tool, nothing an agent needs to call it correctly is missing.

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

Parameters4/5

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

Schema coverage is 100%, so the baseline is 3, but the description goes further by explaining the semantic intent of the parameters — the resolved-vs-verbatim view distinction, the four comparison modes, and notably that narrowing by instrument leaves clusters/views/comparisons corpus-wide.

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 verb+resource (read and compare held legislative definitions of a term) with a concrete example (payment transaction in PSD2/PSR), and immediately delimits scope by distinguishing source definitions from a dictionary or legal opinion. An agent can tell this apart from search_defined_terms or compare_versions.

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

Usage Guidelines4/5

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

Gives clear context: it reads and compares held definitions, refuses undefined terms with suggestions rather than substituting, and resolves via cited version rather than legislative succession. It does not, however, explicitly name when to reach for a sibling such as search_defined_terms instead, leaving that routing to inference.

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

All Payments Law — EU payments legislation tools Inspect

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