Animal Checklist

Search animals

search_animals

Read-onlyIdempotent

Search species by free text in any of eight languages or by scientific name, with optional category, habitat and ISO country filters. Ranked by iNaturalist observations. One page of card-sized records.

Tool call template

This tool declares no required parameters. Add optional parameters from the input schema as needed.

{
  "id": 1,
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "method": "tools/call",
  "params": {
    "arguments": {},
    "name": "search_animals"
  }
}

Input Schema

Name	Required	Description	Default
`q`	No	Free text, for example `red fox` or `Vulpes`.
`per`	No
`lang`	No	Display language.	en
`page`	No
`country`	No	ISO 3166-1 alpha-2.
`habitat`	No
`category`	No

Output Schema

Name	Required	Description	Default
`per`	Yes
`page`	Yes
`items`	Yes
`total`	Yes

Schema Changelog

Changes observed during successful MCP inspections.

Changed4 schema fields changedOct 1, 2026
- changedOutput schema / properties / items / items / properties / image / type
```
Previous value: -"object"New value: +[
+  "object",
+  "null"
+]
```
- addedOutput schema / properties / items / items / properties / sourceUrl
```
Added value: +{
+  "format": "uri",
+  "type": "string"
+}
```
- removedOutput schema / properties / items / items / properties / taxonRank / enum
```
Removed value: -[
-  "species",
-  "subspecies"
-]
```
- addedOutput schema / properties / items / items / properties / tickable
```
Added value: +{
+  "description": "Whether a new checklist sighting is allowed.",
+  "type": "boolean"
+}
```

Changed4 schema fields changedOct 1, 2026

changedOutput schema / properties / items / items / description

Previous value: -"Card-sized species record used by list and search answers."New value: +"Card-sized animal taxon used by list and search answers."

changedOutput schema / properties / items / items / properties / id / description

Previous value: -"Slug of the species, for example `red-fox`."New value: +"Slug of the animal taxon, for example `red-fox`."

addedOutput schema / properties / items / items / properties / parentNameSci

Added value: +{
+  "description": "Parent species scientific name for a subspecies. Null for species.",
+  "type": [
+    "string",
+    "null"
+  ]
+}

addedOutput schema / properties / items / items / properties / taxonRank

Added value: +{
+  "default": "species",
+  "description": "Taxonomic rank. Legacy records default to species.",
+  "enum": [
+    "species",
+    "subspecies"
+  ],
+  "type": "string"
+}

First observedSep 26, 2026

TDQS

A4.2/5.0

Behavior4/5

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

Annotations already declare readOnly, idempotent, non-destructive and closed-world, so safety is covered. The description adds real context beyond them: results are ranked by iNaturalist observations and returned as a single page of card-sized records, which tells the agent about ordering and pagination shape.

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 dense sentences, front-loaded with the search capability, then ranking, then result shape. No filler or restatement of the tool name.

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

Completeness4/5

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 explained, and the description still usefully notes ranking and page size. The only gap is the interplay between per and page for pagination, though that is partially covered by the schema.

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 description coverage is only 43%, so the description must compensate, and it does: it maps free text, language, scientific name, category, habitat and ISO country to the parameters. It does not explain the per/page sizes or limits, which remain only in the schema, so this falls just short of full compensation.

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 (search) and resource (species) plus the matching modes (free text in eight languages, scientific name) and filter dimensions. An agent can tell it apart from get_animal, list_categories and list_countries, which are single-item or enumeration lookups rather than searches.

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

Usage Guidelines3/5

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

Usage is implied by 'search ... with optional ... filters', and the sibling names make it inferable that this is the discovery entry point, but there is no explicit when-to-use, when-not-to-use, or named alternative (e.g. use get_animal once you have an id).

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

All Animal Checklist tools Inspect

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