UNESCO UIS — Education, Science & Culture Statistics (provenance-first)

Search UNESCO UIS indicators

uis_search_indicators

Read-onlyIdempotent

Search the UNESCO Institute for Statistics catalogue of ~5,000 indicators — education, science/R&D, culture and communication — by keywords in the name or code, optionally filtered by theme. All terms must match (AND, case-insensitive), so start with 2–3 words and drop terms if you get 0 results. Everyday and US wording is resolved to the UIS's own (enrollment→enrolment, spending→expenditure, preschool→pre-primary, university→tertiary, graduation→completion, girls/boys→female/male); when that happens the response says so in vocabulary_notes. Returns indicator codes to use with uis_get_data, plus each indicator's data availability (years, record count). Searches the catalogue only — it does not return statistical values (use uis_get_data); ILO labour statistics live in the sibling ILOSTAT MCP server.

Input Schema

TableJSON Schema

Name	Required	Description
`limit`	No	Maximum results (default 20)
`query`	Yes	Keywords, matched against indicator name and code, AND between terms (e.g. "literacy rate youth")
`theme`	No	Restrict to one UIS theme
`offset`	No	Results to skip, for pagination (default 0)
`provenance_mode`	No	Provenance verbosity: 'concise' (default — source, url, vintage, retrieval date, citation, license) or 'detailed' (full canonical block with dataset, dimension key and notices)

Output Schema

TableJSON Schema

Name	Required	Description	Default
`hint`	No
`offset`	Yes
`showing`	Yes
`has_more`	Yes
`indicators`	Yes
`provenance`	Yes
`attribution`	Yes
`next_offset`	No
`total_matches`	Yes
`vocabulary_notes`	No

Schema Changelog

Changes observed during successful MCP inspections.

Changed3 schema fields changedSep 16, 2026

changedInput schema / properties / query / description

Previous value: -"Keywords, matched against indicator name and code (e.g. \"literacy rate youth\")"New value: +"Keywords, matched against indicator name and code, AND between terms (e.g. \"literacy rate youth\")"

addedOutput schema / properties / hint
```
Added value: +{
+  "type": "string"
+}
```

addedOutput schema / properties / vocabulary_notes

Added value: +{
+  "items": {
+    "type": "string"
+  },
+  "type": "array"
+}

Changed1 schema field changedSep 11, 2026
- addedInput schema / additionalProperties
```
Added value: +false
```
Changed8 schema fields changedAug 31, 2026
- removedOutput schema / properties / indicators / items / properties / geo_types / anyOf
```
Removed value: -[
-  {
-    "type": "string"
-  },
-  {
-    "type": "null"
-  }
-]
```
- addedOutput schema / properties / indicators / items / properties / geo_types / type
```
Added value: +[
+  "string",
+  "null"
+]
```
- removedOutput schema / properties / indicators / items / properties / last_data_update / anyOf
```
Removed value: -[
-  {
-    "type": "string"
-  },
-  {
-    "type": "null"
-  }
-]
```
- addedOutput schema / properties / indicators / items / properties / last_data_update / type
```
Added value: +[
+  "string",
+  "null"
+]
```
- removedOutput schema / properties / indicators / items / properties / records / anyOf
```
Removed value: -[
-  {
-    "type": "number"
-  },
-  {
-    "type": "null"
-  }
-]
```
- addedOutput schema / properties / indicators / items / properties / records / type
```
Added value: +[
+  "number",
+  "null"
+]
```
- removedOutput schema / properties / indicators / items / properties / years / anyOf
```
Removed value: -[
-  {
-    "type": "string"
-  },
-  {
-    "type": "null"
-  }
-]
```
- addedOutput schema / properties / indicators / items / properties / years / type
```
Added value: +[
+  "string",
+  "null"
+]
```
First observedAug 8, 2026

TDQS

A4.9/5.0

Behavior5/5

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

Beyond the readOnly/idempotent annotations, the description reveals AND semantics, case-insensitivity, vocabulary normalization to UIS terminology, the response's vocabulary_notes field, and the return of data-availability metadata. This substantially enriches the agent's expectations beyond what annotations alone convey.

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?

Four dense, front-loaded sentences with no filler. Every sentence contributes either scope, matching semantics, vocabulary behavior, return content, or routing to alternatives, and the purpose appears immediately in the first sentence.

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?

For a search tool with a rich schema and output schema, the description covers what the tool searches, how matching behaves, how vocabulary is normalized, what the response contains, and how the tool relates to its key siblings. Nothing essential for correct invocation 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?

The input schema already documents all 5 parameters fully, so the baseline is 3. The description adds meaningful semantics for query matching (AND, case-insensitive, vocabulary resolution) and mentions optional theme filtering, going beyond the schema's simple field descriptions.

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 and resource: searching the UNESCO UIS catalogue of ~5,000 indicators by keyword in name or code with optional theme filtering. It links to uis_get_data as the downstream consumer of results, which clearly distinguishes it from siblings.

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?

Explicitly directs users to uis_get_data for statistical values and to the ILOSTAT server for ILO labour data, establishing when not to use this tool. It also gives practical search strategy guidance: start with 2–3 terms and drop terms if 0 results.

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

All UNESCO UIS — Education, Science & Culture Statistics (provenance-first) tools Inspect

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