gdelt-mcp-server

List GDELT TV Stations

gdelt_list_tv_stations

Read-only

List the television stations available for TV search with their market, network, monitoring start date, and monitoring end date — every station by default, or only those matching the optional stations, network, and market filters (each an exact, case-insensitive match; combined with AND). activeCount and totalCount count the returned stations. Stations with an end date within the last 24 hours are flagged as active; stations with earlier end dates are discontinued. Use before querying to verify a station was active during the target time period, or to discover valid station IDs for the stations parameter in other TV tools. Archive coverage varies by station; check each station’s monitoring date range. Use the returned network values with network: and market values with quoted market: selectors in TV queries.

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": "gdelt_list_tv_stations"
  }
}

Input Schema

Name	Required	Description
`market`	No	Market to narrow to (e.g. "National", "San Francisco"), matched as a whole value case-insensitively after trimming — "National" does not match "NationalSpecialty". Values come from the market field of the unfiltered list. Blank is ignored.
`network`	No	Network to narrow to (e.g. "CNN", "ABC"), matched as a whole value case-insensitively after trimming — "FOX" does not match "FOXNEWS". Values come from the network field of the unfiltered list. Blank is ignored.
`stations`	No	Station IDs to return (e.g. ["CNN", "FOXNEWS", "MSNBC"]) — the IDs the stations parameter of the other TV tools takes. Matches any listed ID, exactly and case-insensitively after trimming; IDs that match no station are named in the notice. Blank entries are ignored; omit it or pass [] to include every station.

Output Schema

Name	Required	Description
`error`	No	Present when the call failed. Absent on success.
`notice`	No	Filter outcome: names the filters when no station matched, and names requested station IDs that are not in the catalog or that another filter excluded. Absent when every requested ID was returned and the result is not empty.
`stations`	No	Stations matching every supplied filter — all stations when none is given — sorted by station ID.
`totalCount`	No	Number of stations returned — the whole catalog when no filter is given.
`activeCount`	No	Number of returned stations currently flagged as active.
`staleResponse`	No	Present only when the refetch of this exact request was refused, failed, or came back empty, and the response is GDELT's stored answer from fetchedAt instead. It holds nothing published after fetchedAt; a relative timespan covers the window ending at fetchedAt, not now. Absent on a live answer.

Schema Changelog

Changes observed during successful MCP inspections.

Changed1 schema field changedNov 1, 2026

addedOutput schema / properties / staleResponse

Added value: +{
+  "additionalProperties": false,
+  "description": "Present only when the refetch of this exact request was refused, failed, or came back empty, and the response is GDELT's stored answer from fetchedAt instead. It holds nothing published after fetchedAt; a relative timespan covers the window ending at fetchedAt, not now. Absent on a live answer.",
+  "properties": {
+    "ageSeconds": {
+      "description": "Age of the stored answer when served, in whole seconds.",
+      "type": "number"
+    },
+    "fetchedAt": {
+      "description": "ISO 8601 time GDELT returned the stored answer.",
+      "type": "string"
+    },
+    "reason": {
+      "description": "Why the refetch was not used: GDELT rate-limited it, did not answer with data, or answered empty — which GDELT also does under load.",
+      "enum": [
+        "gdelt_rate_limited",
+        "gdelt_unavailable",
+        "gdelt_empty"
+      ],
+      "type": "string"
+    }
+  },
+  "required": [
+    "fetchedAt",
+    "ageSeconds",
+    "reason"
+  ],
+  "type": "object"
+}

Changed9 schema fields changedSep 24, 2026

addedInput schema / properties / market

Added value: +{
+  "description": "Market to narrow to (e.g. \"National\", \"San Francisco\"), matched as a whole value case-insensitively after trimming — \"National\" does not match \"NationalSpecialty\". Values come from the market field of the unfiltered list. Blank is ignored.",
+  "type": "string"
+}

addedInput schema / properties / network

Added value: +{
+  "description": "Network to narrow to (e.g. \"CNN\", \"ABC\"), matched as a whole value case-insensitively after trimming — \"FOX\" does not match \"FOXNEWS\". Values come from the network field of the unfiltered list. Blank is ignored.",
+  "type": "string"
+}

addedInput schema / properties / stations

Added value: +{
+  "description": "Station IDs to return (e.g. [\"CNN\", \"FOXNEWS\", \"MSNBC\"]) — the IDs the stations parameter of the other TV tools takes. Matches any listed ID, exactly and case-insensitively after trimming; IDs that match no station are named in the notice. Blank entries are ignored; omit it or pass [] to include every station.",
+  "items": {
+    "type": "string"
+  },
+  "type": "array"
+}

changedOutput schema / properties / activeCount / description

Previous value: -"Number of stations currently flagged as active."New value: +"Number of returned stations currently flagged as active."

changedOutput schema / properties / error / properties / data / properties / reason / description

Previous value: -"Machine-readable failure mode. Declared by this tool: `no_stations`: The station list returned empty — API may be temporarily unavailable. `gdelt_rate_limited`: GDELT rejected the request for its one-request-per-five-seconds limit, or too many requests were already queued for this one to start in time. `gdelt_unavailable`: GDELT TV API is unreachable or temporarily returned no usable data. Other values are possible when a failure originates below the handler."New value: +"Machine-readable failure mode. Declared by this tool: `gdelt_rate_limited`: GDELT rejected the request for its one-request-per-five-seconds limit, or too many requests were already queued for this one to start in time. `gdelt_unavailable`: GDELT TV API is unreachable or temporarily returned no usable data, including an empty station catalog. Other values are possible when a failure originates below the handler."

changedOutput schema / properties / error / properties / data / properties / reason / examples

Previous value: -[
-  "no_stations",
-  "gdelt_rate_limited",
-  "gdelt_unavailable"
-]New value: +[
+  "gdelt_rate_limited",
+  "gdelt_unavailable"
+]

addedOutput schema / properties / notice

Added value: +{
+  "description": "Filter outcome: names the filters when no station matched, and names requested station IDs that are not in the catalog or that another filter excluded. Absent when every requested ID was returned and the result is not empty.",
+  "type": "string"
+}

changedOutput schema / properties / stations / description

Previous value: -"All TV stations sorted by station ID."New value: +"Stations matching every supplied filter — all stations when none is given — sorted by station ID."

changedOutput schema / properties / totalCount / description

Previous value: -"Total number of stations in the list."New value: +"Number of stations returned — the whole catalog when no filter is given."

Changed1 schema field changedSep 19, 2026

changedOutput schema / properties / error / properties / data / properties / reason / description

Previous value: -"Machine-readable failure mode. Declared by this tool: `no_stations`: The station list returned empty — API may be temporarily unavailable. `gdelt_rate_limited`: GDELT rejected the request because its one-request-per-five-seconds limit was reached. `gdelt_unavailable`: GDELT TV API is unreachable or temporarily returned no usable data. Other values are possible when a failure originates below the handler."New value: +"Machine-readable failure mode. Declared by this tool: `no_stations`: The station list returned empty — API may be temporarily unavailable. `gdelt_rate_limited`: GDELT rejected the request for its one-request-per-five-seconds limit, or too many requests were already queued for this one to start in time. `gdelt_unavailable`: GDELT TV API is unreachable or temporarily returned no usable data. Other values are possible when a failure originates below the handler."

Changed2 schema fields changedAug 30, 2026

changedOutput schema / properties / error / properties / data / properties / reason / description

Previous value: -"Machine-readable failure mode. Declared by this tool: `no_stations`: The station list returned empty — API may be temporarily unavailable. `gdelt_unavailable`: GDELT TV API is unreachable or rate-limited. Other values are possible when a failure originates below the handler."New value: +"Machine-readable failure mode. Declared by this tool: `no_stations`: The station list returned empty — API may be temporarily unavailable. `gdelt_rate_limited`: GDELT rejected the request because its one-request-per-five-seconds limit was reached. `gdelt_unavailable`: GDELT TV API is unreachable or temporarily returned no usable data. Other values are possible when a failure originates below the handler."

changedOutput schema / properties / error / properties / data / properties / reason / examples

Previous value: -[
-  "no_stations",
-  "gdelt_unavailable"
-]New value: +[
+  "no_stations",
+  "gdelt_rate_limited",
+  "gdelt_unavailable"
+]

Changed6 schema fields changedAug 22, 2026

changedInput schema / $schema

Previous value: -"http://json-schema.org/draft-07/schema#"New value: +"https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema"

addedInput schema / additionalProperties
```
Added value: +false
```

changedOutput schema / $schema

Previous value: -"http://json-schema.org/draft-07/schema#"New value: +"https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema"

addedOutput schema / anyOf

Added value: +[
+  {
+    "not": {
+      "required": [
+        "error"
+      ]
+    },
+    "required": [
+      "stations",
+      "activeCount",
+      "totalCount"
+    ]
+  },
+  {
+    "required": [
+      "error"
+    ]
+  }
+]

addedOutput schema / properties / error

Added value: +{
+  "additionalProperties": {},
+  "description": "Present when the call failed. Absent on success.",
+  "properties": {
+    "code": {
+      "description": "JSON-RPC error code for this failure.",
+      "maximum": 9007199254740991,
+      "minimum": -9007199254740991,
+      "type": "integer"
+    },
+    "data": {
+      "additionalProperties": {},
+      "properties": {
+        "reason": {
+          "description": "Machine-readable failure mode. Declared by this tool: `no_stations`: The station list returned empty — API may be temporarily unavailable. `gdelt_unavailable`: GDELT TV API is unreachable or rate-limited. Other values are possible when a failure originates below the handler.",
+          "examples": [
+            "no_stations",
+            "gdelt_unavailable"
+          ],
+          "type": "string"
+        },
+        "recovery": {
+          "additionalProperties": {},
+          "description": "Actionable next step for the caller.",
+          "properties": {
+            "hint": {
+              "type": "string"
+            }
+          },
+          "required": [
+            "hint"
+          ],
+          "type": "object"
+        },
+        "retryable": {
+          "description": "Whether retrying may succeed.",
+          "type": "boolean"
+        }
+      },
+      "type": "object"
+    },
+    "message": {
+      "description": "Human-readable description of what went wrong.",
+      "type": "string"
+    }
+  },
+  "required": [
+    "code",
+    "message"
+  ],
+  "type": "object"
+}

removedOutput schema / required

Removed value: -[
-  "stations",
-  "activeCount",
-  "totalCount"
-]

First observedMay 29, 2026

TDQS

A4.4/5.0

Behavior4/5

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

Annotations already establish a safe read (readOnlyHint true), but the description adds real semantics the annotations cannot: the active/discontinued rule (end date within the last 24 hours = active), what activeCount and totalCount count, and the caveat that archive coverage varies by station. It stops short of describing ordering or any result-size limits, which is the only remaining gap.

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?

The purpose and default behavior lead, followed by filtering, then the active/discontinued rule, then usage guidance — a sensible front-loaded order with no filler. It is a dense single paragraph, slightly long for its payload, but every sentence contributes.

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?

Covers scope, filter combination, the active/discontinued status semantics, the archive-coverage caveat, and the cross-tool workflow; with an output schema present it need not enumerate return fields further. Nothing an agent needs to call this correctly is missing.

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 matching rules, trimming, blank handling, and per-parameter examples are already documented. The description adds only the AND-combination semantics across filters, a modest increment over the schema, so the baseline of 3 applies.

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 (list TV stations) plus the exact fields returned (market, network, monitoring start/end date), and its unfiltered-by-default scope separates it from gdelt_search_tv and gdelt_get_tv_breakdown. An agent can tell immediately this is a metadata/enumeration tool, not a query tool.

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 says when to call it: before querying, to verify a station was active during the target period, or to discover valid station IDs for the stations parameter of other TV tools. It also names the follow-on use of returned values (network: and quoted market: selectors), so both sides of the workflow are covered.

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

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List GDELT TV Stations

Tool call template

Input Schema

Output Schema

Schema Changelog

TDQS

Glama MCP Gateway

Resources