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openstates-mcp-server

by io.github.cyanheads
OverviewDiscussionsAdmin

List Jurisdictions

openstates_list_jurisdictions
Read-onlyIdempotent

List all jurisdictions covered by Open States — all 50 states, DC, and 5 US territories (American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands): 56 in total, returned complete in a single default call. Returns coverage metadata: latest bill update time, latest people update time, and optionally all legislative sessions with their identifiers. Use this when you need to discover valid session identifiers for a state before calling openstates_search_bills with a session filter. The legislative_sessions include option returns all historical and current sessions — always check valid session identifiers here before using them in bill searches, since formats vary widely by state (e.g., "2025", "2025-2026", "2025rs", "2025s1").

Input Schema

NameRequiredDescriptionDefault
pageNoPage number (1-indexed).
includeNoRelated data to inline. "legislative_sessions" returns all session identifiers and date ranges — required when you need to discover valid session values for bill searches. "organizations" lists the jurisdiction's legislative chambers and executive bodies, and "latest_runs" the recent scraper run history.
per_pageNoResults per page (upstream maximum 52). The default call returns the complete state inventory (56) in one response by fetching and merging the pages server-side; set a smaller value only to page manually.
classificationNoFilter by jurisdiction type. Use "state" (default) for all 50 states, DC, and the 5 US territories.state

Output Schema

NameRequiredDescriptionDefault
pageNoCurrent page returned.
errorNoPresent when the call failed. Absent on success.
maxPageNoTotal pages available.
resultsNoJurisdictions matching the filter.
paginationNoPagination metadata.
totalCountNoTotal jurisdictions matching the filter across all pages.

Schema Changelog

Changes observed during successful MCP inspections.

  1. Changed2 schema fields changed
    • changedOutput schema / properties / error / properties / data / properties / reason / description
      Previous value: -"Machine-readable failure mode. Declared by this tool: `upstream_timeout`: Open States did not answer within the per-request timeout. `invalid_page`: Open States rejected the request as not found — page is past the last page for this classification. Other values are possible when a failure originates below the handler."New value: +"Machine-readable failure mode. Declared by this tool: `upstream_timeout`: Open States did not answer within the per-request timeout. `invalid_page`: Open States rejected the request as not found — page is past the last page for this classification. `rate_limited`: The shared Open States API key reached a request cap — Open States' per-minute or daily limit, or this server's own daily budget. Other values are possible when a failure originates below the handler."
    • changedOutput schema / properties / error / properties / data / properties / reason / examples
      Previous value: -[
-  "upstream_timeout",
-  "invalid_page"
-]New value: +[
+  "upstream_timeout",
+  "invalid_page",
+  "rate_limited"
+]
  2. Changed6 schema fields changed
    • 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": [
+      "results",
+      "pagination",
+      "totalCount",
+      "page",
+      "maxPage"
+    ]
+  },
+  {
+    "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: `upstream_timeout`: Open States did not answer within the per-request timeout. `invalid_page`: Open States rejected the request as not found — page is past the last page for this classification. Other values are possible when a failure originates below the handler.",
+          "examples": [
+            "upstream_timeout",
+            "invalid_page"
+          ],
+          "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: -[
-  "results",
-  "pagination",
-  "totalCount",
-  "page",
-  "maxPage"
-]
  3. Changed3 schema fields changed
    • changedOutput schema / properties / results / items / properties / legislative_sessions / items / properties / classification / description
      Previous value: -"Session type: \"primary\", \"special\", etc."New value: +"Session type: \"primary\", \"special\", etc. Empty string when Open States recorded none, which covers 28% of sessions — 13 jurisdictions carry no classification on any session at all."
    • changedOutput schema / properties / results / items / properties / legislative_sessions / items / properties / end_date / description
      Previous value: -"Session end date."New value: +"Session end date. Empty string when Open States recorded no value; an absent endpoint means unknown, not ongoing."
    • changedOutput schema / properties / results / items / properties / legislative_sessions / items / properties / start_date / description
      Previous value: -"Session start date."New value: +"Session start date. Empty string when Open States recorded no value; an absent endpoint means unknown, not ongoing."
  4. Changed3 schema fields changed
    • changedInput schema / properties / include / description
      Previous value: -"Related data to inline. \"legislative_sessions\" returns all session identifiers and date ranges — required when you need to discover valid session values for bill searches."New value: +"Related data to inline. \"legislative_sessions\" returns all session identifiers and date ranges — required when you need to discover valid session values for bill searches. \"organizations\" lists the jurisdiction's legislative chambers and executive bodies, and \"latest_runs\" the recent scraper run history."
    • addedOutput schema / properties / results / items / properties / latest_runs
      Added value: +{
+  "description": "Recent scraper runs when include=latest_runs is requested.",
+  "items": {
+    "additionalProperties": false,
+    "description": "Scraper run record.",
+    "properties": {
+      "end_time": {
+        "description": "ISO 8601 timestamp when the run finished. Absent when unrecorded.",
+        "type": "string"
+      },
+      "start_time": {
+        "description": "ISO 8601 timestamp when the scraper run started.",
+        "type": "string"
+      },
+      "success": {
+        "description": "Whether the run succeeded. Absent when not recorded.",
+        "type": "boolean"
+      }
+    },
+    "required": [
+      "start_time"
+    ],
+    "type": "object"
+  },
+  "type": "array"
+}
    • addedOutput schema / properties / results / items / properties / organizations
      Added value: +{
+  "description": "Legislative chambers and executive bodies when include=organizations is requested.",
+  "items": {
+    "additionalProperties": false,
+    "description": "Organization record.",
+    "properties": {
+      "classification": {
+        "description": "Organization type (e.g., \"upper\", \"lower\", \"legislature\").",
+        "type": "string"
+      },
+      "id": {
+        "description": "OCD organization ID.",
+        "type": "string"
+      },
+      "name": {
+        "description": "Organization name (e.g., \"Washington State Senate\").",
+        "type": "string"
+      }
+    },
+    "type": "object"
+  },
+  "type": "array"
+}
  5. Changed2 schema fields changed
    • changedInput schema / properties / classification / description
      Previous value: -"Filter by jurisdiction type. Use \"state\" (default) for all 50 states, DC, and Puerto Rico."New value: +"Filter by jurisdiction type. Use \"state\" (default) for all 50 states, DC, and the 5 US territories."
    • changedInput schema / properties / per_page / description
      Previous value: -"Results per page. Default 52 to cover all states, DC, and Puerto Rico in one request."New value: +"Results per page (upstream maximum 52). The default call returns the complete state inventory (56) in one response by fetching and merging the pages server-side; set a smaller value only to page manually."
  6. Changed3 schema fields changed
    • addedOutput schema / properties / totalCount
      Added value: +{
+  "description": "Total jurisdictions matching the filter across all pages.",
+  "type": "number"
+}
    • removedOutput schema / properties / totalItems
      Removed value: -{
-  "description": "Total jurisdictions matching the filter across all pages.",
-  "type": "number"
-}
    • changedOutput schema / required
      Previous value: -[
-  "results",
-  "pagination",
-  "totalItems",
-  "page",
-  "maxPage"
-]New value: +[
+  "results",
+  "pagination",
+  "totalCount",
+  "page",
+  "maxPage"
+]
  7. Changed4 schema fields changed
    • addedOutput schema / properties / maxPage
      Added value: +{
+  "description": "Total pages available.",
+  "type": "number"
+}
    • addedOutput schema / properties / page
      Added value: +{
+  "description": "Current page returned.",
+  "type": "number"
+}
    • addedOutput schema / properties / totalItems
      Added value: +{
+  "description": "Total jurisdictions matching the filter across all pages.",
+  "type": "number"
+}
    • changedOutput schema / required
      Previous value: -[
-  "results",
-  "pagination"
-]New value: +[
+  "results",
+  "pagination",
+  "totalItems",
+  "page",
+  "maxPage"
+]
  8. First observed

TDQS

A4.2/5.0
Behavior4/5

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

Annotations already cover safety (readOnlyHint, idempotentHint, openWorldHint), and the description adds real behavior: the whole inventory returns in one call, coverage metadata fields (latest bill/people update times), and an optional expansion that inlines historical sessions. The genuinely non-obvious disclosure is that session identifier formats vary per state ("2025", "2025-2026", "2025rs"), which prevents downstream errors. It stops short of describing error or empty-result behavior.

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 scope (56 jurisdictions, single call) so the most decision-relevant fact lands first, and the session-format warning at the end is actionable rather than filler. It runs long with heavy em-dash and parenthetical usage, and the county-by-county enumeration of the 5 territories is more detail than an agent needs to select the tool.

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, the description needn't enumerate return fields, and it still flags which metadata matter. Combined with full schema coverage and read-only annotations, an agent has everything required to call this correctly and to know why it would.

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 description coverage is 100%, so page, per_page, include, and classification are already fully documented upstream; baseline is 3. The description adds some value by motivating the include=legislative_sessions option and by explaining the session-format variance, but it adds no new semantics for page, per_page, or classification beyond what the schema states.

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?

Names a specific verb and resource ("List all jurisdictions covered by Open States") and pins the exact scope: 50 states, DC, 5 territories, 56 total. It also implicitly distinguishes itself from the singular sibling openstates_get_jurisdiction by framing this as the coverage inventory, so an agent can pick correctly without opening the schema.

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?

Explicitly states the trigger condition — "Use this when you need to discover valid session identifiers for a state before calling openstates_search_bills with a session filter" — and reinforces it with "always check valid session identifiers here before using them." The only gap is that it never contrasts itself with openstates_get_jurisdiction or says when-not to call this (e.g., for a single state's details).

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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