openstates-mcp-server

Search Bills

openstates_search_bills

Read-onlyIdempotent

Search state legislative bills across all covered US jurisdictions. Supports full-text search, jurisdiction/session filtering, subject tags, sponsor lookups, and sort order. Either jurisdiction or q (full-text) is required, and pairing them is the reliable form — a q-only search spans all 56 jurisdictions and exceeds the upstream timeout for a common term, though a distinctive one still returns quickly. include=sponsorships,actions returns sponsor and action history inline. sort=latest_action_desc surfaces bills currently moving. openstates_get_jurisdiction with include=legislative_sessions returns valid session identifiers for session filtering.

Input Schema

TableJSON Schema

Name	Required	Description	Default
`q`	No	Full-text search across bill titles, abstracts, and text. Required unless jurisdiction is provided. Pair it with jurisdiction whenever a state is known — a q-only search over every jurisdiction times out upstream for a common term.
`page`	No	Page number (1-indexed).
`sort`	No	Sort order. Use "latest_action_desc" for bills currently moving through the legislature.	updated_desc
`chamber`	No	Filter by originating chamber. "upper" = Senate, "lower" = House/Assembly.
`include`	No	Related data to inline. "sponsorships" and "actions" cover most research needs without a separate openstates_get_bill call. "votes" adds full vote tallies and per-legislator positions.
`session`	No	Session identifier (e.g., "2025", "2025-2026", "2025rs"). Use openstates_get_jurisdiction with include=legislative_sessions to discover valid values. Omit to search across all sessions.
`sponsor`	No	Filter by sponsor name or OCD person ID.
`subject`	No	Filter to bills tagged with one or more subject categories.
`per_page`	No	Results per page. Maximum 20. Default 10.
`action_since`	No	ISO 8601 date — only return bills with an action after this date (e.g., "2025-01-01").
`jurisdiction`	No	State name, two-letter abbreviation, or OCD-ID (e.g., "Washington", "wa", or "ocd-jurisdiction/country:us/state:wa/government"). Required unless q is provided.
`created_since`	No	ISO 8601 date — only return bills first entered in Open States after this date (e.g., "2025-01-01"). Use to find newly-introduced bills, as opposed to recently-updated or recently-acted-on.
`updated_since`	No	ISO 8601 date — only return bills updated after this date (e.g., "2025-01-01").
`classification`	No	Bill classification: "bill", "resolution", "constitutional amendment", etc.
`sponsor_classification`	No	Filter sponsor type: "primary", "cosponsor".

Output Schema

TableJSON Schema

Name	Required	Description
`page`	No	Current page returned.
`error`	No	Present when the call failed. Absent on success.
`notice`	No	Recovery hint when results are empty — names every filter that narrowed the query and suggests how to broaden. Absent when results are returned.
`maxPage`	No	Total pages available.
`results`	No	Bills matching the search criteria.
`pagination`	No	Pagination metadata.
`totalCount`	No	Total bills matching the query across all pages.
`appliedFilters`	No	Filters applied to this query as the server received them, for agent self-verification of zero or unexpected results.

Schema Changelog

Changes observed during successful MCP inspections.

Changed8 schema fields changedSep 20, 2026
- removedOutput schema / properties / results / items / properties / first_action_date / anyOf
```
Removed value: -[
-  {
-    "type": "string"
-  },
-  {
-    "type": "null"
-  }
-]
```
- addedOutput schema / properties / results / items / properties / first_action_date / type
```
Added value: +[
+  "string",
+  "null"
+]
```
- removedOutput schema / properties / results / items / properties / latest_action_date / anyOf
```
Removed value: -[
-  {
-    "type": "string"
-  },
-  {
-    "type": "null"
-  }
-]
```
- addedOutput schema / properties / results / items / properties / latest_action_date / type
```
Added value: +[
+  "string",
+  "null"
+]
```
- removedOutput schema / properties / results / items / properties / latest_action_description / anyOf
```
Removed value: -[
-  {
-    "type": "string"
-  },
-  {
-    "type": "null"
-  }
-]
```
- addedOutput schema / properties / results / items / properties / latest_action_description / type
```
Added value: +[
+  "string",
+  "null"
+]
```
- removedOutput schema / properties / results / items / properties / latest_passage_date / anyOf
```
Removed value: -[
-  {
-    "type": "string"
-  },
-  {
-    "type": "null"
-  }
-]
```
- addedOutput schema / properties / results / items / properties / latest_passage_date / type
```
Added value: +[
+  "string",
+  "null"
+]
```

Changed6 schema fields changedAug 25, 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": [
+      "results",
+      "pagination",
+      "totalCount",
+      "page",
+      "maxPage",
+      "appliedFilters"
+    ]
+  },
+  {
+    "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 — the query is too broad. `invalid_page`: Open States rejected the request as not found — page is past the last page for this query. 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",
-  "appliedFilters"
-]

Changed2 schema fields changedJul 31, 2026
- addedInput schema / properties / jurisdiction / minLength
```
Added value: +1
```
- addedInput schema / properties / q / minLength
```
Added value: +1
```

Changed10 schema fields changedJul 31, 2026

changedOutput schema / properties / results / items / properties / abstracts / items / properties / note / description
```
Previous value: -"Source note."New value: +"Source note. Empty string when Open States recorded no note."
```
changedOutput schema / properties / results / items / properties / actions / items / properties / date / description
```
Previous value: -"Action date."New value: +"Action date. Empty string when Open States recorded no date."
```

changedOutput schema / properties / results / items / properties / documents / items / properties / date / description

Previous value: -"Document date."New value: +"Document date. Empty string when Open States recorded no date, which is the usual case for bill documents."

changedOutput schema / properties / results / items / properties / documents / items / properties / note / description
```
Previous value: -"Document note."New value: +"Document note. Empty string when Open States recorded no note."
```

changedOutput schema / properties / results / items / properties / other_titles / items / properties / note / description

Previous value: -"Note describing the alternate title."New value: +"Note describing the alternate title. Empty string when Open States recorded no note."

changedOutput schema / properties / results / items / properties / sources / items / properties / note / description
```
Previous value: -"Source note."New value: +"Source note. Empty string when Open States recorded no note."
```

changed

Output schema / properties / results / items / properties / sponsorships / items / properties / person / properties / id / description

Previous value: -"OCD person ID. Pass it back as the sponsor filter to find this legislator's other bills — an exact handle where the sponsor name string is often only a family name."New value: +"OCD person ID — an exact handle where the sponsor name string is often only a family name. Pass it to openstates_search_people as id for the full legislator record, or back as the sponsor filter to find this legislator's other bills."

changedOutput schema / properties / results / items / properties / versions / items / properties / date / description

Previous value: -"Version date."New value: +"Version date. Empty string when Open States recorded no date, which is the usual case for bill versions."

changedOutput schema / properties / results / items / properties / versions / items / properties / note / description
```
Previous value: -"Version note."New value: +"Version note. Empty string when Open States recorded no note."
```
changedOutput schema / properties / results / items / properties / votes / items / properties / start_date / description
```
Previous value: -"Vote date."New value: +"Vote date. Empty string when Open States recorded no date."
```

Changed6 schema fields changedJul 31, 2026

addedOutput schema / properties / appliedFilters / properties / sponsor

Added value: +{
+  "description": "Sponsor filter as received.",
+  "type": "string"
+}

addedOutput schema / properties / appliedFilters / properties / sponsor_classification

Added value: +{
+  "description": "Sponsor-type filter as received.",
+  "type": "string"
+}

addedOutput schema / properties / appliedFilters / properties / subject

Added value: +{
+  "description": "Subject tags filtered on, as received. Absent when none were supplied.",
+  "items": {
+    "type": "string"
+  },
+  "type": "array"
+}

changedOutput schema / properties / notice / description

Previous value: -"Recovery hint when results are empty — echoes the filters applied and suggests how to broaden. Absent when results are returned."New value: +"Recovery hint when results are empty — names every filter that narrowed the query and suggests how to broaden. Absent when results are returned."

changed

Output schema / properties / results / items / properties / other_identifiers / items / properties / scheme / description

Previous value: -"Identifier scheme (the issuing system)."New value: +"Identifier scheme (the issuing system). Absent for bills — Open States omits it on every bill record observed."

changedOutput schema / properties / results / items / properties / other_identifiers / items / required
```
Previous value: -[
-  "identifier",
-  "scheme"
-]New value: +[
+  "identifier"
+]
```

Changed4 schema fields changedJul 26, 2026

changedInput schema / properties / q / description

Previous value: -"Full-text search across bill titles, abstracts, and text. Required unless jurisdiction is provided. Combining with jurisdiction is recommended for precision."New value: +"Full-text search across bill titles, abstracts, and text. Required unless jurisdiction is provided. Pair it with jurisdiction whenever a state is known — a q-only search over every jurisdiction times out upstream for a common term."

addedOutput schema / properties / results / items / properties / openstates_url

Added value: +{
+  "description": "Citable Open States page for this bill.",
+  "type": "string"
+}

addedOutput schema / properties / results / items / properties / sponsorships / items / properties / person

Added value: +{
+  "additionalProperties": false,
+  "description": "Linked person record when the sponsor resolves to a known legislator.",
+  "properties": {
+    "id": {
+      "description": "OCD person ID. Pass it back as the sponsor filter to find this legislator's other bills — an exact handle where the sponsor name string is often only a family name.",
+      "type": "string"
+    },
+    "name": {
+      "description": "Person name.",
+      "type": "string"
+    }
+  },
+  "required": [
+    "id",
+    "name"
+  ],
+  "type": "object"
+}

addedOutput schema / properties / results / items / properties / updated_at

Added value: +{
+  "description": "Timestamp Open States last updated this record — the field the default sort=updated_desc orders by.",
+  "type": "string"
+}

Changed7 schema fields changedJul 16, 2026

addedOutput schema / properties / results / items / properties / documents

Added value: +{
+  "description": "Bill documents (fiscal notes, etc.) when include=documents is requested.",
+  "items": {
+    "additionalProperties": false,
+    "description": "Bill document record.",
+    "properties": {
+      "date": {
+        "description": "Document date.",
+        "type": "string"
+      },
+      "id": {
+        "description": "Document ID.",
+        "type": "string"
+      },
+      "links": {
+        "description": "Document links.",
+        "items": {
+          "additionalProperties": false,
+          "description": "Document link.",
+          "properties": {
+            "media_type": {
+              "description": "MIME type.",
+              "type": "string"
+            },
+            "url": {
+              "description": "Document URL.",
+              "type": "string"
+            }
+          },
+          "required": [
+            "url",
+            "media_type"
+          ],
+          "type": "object"
+        },
+        "type": "array"
+      },
+      "note": {
+        "description": "Document note.",
+        "type": "string"
+      }
+    },
+    "required": [
+      "id",
+      "note",
+      "date",
+      "links"
+    ],
+    "type": "object"
+  },
+  "type": "array"
+}

addedOutput schema / properties / results / items / properties / other_identifiers

Added value: +{
+  "description": "Alternate identifiers when include=other_identifiers is requested.",
+  "items": {
+    "additionalProperties": false,
+    "description": "Alternate identifier record.",
+    "properties": {
+      "identifier": {
+        "description": "Alternate bill identifier.",
+        "type": "string"
+      },
+      "scheme": {
+        "description": "Identifier scheme (the issuing system).",
+        "type": "string"
+      }
+    },
+    "required": [
+      "identifier",
+      "scheme"
+    ],
+    "type": "object"
+  },
+  "type": "array"
+}

addedOutput schema / properties / results / items / properties / other_titles

Added value: +{
+  "description": "Alternate titles when include=other_titles is requested.",
+  "items": {
+    "additionalProperties": false,
+    "description": "Alternate title record.",
+    "properties": {
+      "note": {
+        "description": "Note describing the alternate title.",
+        "type": "string"
+      },
+      "title": {
+        "description": "Alternate bill title.",
+        "type": "string"
+      }
+    },
+    "required": [
+      "title",
+      "note"
+    ],
+    "type": "object"
+  },
+  "type": "array"
+}

addedOutput schema / properties / results / items / properties / related_bills

Added value: +{
+  "description": "Related bills when include=related_bills is requested.",
+  "items": {
+    "additionalProperties": false,
+    "description": "Related bill record.",
+    "properties": {
+      "identifier": {
+        "description": "Related bill identifier.",
+        "type": "string"
+      },
+      "legislative_session": {
+        "description": "Session of the related bill.",
+        "type": "string"
+      },
+      "relation_type": {
+        "description": "Relationship type (e.g., \"companion\", \"identical\").",
+        "type": "string"
+      }
+    },
+    "required": [
+      "identifier",
+      "legislative_session",
+      "relation_type"
+    ],
+    "type": "object"
+  },
+  "type": "array"
+}

addedOutput schema / properties / results / items / properties / sources

Added value: +{
+  "description": "Source documents when include=sources is requested.",
+  "items": {
+    "additionalProperties": false,
+    "description": "Source record.",
+    "properties": {
+      "note": {
+        "description": "Source note.",
+        "type": "string"
+      },
+      "url": {
+        "description": "Source URL.",
+        "type": "string"
+      }
+    },
+    "required": [
+      "url",
+      "note"
+    ],
+    "type": "object"
+  },
+  "type": "array"
+}

addedOutput schema / properties / results / items / properties / versions

Added value: +{
+  "description": "Bill text versions when include=versions is requested.",
+  "items": {
+    "additionalProperties": false,
+    "description": "Bill text version record.",
+    "properties": {
+      "date": {
+        "description": "Version date.",
+        "type": "string"
+      },
+      "id": {
+        "description": "Version ID.",
+        "type": "string"
+      },
+      "links": {
+        "description": "Document links.",
+        "items": {
+          "additionalProperties": false,
+          "description": "Document link.",
+          "properties": {
+            "media_type": {
+              "description": "MIME type.",
+              "type": "string"
+            },
+            "url": {
+              "description": "Document URL.",
+              "type": "string"
+            }
+          },
+          "required": [
+            "url",
+            "media_type"
+          ],
+          "type": "object"
+        },
+        "type": "array"
+      },
+      "note": {
+        "description": "Version note.",
+        "type": "string"
+      }
+    },
+    "required": [
+      "id",
+      "note",
+      "date",
+      "links"
+    ],
+    "type": "object"
+  },
+  "type": "array"
+}

addedOutput schema / properties / results / items / properties / votes

Added value: +{
+  "description": "Vote events when include=votes is requested.",
+  "items": {
+    "additionalProperties": false,
+    "description": "Vote event record.",
+    "properties": {
+      "counts": {
+        "description": "Vote tallies by option.",
+        "items": {
+          "additionalProperties": false,
+          "description": "Vote tally entry.",
+          "properties": {
+            "option": {
+              "description": "Vote option (e.g., \"yes\", \"no\", \"absent\").",
+              "type": "string"
+            },
+            "value": {
+              "description": "Count of votes for this option.",
+              "type": "number"
+            }
+          },
+          "required": [
+            "option",
+            "value"
+          ],
+          "type": "object"
+        },
+        "type": "array"
+      },
+      "id": {
+        "description": "Vote event ID.",
+        "type": "string"
+      },
+      "identifier": {
+        "description": "Vote identifier.",
+        "type": "string"
+      },
+      "motion_text": {
+        "description": "Motion text.",
+        "type": "string"
+      },
+      "result": {
+        "description": "Vote result: \"pass\" or \"fail\".",
+        "type": "string"
+      },
+      "start_date": {
+        "description": "Vote date.",
+        "type": "string"
+      },
+      "votes": {
+        "description": "Per-legislator vote positions.",
+        "items": {
+          "additionalProperties": false,
+          "description": "Individual legislator vote.",
+          "properties": {
+            "option": {
+              "description": "How this legislator voted.",
+              "type": "string"
+            },
+            "voter": {
+              "additionalProperties": false,
+              "description": "Linked person record when available.",
+              "properties": {
+                "id": {
+                  "description": "OCD person ID.",
+                  "type": "string"
+                },
+                "name": {
+                  "description": "Person name.",
+                  "type": "string"
+                }
+              },
+              "required": [
+                "id",
+                "name"
+              ],
+              "type": "object"
+            },
+            "voter_name": {
+              "description": "Voter name.",
+              "type": "string"
+            }
+          },
+          "required": [
+            "option",
+            "voter_name"
+          ],
+          "type": "object"
+        },
+        "type": "array"
+      }
+    },
+    "required": [
+      "id",
+      "motion_text",
+      "start_date",
+      "result",
+      "identifier",
+      "counts",
+      "votes"
+    ],
+    "type": "object"
+  },
+  "type": "array"
+}

Changed2 schema fields changedJul 16, 2026

addedInput schema / properties / created_since

Added value: +{
+  "description": "ISO 8601 date — only return bills first entered in Open States after this date (e.g., \"2025-01-01\"). Use to find newly-introduced bills, as opposed to recently-updated or recently-acted-on.",
+  "pattern": "^\\d{4}-\\d{2}-\\d{2}(T[\\d:.Z+-]+)?$",
+  "type": "string"
+}

addedOutput schema / properties / appliedFilters / properties / created_since

Added value: +{
+  "description": "created_since date filter as received.",
+  "type": "string"
+}

Changed6 schema fields changedJun 22, 2026

changedInput schema / properties / action_since / description

Previous value: -"ISO 8601 date — only return bills with an action after this date."New value: +"ISO 8601 date — only return bills with an action after this date (e.g., \"2025-01-01\")."

addedInput schema / properties / action_since / pattern

Added value: +"^\\d{4}-\\d{2}-\\d{2}(T[\\d:.Z+-]+)?$"

changedInput schema / properties / updated_since / description

Previous value: -"ISO 8601 date — only return bills updated after this date."New value: +"ISO 8601 date — only return bills updated after this date (e.g., \"2025-01-01\")."

addedInput schema / properties / updated_since / pattern

Added value: +"^\\d{4}-\\d{2}-\\d{2}(T[\\d:.Z+-]+)?$"

addedOutput schema / properties / appliedFilters

Added value: +{
+  "additionalProperties": false,
+  "description": "Filters applied to this query as the server received them, for agent self-verification of zero or unexpected results.",
+  "properties": {
+    "action_since": {
+      "description": "action_since date filter as received.",
+      "type": "string"
+    },
+    "chamber": {
+      "description": "Chamber filter as received.",
+      "type": "string"
+    },
+    "classification": {
+      "description": "Classification filter as received.",
+      "type": "string"
+    },
+    "jurisdiction": {
+      "description": "Jurisdiction filter as received.",
+      "type": "string"
+    },
+    "page": {
+      "description": "Page number requested.",
+      "type": "number"
+    },
+    "per_page": {
+      "description": "Results per page requested.",
+      "type": "number"
+    },
+    "q": {
+      "description": "Full-text query as received.",
+      "type": "string"
+    },
+    "session": {
+      "description": "Session filter as received.",
+      "type": "string"
+    },
+    "sort": {
+      "description": "Sort order applied.",
+      "type": "string"
+    },
+    "updated_since": {
+      "description": "updated_since date filter as received.",
+      "type": "string"
+    }
+  },
+  "required": [
+    "sort",
+    "page",
+    "per_page"
+  ],
+  "type": "object"
+}

changedOutput schema / required

Previous value: -[
-  "results",
-  "pagination",
-  "totalCount",
-  "page",
-  "maxPage"
-]New value: +[
+  "results",
+  "pagination",
+  "totalCount",
+  "page",
+  "maxPage",
+  "appliedFilters"
+]

Changed3 schema fields changedJun 13, 2026

addedOutput schema / properties / totalCount

Added value: +{
+  "description": "Total bills matching the query across all pages.",
+  "type": "number"
+}

removedOutput schema / properties / totalItems

Removed value: -{
-  "description": "Total bills matching the query across all pages.",
-  "type": "number"
-}

changedOutput schema / required

Previous value: -[
-  "results",
-  "pagination",
-  "totalItems",
-  "page",
-  "maxPage"
-]New value: +[
+  "results",
+  "pagination",
+  "totalCount",
+  "page",
+  "maxPage"
+]

Changed6 schema fields changedMay 30, 2026

addedOutput schema / properties / maxPage

Added value: +{
+  "description": "Total pages available.",
+  "type": "number"
+}

removedOutput schema / properties / message

Removed value: -{
-  "description": "Recovery hint when results are empty — echoes the filters applied and suggests how to broaden. Absent when results are returned.",
-  "type": "string"
-}

addedOutput schema / properties / notice

Added value: +{
+  "description": "Recovery hint when results are empty — echoes the filters applied and suggests how to broaden. Absent when results are returned.",
+  "type": "string"
+}

addedOutput schema / properties / page

Added value: +{
+  "description": "Current page returned.",
+  "type": "number"
+}

addedOutput schema / properties / totalItems

Added value: +{
+  "description": "Total bills matching the query across all pages.",
+  "type": "number"
+}

changedOutput schema / required

Previous value: -[
-  "results",
-  "pagination"
-]New value: +[
+  "results",
+  "pagination",
+  "totalItems",
+  "page",
+  "maxPage"
+]

First observedMay 25, 2026

TDQS

A4.5/5.0

Behavior4/5

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

Annotations already carry readOnlyHint, openWorldHint, and idempotentHint, and the description adds a genuine failure-mode disclosure: q-only search spans all 56 jurisdictions and can exceed the upstream timeout for common terms. It also surfaces the inline include behavior and session-discovery path. Much of this context is mirrored in the rich schema, so the incremental value beyond annotations is real but not extensive.

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 sentences, each earning its place: purpose, the critical pairing/timeout caveat, the two most useful invocation tweaks, and the session-discovery pointer. The most important behavioral warning is front-loaded immediately after the purpose statement, with zero filler.

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 15-parameter search tool with a full output schema and strong annotations, nothing essential is missing: required-parameter logic, the timeout risk, session discovery, and filter/sort guidance are all covered. The rich input schema and output schema relieve the description of return-format and pagination duties.

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% with unusually detailed per-parameter descriptions, so the baseline 3 applies. The description restates the q/jurisdiction requirement and the include/sort tips, but it adds little meaning beyond what the input schema already provides for the 15 parameters.

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?

Opens with a specific verb+resource+scope: 'Search state legislative bills across all covered US jurisdictions.' This clearly distinguishes it from sibling search_committees, search_events, and search_people, and from openstates_get_bill, which retrieves a single bill by ID. No ambiguity about what the tool does.

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?

Gives explicit invocation conditions: 'Either jurisdiction or q (full-text) is required, and pairing them is the reliable form,' and warns that a q-only search 'exceeds the upstream timeout for a common term.' It names openstates_get_jurisdiction as the sibling to use for discovering valid session identifiers, and recommends sort=latest_action_desc for bills currently moving.

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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