stackexchange-mcp-server

Get Stack Exchange Q&A Thread

stackexchange_get_thread

Read-onlyIdempotent

Fetch a complete Q&A thread — question body and all answers, accepted answer first then sorted by score, rendered as clean markdown with fenced code blocks. Accepts an integer question ID or a full Stack Exchange question URL (e.g. "https://stackoverflow.com/questions/11227809/why-is-processing-a-sorted-array-faster" or "11227809"). HTML is normalized to markdown automatically; attribution (author + link) included per CC BY-SA 4.0. Get question IDs from stackexchange_search_questions or stackexchange_get_tag_faq.

Input Schema

TableJSON Schema

Name	Required	Description	Default
`site`	No	Stack Exchange site — use the api_site_parameter value (e.g. "stackoverflow", "superuser"). Defaults to "stackoverflow". Must match the site where the question lives. Call stackexchange_list_sites to discover valid values.	stackoverflow
`maxAnswers`	No	Maximum number of answers to include (1–100, default 10). Answers are sorted: accepted first, then by score.
`includeComments`	No	Fetch the comment thread under the question and under every returned answer (default false). Comments are where a stale answer usually gets corrected ("this breaks on v3", "use X instead now"), so set this when the answer's continued accuracy matters. Costs 2 extra API calls against the daily quota regardless of how many answers are returned.
`questionIdOrUrl`	Yes	Numeric question ID (e.g. "11227809") or a full Stack Exchange question URL (e.g. "https://stackoverflow.com/questions/11227809/why-is-processing-a-sorted-array-faster"). The integer immediately following /questions/ is extracted from URLs.

Output Schema

TableJSON Schema

Name	Required	Description
`cap`	No	The maxAnswers cap applied to this request.
`link`	No	Direct URL to the question.
`tags`	No	Tags applied to this question.
`error`	No	Present when the call failed. Absent on success.
`score`	No	Question score (upvotes minus downvotes).
`shown`	No	Number of answers returned.
`title`	No	Question title.
`answers`	No	Answers sorted: accepted answer first, then by score descending.
`comments`	No	Comments on the question, newest first, present only when includeComments is true. An empty array means this post has no comments; an absent array means its comment state is unknown — either comments were not requested, or the batched fetch was cut short before this post contributed any. Never read an absent array as "no comments".
`quotaMax`	No	Maximum API quota calls per day (300 keyless, ~10,000 with API key).
`truncated`	No	True when answers were capped at maxAnswers.
`authorLink`	No	Question author profile URL when available.
`authorName`	No	Question author display name when available.
`questionId`	No	Numeric question ID — identifies this thread on the site.
`answerCount`	No	Total answers the question has upstream. When greater than the returned answers[] length, more answers exist — raise maxAnswers to fetch them.
`commentsCap`	No	Maximum comments carried per post — a post at this count reports commentsTruncated.
`authorUserId`	No	Question author numeric user ID when available — pass to stackexchange_get_user to fetch the full profile.
`bodyMarkdown`	No	Question body normalized from HTML to markdown.
`creationDate`	No	ISO 8601 timestamp of when the question was asked — use it to judge whether the advice is still current.
`quotaRemaining`	No	Remaining API quota calls for the current day.
`acceptedAnswerId`	No	ID of the accepted answer when one exists.
`lastActivityDate`	No	ISO 8601 timestamp of the most recent activity on the question (edit, answer, or comment).
`commentsTruncated`	No	True when the question's comments[] is a partial list — more exist upstream than were returned.

Schema Changelog

Changes observed during successful MCP inspections.

Changed8 schema fields changedSep 10, 2026

addedInput schema / properties / includeComments

Added value: +{
+  "default": false,
+  "description": "Fetch the comment thread under the question and under every returned answer (default false). Comments are where a stale answer usually gets corrected (\"this breaks on v3\", \"use X instead now\"), so set this when the answer's continued accuracy matters. Costs 2 extra API calls against the daily quota regardless of how many answers are returned.",
+  "type": "boolean"
+}

addedOutput schema / properties / answers / items / properties / comments

Added value: +{
+  "description": "Comments on this answer, newest first, present only when includeComments is true. An empty array means this post has no comments; an absent array means its comment state is unknown — either comments were not requested, or the batched fetch was cut short before this post contributed any. Never read an absent array as \"no comments\".",
+  "items": {
+    "additionalProperties": false,
+    "description": "A single comment with markdown body, score, date, and author attribution.",
+    "properties": {
+      "authorLink": {
+        "description": "Comment author profile URL when available.",
+        "type": "string"
+      },
+      "authorName": {
+        "description": "Comment author display name when available.",
+        "type": "string"
+      },
+      "bodyMarkdown": {
+        "description": "Comment body normalized from HTML to markdown.",
+        "type": "string"
+      },
+      "commentId": {
+        "description": "Numeric comment ID.",
+        "maximum": 9007199254740991,
+        "minimum": -9007199254740991,
+        "type": "integer"
+      },
+      "creationDate": {
+        "description": "ISO 8601 timestamp of when the comment was posted — the newest comments carry the freshest corrections.",
+        "type": "string"
+      },
+      "score": {
+        "description": "Comment score — comments can score below zero.",
+        "maximum": 9007199254740991,
+        "minimum": -9007199254740991,
+        "type": "integer"
+      }
+    },
+    "required": [
+      "commentId",
+      "score",
+      "bodyMarkdown"
+    ],
+    "type": "object"
+  },
+  "type": "array"
+}

addedOutput schema / properties / answers / items / properties / commentsTruncated

Added value: +{
+  "description": "True when this answer's comments[] is a partial list — more exist upstream than were returned.",
+  "type": "boolean"
+}

addedOutput schema / properties / comments

Added value: +{
+  "description": "Comments on the question, newest first, present only when includeComments is true. An empty array means this post has no comments; an absent array means its comment state is unknown — either comments were not requested, or the batched fetch was cut short before this post contributed any. Never read an absent array as \"no comments\".",
+  "items": {
+    "additionalProperties": false,
+    "description": "A single comment with markdown body, score, date, and author attribution.",
+    "properties": {
+      "authorLink": {
+        "description": "Comment author profile URL when available.",
+        "type": "string"
+      },
+      "authorName": {
+        "description": "Comment author display name when available.",
+        "type": "string"
+      },
+      "bodyMarkdown": {
+        "description": "Comment body normalized from HTML to markdown.",
+        "type": "string"
+      },
+      "commentId": {
+        "description": "Numeric comment ID.",
+        "maximum": 9007199254740991,
+        "minimum": -9007199254740991,
+        "type": "integer"
+      },
+      "creationDate": {
+        "description": "ISO 8601 timestamp of when the comment was posted — the newest comments carry the freshest corrections.",
+        "type": "string"
+      },
+      "score": {
+        "description": "Comment score — comments can score below zero.",
+        "maximum": 9007199254740991,
+        "minimum": -9007199254740991,
+        "type": "integer"
+      }
+    },
+    "required": [
+      "commentId",
+      "score",
+      "bodyMarkdown"
+    ],
+    "type": "object"
+  },
+  "type": "array"
+}

addedOutput schema / properties / commentsCap

Added value: +{
+  "description": "Maximum comments carried per post — a post at this count reports commentsTruncated.",
+  "type": "number"
+}

addedOutput schema / properties / commentsTruncated

Added value: +{
+  "description": "True when the question's comments[] is a partial list — more exist upstream than were returned.",
+  "type": "boolean"
+}

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

Previous value: -"Machine-readable failure mode. Declared by this tool: `question_not_found`: The question lookup returns an empty result set — SE returns HTTP 200 with no items for unknown question IDs rather than 404. `invalid_site`: The provided site value is not a valid Stack Exchange network site identifier. `invalid_id_or_url`: The input is not a parseable integer ID and not a recognizable SE question URL. `invalid_parameter`: Stack Exchange rejected a request parameter other than the question ID, and named the field. `quota_exceeded`: The Stack Exchange API quota_remaining has reached 0. Other values are possible when a failure originates below the handler."New value: +"Machine-readable failure mode. Declared by this tool: `question_not_found`: The question lookup returns an empty result set — SE returns HTTP 200 with no items for unknown question IDs rather than 404. `invalid_site`: The provided site value is not a valid Stack Exchange network site identifier. `invalid_id_or_url`: The input is not a parseable integer ID and not a recognizable SE question URL. `invalid_parameter`: Stack Exchange rejected a request parameter other than the question ID, and named the field. `quota_exceeded`: The Stack Exchange API quota_remaining has reached 0. `invalid_api_key`: Stack Exchange does not recognize the API key this server is configured with. `upstream_unavailable`: Stack Exchange answered with a body that is not the expected JSON envelope. Other values are possible when a failure originates below the handler."

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

Previous value: -[
-  "question_not_found",
-  "invalid_site",
-  "invalid_id_or_url",
-  "invalid_parameter",
-  "quota_exceeded"
-]New value: +[
+  "question_not_found",
+  "invalid_site",
+  "invalid_id_or_url",
+  "invalid_parameter",
+  "quota_exceeded",
+  "invalid_api_key",
+  "upstream_unavailable"
+]

Changed7 schema fields changedSep 10, 2026

changedOutput schema / properties / answers / items / description

Previous value: -"A single Q&A answer with markdown body, score, and author attribution."New value: +"A single Q&A answer with markdown body, score, dates, and author attribution."

addedOutput schema / properties / answers / items / properties / creationDate

Added value: +{
+  "description": "ISO 8601 timestamp of when the answer was posted — an old answer may predate the current API.",
+  "type": "string"
+}

addedOutput schema / properties / answers / items / properties / lastActivityDate

Added value: +{
+  "description": "ISO 8601 timestamp of the most recent edit or activity on the answer.",
+  "type": "string"
+}

addedOutput schema / properties / creationDate

Added value: +{
+  "description": "ISO 8601 timestamp of when the question was asked — use it to judge whether the advice is still current.",
+  "type": "string"
+}

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

Previous value: -"Machine-readable failure mode. Declared by this tool: `question_not_found`: The question lookup returns an empty result set — SE returns HTTP 200 with no items for unknown question IDs rather than 404. `invalid_site`: The provided site value is not a valid Stack Exchange network site identifier. `invalid_id_or_url`: The input is not a parseable integer ID and not a recognizable SE question URL. `quota_exceeded`: The Stack Exchange API quota_remaining has reached 0. Other values are possible when a failure originates below the handler."New value: +"Machine-readable failure mode. Declared by this tool: `question_not_found`: The question lookup returns an empty result set — SE returns HTTP 200 with no items for unknown question IDs rather than 404. `invalid_site`: The provided site value is not a valid Stack Exchange network site identifier. `invalid_id_or_url`: The input is not a parseable integer ID and not a recognizable SE question URL. `invalid_parameter`: Stack Exchange rejected a request parameter other than the question ID, and named the field. `quota_exceeded`: The Stack Exchange API quota_remaining has reached 0. Other values are possible when a failure originates below the handler."

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

Previous value: -[
-  "question_not_found",
-  "invalid_site",
-  "invalid_id_or_url",
-  "quota_exceeded"
-]New value: +[
+  "question_not_found",
+  "invalid_site",
+  "invalid_id_or_url",
+  "invalid_parameter",
+  "quota_exceeded"
+]

addedOutput schema / properties / lastActivityDate

Added value: +{
+  "description": "ISO 8601 timestamp of the most recent activity on the question (edit, answer, or comment).",
+  "type": "string"
+}

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": [
+      "questionId",
+      "title",
+      "link",
+      "score",
+      "tags",
+      "bodyMarkdown",
+      "answers",
+      "quotaRemaining",
+      "quotaMax"
+    ]
+  },
+  {
+    "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: `question_not_found`: The question lookup returns an empty result set — SE returns HTTP 200 with no items for unknown question IDs rather than 404. `invalid_site`: The provided site value is not a valid Stack Exchange network site identifier. `invalid_id_or_url`: The input is not a parseable integer ID and not a recognizable SE question URL. `quota_exceeded`: The Stack Exchange API quota_remaining has reached 0. Other values are possible when a failure originates below the handler.",
+          "examples": [
+            "question_not_found",
+            "invalid_site",
+            "invalid_id_or_url",
+            "quota_exceeded"
+          ],
+          "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: -[
-  "questionId",
-  "title",
-  "link",
-  "score",
-  "tags",
-  "bodyMarkdown",
-  "answers",
-  "quotaRemaining",
-  "quotaMax"
-]

Changed1 schema field changedJul 17, 2026

addedOutput schema / properties / answerCount

Added value: +{
+  "description": "Total answers the question has upstream. When greater than the returned answers[] length, more answers exist — raise maxAnswers to fetch them.",
+  "maximum": 9007199254740991,
+  "minimum": -9007199254740991,
+  "type": "integer"
+}

Changed3 schema fields changedJun 13, 2026

addedOutput schema / properties / cap

Added value: +{
+  "description": "The maxAnswers cap applied to this request.",
+  "type": "number"
+}

addedOutput schema / properties / shown

Added value: +{
+  "description": "Number of answers returned.",
+  "type": "number"
+}

addedOutput schema / properties / truncated

Added value: +{
+  "description": "True when answers were capped at maxAnswers.",
+  "type": "boolean"
+}

First observedJun 7, 2026

TDQS

A4.7/5.0

Behavior5/5

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

The description discloses several behavioral traits beyond the annotations: automatic HTML-to-markdown normalization, attribution per CC BY-SA 4.0, answer sorting order, and the cost of includeComments (2 extra API calls). It adds real operational detail without contradicting the readOnlyHint, openWorldHint, or idempotentHint.

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?

The description is tight, front-loaded with the core behavior, and every sentence earns its place. It packs essential details (sorting, markdown, input formats, attribution, ID sourcing) into a compact paragraph with no fluff.

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?

The tool has an output schema, so return-value details are covered there. The description fully addresses input formats, behavior, and side effects (API cost), and even directs the agent to sibling tools for ID discovery. Nothing needed 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?

With 100% schema coverage, the baseline is 3. The description goes further by explaining URL-to-ID extraction for questionIdOrUrl and the rationale plus cost for includeComments. This adds meaning beyond the schema definitions for those 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?

The description clearly states a specific verb and resource: 'Fetch a complete Q&A thread' with details on content (question body, answers), sorting (accepted first, then score), and output format (markdown). This unambiguously distinguishes it from sibling tools like search_questions or list_sites.

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?

The description tells the agent exactly when to use this tool (when you have a question ID or URL) and even points to the sibling tools that supply those IDs ('Get question IDs from stackexchange_search_questions or stackexchange_get_tag_faq'). It does not explicitly state when not to use it, but the usage context is clear and actionable.

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

All stackexchange-mcp-server tools Inspect

Try in Browser

One endpoint for every MCP toolRayrun runs every MCP server behind one URL and holds the credentials. Each call is decided per client, tool, and argument, then recorded.ray.runAd

Glama MCP Gateway

Add one secure layer between your agents and this server.