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unhcr-refugees-mcp-server

UNHCR displacement stocks

unhcr_get_population
Read-onlyIdempotent

Get UNHCR year-end displacement stocks (1951 to the latest year) by country of origin and/or asylum: refugees, asylum-seekers, other people in need of international protection, IDPs, stateless people, others of concern, and host communities, plus refugees and IDPs who returned during the year. Stocks count people in a situation on 31 December, not arrivals. Palestine refugees under UNRWA's mandate and IDMC's conflict-IDP estimate are separate series shown beside each row. Set include_nowcast for UNHCR's current-year estimate by asylum country; for sex and age breakdowns, use unhcr_get_demographics.

Input Schema

TableJSON Schema
NameRequiredDescriptionDefault
limitNoRows returned inline, 1–500 (default 100). Sorting runs over the full result first; a larger result is staged as a dataframe where dataframes are enabled.
stageNoStage the full result as a dataframe even when it fits inline, e.g. to join it with another unhcr_get_* result in unhcr_dataframe_query. Where dataframes are unavailable it is ignored, and the notice says so.
asylumNoCountry of asylum — where people sought or hold protection; for returns, the country they returned from — as ISO3 codes (DEU, TUR), case-insensitive, same rules as origin. At most 50 codes. Omit to sum every asylum country into one row, or set expand to list each.
expandNoList every country, one row each, for a dimension that origin or asylum leaves unfiltered: origin, asylum, or both. Default none, where an unfiltered dimension is summed into one row. Expanding a dimension that origin or asylum already filters is rejected.none
originNoCountry of origin — where people fled from — as ISO3 codes (SYR, AFG), case-insensitive. ISO 3166 alpha-2 codes (SY) are rewritten to ISO3 and echoed in applied_scope. UNHCR's own codes (GFR) are rejected with the ISO3 to pass instead, and country names are rejected: resolve a name with unhcr_list_reference (topic countries, name_contains). Each listed code returns its own rows; codes are never summed together. At most 50 codes. Omit to sum every origin into one row, or set expand to list each.
sort_byNoOrder of the full result before the inline cut. year (default) orders by year, then origin ISO3, then asylum ISO3; a count field orders largest first, nulls last.year
year_toNoLast year of the window. When omitted, the window runs to the latest published year (latest_year in the result). A year past the latest published year is clamped to it and the clamp is reported.
year_fromNoFirst year of the window. When omitted, the window starts at the dataset's first year. A year before the dataset's first year is clamped to it and the clamp is reported; a window entirely outside the dataset's years is rejected.
include_nowcastNoAppend UNHCR's latest monthly estimate of refugees and asylum-seekers by asylum country: one current-year snapshot, independent of the year window. The nowcast has no origin dimension, so it is skipped when origin lists codes. When origin lists no codes, a window entirely after the latest published year returns the nowcast alone instead of failing.

Output Schema

TableJSON Schema
NameRequiredDescriptionDefault
capNoThe limit that was applied.
rowsNoInline rows, sorted, up to limit.
errorNoPresent when the call failed. Absent on success.
shownNoRows returned inline.
noticeNoGuidance for this result: empty-result hints, year clamps, where the full set was staged, or how to narrow.
datasetNoPresent when the full result was staged as a dataframe; read its columns with unhcr_dataframe_describe, then query it with unhcr_dataframe_query.
measureNostock: people in a situation on 31 December; flow: events during the year.
nowcastNoPresent when include_nowcast was set and origin lists no codes.
completeNoFalse when the server row cap stopped the upstream fetch; the notice says how many upstream rows were fetched and how to narrow.
footnotesNoUNHCR caveats matching rows of the full result, country-specific first; at most 20.
truncatedNoTrue when rows were cut at limit.
data_notesNoHow to read the counts: stock or flow, rounding, the meaning of null, caveats.
total_rowsNoRows in the full result before the inline cut. When complete is false, the result is built from only the upstream rows fetched before the cap, so rows and summed counts can fall short of the complete result.
attributionNoAttribution UNHCR requires when these figures are reused.
latest_yearNoNewest year this dataset publishes.
applied_scopeNoThe scope actually sent upstream, including clamped years and code rewrites.
footnotes_totalNoCaveats matching the full result, before the cap.

Schema Changelog

Changes observed during successful MCP inspections.

  1. First observed

TDQS

A4.2/5.0
Behavior4/5

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

Annotations already establish read-only, idempotent, open-world behavior, so the description is free to add substantive context: stock-vs-arrival semantics, the December 31 snapshot, treating UNRWA and IDMC figures as separate side-by-side series, and nowcast's lack of an origin dimension. It stops short of describing pagination/staging behavior or output shape, but the annotations and output schema cover much of that.

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?

Purpose and scope are front-loaded in the first sentence, with caveats (stock definition, side-by-side series, nowcast, demographics hand-off) following in a logical order. It is dense and somewhat long, but each sentence carries distinct information rather than padding.

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?

An output schema exists, so return values need no explanation. The description covers dimensions (origin/asylum), the stock concept, the special-cased series, the nowcast edge case, and the sibling to use for demographic breakdowns — enough for an agent to call it correctly without opening the schema.

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 the schema already documents all nine parameters including enums, formats and clamping rules. The description largely restates the include_nowcast flag rather than adding syntax or format detail the schema lacks; baseline 3 applies when the schema does the heavy lifting.

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 (year-end displacement stocks by country of origin/asylum) plus the exact series included, which lets an agent separate it from siblings like unhcr_get_solutions and unhcr_get_demographics. It also disambiguates stocks from flows ('count people in a situation on 31 December, not arrivals').

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?

Gives explicit conditional guidance: set include_nowcast for the current-year estimate and use unhcr_get_demographics for sex/age breakdowns. It does not, however, state when to prefer this tool over unhcr_get_solutions or the asylum-applications/decisions tools, so routing across the remaining siblings is left to inference.

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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