wikipedia-mcp-server

Search Wikipedia Nearby

wikipedia_search_nearby

Read-only

Find Wikipedia articles about places near a geographic coordinate. Returns articles sorted by distance from the query point, with titles, short descriptions, Wikidata QIDs, page IDs, coordinates, and distance in meters. Useful for "what is notable near X?" research workflows. Only articles carrying their own coordinate tag (GeoData, set on the article itself — not the Wikidata item's coordinate) are returned, and that tag is what places and measures each result; not all articles about locations are geotagged, and an article whose tag is wrong appears where the tag puts it, which its description usually makes plain.

Input Schema

Name	Required	Description	Default
`limit`	No	Maximum number of results to return (default 10). Positive integers above 500 are clamped with a notice. Geosearch has no pagination; use narrower radii at the ceiling.
`language`	No	Wikipedia language edition code (default "en"). Examples: "fr", "de", "ja".	en
`latitude`	Yes	WGS 84 latitude in decimal degrees (range: −90 to 90).
`longitude`	Yes	WGS 84 longitude in decimal degrees (range: −180 to 180).
`radius_meters`	No	Search radius in meters (default 1000, min 10, max 10000 — the MediaWiki geosearch bounds). Must be an integer; a value above the maximum is clamped to it.

Output Schema

Name	Required	Description
`cap`	No	The limit that was applied.
`error`	No	Present when the call failed. Absent on success.
`shown`	No	Number of results returned.
`notice`	No	Guidance when results were capped (raise limit, or — at the 500 ceiling — sweep narrower radii) or when no geotagged articles were found (increase radius). Absent when neither applies.
`results`	No	Geotagged articles sorted ascending by distance_meters.
`language`	No	Language edition queried.
`truncated`	No	True when more articles matched than the limit allowed. Established by probing one result past the limit, so a match count landing exactly on the limit reports false — except at the 500 ceiling, where no probe is possible and any full page reports true.
`appliedLimit`	No	Applied result count, present only when clamped.
`queryLatitude`	No	Latitude used for the search.
`queryLongitude`	No	Longitude used for the search.
`requestedLimit`	No	Requested result count, present only when clamped.
`radiusMetersUsed`	No	Radius in meters used for the search.

Schema Changelog

Changes observed during successful MCP inspections.

Changed10 schema fields changedOct 24, 2026

addedInput schema / properties / latitude / maximum
```
Added value: +90
```
addedInput schema / properties / latitude / minimum
```
Added value: +-90
```

changedInput schema / properties / limit / description

Previous value: -"Maximum number of results to return (default 10, max 500 — the MediaWiki geosearch ceiling). Must be a positive integer. Geosearch has no pagination, so articles past this limit are only reachable by raising it or searching narrower radii."New value: +"Maximum number of results to return (default 10). Positive integers above 500 are clamped with a notice. Geosearch has no pagination; use narrower radii at the ceiling."

changedInput schema / properties / limit / maximum

Previous value: -500New value: +9007199254740991

addedInput schema / properties / longitude / maximum
```
Added value: +180
```
addedInput schema / properties / longitude / minimum
```
Added value: +-180
```

addedOutput schema / properties / appliedLimit

Added value: +{
+  "description": "Applied result count, present only when clamped.",
+  "maximum": 9007199254740991,
+  "minimum": -9007199254740991,
+  "type": "integer"
+}

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

Previous value: -"Machine-readable failure mode. Declared by this tool: `invalid_coordinates`: Latitude or longitude is outside valid WGS 84 range. `invalid_language`: The language is not a valid BCP 47 code, or names a Wikipedia edition that does not exist. Other values are possible when a failure originates below the handler."New value: +"Machine-readable failure mode. Declared by this tool: `invalid_language`: The language is not a valid BCP 47 code, or names a Wikipedia edition that does not exist. Other values are possible when a failure originates below the handler."

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

Previous value: -[
-  "invalid_coordinates",
-  "invalid_language"
-]New value: +[
+  "invalid_language"
+]

addedOutput schema / properties / requestedLimit

Added value: +{
+  "description": "Requested result count, present only when clamped.",
+  "maximum": 9007199254740991,
+  "minimum": -9007199254740991,
+  "type": "integer"
+}

Changed6 schema fields changedSep 22, 2026

changedOutput schema / properties / notice / description

Previous value: -"Guidance when results were capped (raise limit or sweep narrower radii) or when no geotagged articles were found (increase radius). Absent when neither applies."New value: +"Guidance when results were capped (raise limit, or — at the 500 ceiling — sweep narrower radii) or when no geotagged articles were found (increase radius). Absent when neither applies."

addedOutput schema / properties / results / items / properties / description

Added value: +{
+  "description": "Short description of the article subject (e.g. \"Tower in Paris, France\"). Absent when the article has none.",
+  "type": "string"
+}

changedOutput schema / properties / results / items / properties / latitude / description

Previous value: -"Article subject latitude in decimal degrees."New value: +"Latitude of the article's own coordinate tag, in decimal degrees."

changedOutput schema / properties / results / items / properties / longitude / description

Previous value: -"Article subject longitude in decimal degrees."New value: +"Longitude of the article's own coordinate tag, in decimal degrees."

addedOutput schema / properties / results / items / properties / wikibase_item

Added value: +{
+  "description": "Wikidata QID (e.g. \"Q243\") for chaining into wikidata-mcp-server. Absent when the article has no Wikidata item.",
+  "type": "string"
+}

changedOutput schema / properties / truncated / description

Previous value: -"True when more articles matched than the limit allowed. Established by probing one result past the limit, so a match count landing exactly on the limit reports false."New value: +"True when more articles matched than the limit allowed. Established by probing one result past the limit, so a match count landing exactly on the limit reports false — except at the 500 ceiling, where no probe is possible and any full page reports true."

First observedSep 17, 2026

TDQS

A4.1/5.0

Behavior5/5

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

Annotations only declare readOnlyHint/openWorldHint; the description goes well beyond by disclosing that results depend on the article's own GeoData tag rather than the Wikidata coordinate, that ungeotagged place articles are excluded, and that erroneous tags place and measure a result incorrectly. That is exactly the kind of silent-failure behavior an agent needs before trusting an empty or odd result set.

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 is front-loaded in the first sentence, followed by return shape and then the caveats, with no filler. The final sentence is dense and multi-clause (em-dash asides about GeoData vs Wikidata), which costs some readability but the content earns its place.

Shorter descriptions cost fewer tokens and are easier for agents to parse. Every sentence should earn its place.

Completeness4/5

Given the tool's complexity, does the description cover enough for an agent to succeed on first attempt?

An output schema exists and annotations cover the safety profile, so the definition only needs purpose plus edge-case behavior — both are present. The remaining gap is routing: nothing tells the agent what to do when this returns nothing or when a text query would be the better tool.

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%, and the schema itself already documents latitude/longitude ranges, radius bounds, clamping, and the no-pagination ceiling. The description adds only the implicit link between coordinates and the distance-sorted output; it contributes little parameter-level meaning beyond the schema, so the baseline 3 applies.

Input schemas describe structure but not intent. Descriptions should explain non-obvious parameter relationships and valid value ranges.

Purpose4/5

Does the description clearly state what the tool does and how it differs from similar tools?

States a specific verb and resource — 'Find Wikipedia articles about places near a geographic coordinate' — plus the ordering (by distance) and returned fields. The geographic framing implicitly separates it from the text-based wikipedia_search_articles sibling, but no sibling is named, so an agent must infer the boundary.

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 a concrete use context ('what is notable near X?' research workflows) that tells the agent when this is the right call, and the GeoData caveat implicitly signals when it will under-return. No explicit when-not or named alternative (e.g., use wikipedia_search_articles for text/title lookups), which keeps it from a 5.

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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