Islam West Africa Collection (IWAC)

Search newspaper articles

search_articles

Read-onlyIdempotent

Search IWAC newspaper articles by keyword (title + OCR + AI abstracts, French and English), country, newspaper, subject, and date range. Use French concept keywords regardless of the user's report language. Matching is accent- and case-insensitive.

Input Schema

TableJSON Schema

Name	Required	Description
`limit`	No	Default 20, max 100 (10 and 25 with with_description)
`offset`	No
`country`	No	Exact country name: Benin \| Burkina Faso \| Côte d'Ivoire \| Niger \| Togo (accents optional)
`date_to`	No	YYYY-MM-DD (or YYYY)
`keyword`	No	Concept keyword; substring match on title, OCR text, and the French and English AI abstracts. Prefer French for the OCR; an English term still matches via the English abstract
`subject`	No
`date_from`	No	YYYY-MM-DD (or YYYY)
`newspaper`	No
`hijri_year`	No	Islamic (Umm al-Qura) year, e.g. 1445
`hijri_month`	No	Islamic lunar month: 1-12, or a name (Ramadan, Chaabane, Chawwal, Dhu al-Hijja). Pulls the articles behind an observance peak — matches only items with a full YYYY-MM-DD date.
`with_description`	No	Include each article's ~500-char AI abstract (description_ai) for triage without get_article. Adds ~125 tokens/row, so `limit` defaults to 10 and caps at 25 while this is on.

Schema Changelog

Changes observed during successful MCP inspections.

Changed1 schema field changedAug 7, 2026

changedInput schema / properties / keyword / description

Previous value: -"French concept keyword; substring match on title, OCR text, and AI abstract"New value: +"Concept keyword; substring match on title, OCR text, and the French and English AI abstracts. Prefer French for the OCR; an English term still matches via the English abstract"

Changed2 schema fields changedAug 4, 2026

changedInput schema / properties / limit / description

Previous value: -"Default 20, max 100"New value: +"Default 20, max 100 (10 and 25 with with_description)"

changedInput schema / properties / with_description / description

Previous value: -"Include each article's ~500-char AI abstract (description_ai) for triage without get_article. Adds ~125 tokens/row, so pass a smaller limit (≤10) when enabling it."New value: +"Include each article's ~500-char AI abstract (description_ai) for triage without get_article. Adds ~125 tokens/row, so `limit` defaults to 10 and caps at 25 while this is on."

Changed2 schema fields changedJul 31, 2026

addedInput schema / properties / hijri_month

Added value: +{
+  "description": "Islamic lunar month: 1-12, or a name (Ramadan, Chaabane, Chawwal, Dhu al-Hijja). Pulls the articles behind an observance peak — matches only items with a full YYYY-MM-DD date.",
+  "type": "string"
+}

addedInput schema / properties / hijri_year

Added value: +{
+  "description": "Islamic (Umm al-Qura) year, e.g. 1445",
+  "maximum": 9007199254740991,
+  "minimum": -9007199254740991,
+  "type": "integer"
+}

Changed1 schema field changedJul 29, 2026

changedInput schema / $schema

Previous value: -"http://json-schema.org/draft-07/schema#"New value: +"https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema"

Changed6 schema fields changedJul 6, 2026
- removedInput schema / additionalProperties
```
Removed value: -false
```
- changedInput schema / properties / keyword / description
```
Previous value: -"Substring match on title, OCR text, and AI abstract"New value: +"French concept keyword; substring match on title, OCR text, and AI abstract"
```
- addedInput schema / properties / limit / maximum
```
Added value: +9007199254740991
```
- addedInput schema / properties / limit / minimum
```
Added value: +-9007199254740991
```
- addedInput schema / properties / offset / maximum
```
Added value: +9007199254740991
```
- addedInput schema / properties / offset / minimum
```
Added value: +-9007199254740991
```
First observedJul 5, 2026

TDQS

A4.2/5.0

Behavior4/5

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

Annotations already declare read-only, idempotent, and non-destructive behavior. The description adds meaningful behavioral context: matching is accent- and case-insensitive, keyword searches across title, OCR, and AI abstracts in French and English, and the French-keyword preference. This goes beyond what annotations provide.

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 two sentences, front-loaded with the core purpose, and the second sentence delivers essential keyword usage guidance. No redundant or wasted wording.

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?

For a search tool with 11 parameters and no output schema, the description covers the search scope, language handling, and matching behavior. It omits details like sorting or pagination, but the schema covers limit and with_description, so the overall context is reasonably complete.

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 73%, not high enough to fully rely on schema, but the description adds useful meaning to the keyword parameter (search scope, language) and lists searchable dimensions. It does not, however, explain the undocumented parameters like offset, subject, or newspaper beyond naming them, leaving some gaps.

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 states a specific action ('Search') and resource ('IWAC newspaper articles'), and lists concrete search dimensions (keyword, country, newspaper, subject, date range). This clearly distinguishes it from sibling tools like search_audiovisual or search_documents.

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?

It clearly implies use for newspaper article search and gives a context-specific guideline: 'Use French concept keywords regardless of the user's report language.' However, it does not explicitly contrast with alternative search tools or state when not to use it, so it lacks explicit exclusions.

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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Search newspaper articles

Input Schema

Schema Changelog

TDQS

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