UK Legal Research

Search Parliamentary Committees

committees_search_committees

Read-onlyIdempotent

USE THIS TOOL WHEN searching or listing UK parliamentary select committees by name, house, or active status.

Returns committee summaries (name, house, active status, ID). AFTER calling, pass committee_id into committees_get_committee for current membership, or into committees_search_evidence to retrieve oral and written evidence submitted to that committee.

Input Schema

Name	Required	Description
`house`	No	Filter by house.
`limit`	No	Maximum committees to return. Default 100 comfortably covers all currently-active UK select committees. Raise only for historical sweeps.
`query`	No	Search term for committee names, e.g. 'defence' or 'treasury'. Searched by the upstream API before `limit` is applied. Omit to list all committees.
`active_only`	No	If true, only return currently active committees.

Output Schema

Name	Required	Description
`house`	No	House filter applied, or None
`query`	No	Name substring filter applied, or None
`total`	Yes	Number of committees returned in this call
`committees`	No	Matching committees. Use committees_get_committee for membership detail.
`active_only`	Yes	Whether results were restricted to currently active committees

Schema Changelog

Changes observed during successful MCP inspections.

Changed1 schema field changedOct 28, 2026

changedInput schema / properties / query / description

Previous value: -"Search term for committee names, e.g. 'defence' or 'treasury'. Filtered client-side against committee names. Omit to list all committees."New value: +"Search term for committee names, e.g. 'defence' or 'treasury'. Searched by the upstream API before `limit` is applied. Omit to list all committees."

Changed6 schema fields changedJun 14, 2026

addedInput schema / properties / active_only

Added value: +{
+  "default": true,
+  "description": "If true, only return currently active committees.",
+  "type": "boolean"
+}

addedInput schema / properties / house

Added value: +{
+  "anyOf": [
+    {
+      "enum": [
+        "Commons",
+        "Lords",
+        "Joint"
+      ],
+      "type": "string"
+    },
+    {
+      "type": "null"
+    }
+  ],
+  "default": null,
+  "description": "Filter by house."
+}

addedInput schema / properties / limit

Added value: +{
+  "default": 100,
+  "description": "Maximum committees to return. Default 100 comfortably covers all currently-active UK select committees. Raise only for historical sweeps.",
+  "maximum": 500,
+  "minimum": 1,
+  "type": "integer"
+}

removedInput schema / properties / params

Removed value: -{
-  "additionalProperties": false,
-  "description": "CommitteeSearchInput.",
-  "properties": {
-    "active_only": {
-      "default": true,
-      "description": "If true, only return currently active committees.",
-      "type": "boolean"
-    },
-    "house": {
-      "anyOf": [
-        {
-          "enum": [
-            "Commons",
-            "Lords",
-            "Joint"
-          ],
-          "type": "string"
-        },
-        {
-          "type": "null"
-        }
-      ],
-      "default": null,
-      "description": "Filter by house."
-    },
-    "limit": {
-      "default": 100,
-      "description": "Maximum committees to return. Default 100 comfortably covers all currently-active UK select committees. Raise only for historical sweeps.",
-      "maximum": 500,
-      "minimum": 1,
-      "type": "integer"
-    },
-    "query": {
-      "anyOf": [
-        {
-          "maxLength": 300,
-          "type": "string"
-        },
-        {
-          "type": "null"
-        }
-      ],
-      "default": null,
-      "description": "Search term for committee names, e.g. 'defence' or 'treasury'. Filtered client-side against committee names. Omit to list all committees."
-    }
-  },
-  "type": "object"
-}

addedInput schema / properties / query

Added value: +{
+  "anyOf": [
+    {
+      "maxLength": 300,
+      "type": "string"
+    },
+    {
+      "type": "null"
+    }
+  ],
+  "default": null,
+  "description": "Search term for committee names, e.g. 'defence' or 'treasury'. Filtered client-side against committee names. Omit to list all committees."
+}

removedInput schema / required
```
Removed value: -[
-  "params"
-]
```

Changed1 schema field changedMay 30, 2026

changedInput schema / properties / params / description

Previous value: -"CommitteeSearchInput with optional query, house, active_only, limit."New value: +"CommitteeSearchInput."

Changed1 schema field changedApr 20, 2026
- addedInput schema / properties / params / description
```
Added value: +"CommitteeSearchInput with optional query, house, active_only, limit."
```

Changed10 schema fields changedApr 15, 2026

addedInput schema / properties / params / properties / limit

Added value: +{
+  "default": 100,
+  "description": "Maximum committees to return. Default 100 comfortably covers all currently-active UK select committees. Raise only for historical sweeps.",
+  "maximum": 500,
+  "minimum": 1,
+  "type": "integer"
+}

changedOutput schema / description

Previous value: -"Generic wrapper for non-object return types."New value: +"Result of a committees_search_committees call."

addedOutput schema / properties / active_only

Added value: +{
+  "description": "Whether results were restricted to currently active committees",
+  "type": "boolean"
+}

addedOutput schema / properties / committees

Added value: +{
+  "description": "Matching committees. Use committees_get_committee for membership detail.",
+  "items": {
+    "properties": {
+      "house": {
+        "anyOf": [
+          {
+            "type": "string"
+          },
+          {
+            "type": "null"
+          }
+        ],
+        "default": null,
+        "description": "Commons, Lords, or Joint"
+      },
+      "id": {
+        "description": "Committee ID",
+        "type": "integer"
+      },
+      "is_active": {
+        "anyOf": [
+          {
+            "type": "boolean"
+          },
+          {
+            "type": "null"
+          }
+        ],
+        "default": null,
+        "description": "Whether the committee is currently active (None if unknown)"
+      },
+      "name": {
+        "description": "Committee name",
+        "type": "string"
+      },
+      "url": {
+        "anyOf": [
+          {
+            "type": "string"
+          },
+          {
+            "type": "null"
+          }
+        ],
+        "default": null,
+        "description": "Parliament URL for this committee"
+      }
+    },
+    "required": [
+      "id",
+      "name"
+    ],
+    "type": "object"
+  },
+  "type": "array"
+}

addedOutput schema / properties / house

Added value: +{
+  "anyOf": [
+    {
+      "type": "string"
+    },
+    {
+      "type": "null"
+    }
+  ],
+  "default": null,
+  "description": "House filter applied, or None"
+}

addedOutput schema / properties / query

Added value: +{
+  "anyOf": [
+    {
+      "type": "string"
+    },
+    {
+      "type": "null"
+    }
+  ],
+  "default": null,
+  "description": "Name substring filter applied, or None"
+}

removedOutput schema / properties / result

Removed value: -{
-  "type": "string"
-}

addedOutput schema / properties / total

Added value: +{
+  "description": "Number of committees returned in this call",
+  "type": "integer"
+}

changedOutput schema / required

Previous value: -[
-  "result"
-]New value: +[
+  "active_only",
+  "total"
+]

removedOutput schema / x-fastmcp-wrap-result
```
Removed value: -true
```

First observedApr 14, 2026

TDQS

A4.3/5.0

Behavior4/5

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

Annotations already carry readOnly/idempotent/non-destructive safety, so the description's added value is the return shape and the downstream chaining contract (pass committee_id onward), which is genuinely useful workflow context. It does not mention result-volume or upstream-search ordering, though the schema covers the latter.

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?

Two short blocks, front-loaded with the trigger condition, then the return contract and follow-on routing. No sentence is redundant with another, and nothing buries the invocation condition.

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?

With an output schema present, full annotation coverage, and 100%-documented parameters, the description only needs to supply purpose, trigger, and chaining — all of which it does. Nothing required to call this tool correctly is missing.

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 explains each parameter's intent (including why limit defaults to 100), so the description adds no parameter-level meaning beyond its one-line mention of 'name, house, or active status'. 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 (search/list) and resource (UK parliamentary select committees) plus the three filter axes: name, house, active status. It also declares the return payload (name, house, active status, ID), so an agent can distinguish it from committees_get_committee and committees_search_evidence without opening any schema.

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?

Opens with an explicit 'USE THIS TOOL WHEN' trigger condition and routes the agent forward to committees_get_committee for membership and committees_search_evidence for evidence. It stops short of naming an explicit exclusion ('do not use for X'), but the search-versus-retrieve split against its closest siblings is clear.

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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