Expat Living Italy

Find a comune by name

search_comuni

Read-onlyIdempotent

Look up Italian comuni by name (case- and accent-insensitive, partial names work) and get each one's 6-digit ISTAT code, province and region — the code get_comune needs. Returns identifiers only, no figures. Several comuni share a name; check the province before choosing.

Input Schema

TableJSON Schema

Name	Required	Description	Default
`q`	Yes	A comune name or part of one, accents optional — e.g. "Introdacqua" or "reggio".
`limit`	No	How many matches to return, 1–25. Default 10.

Output Schema

TableJSON Schema

Name	Required	Description
`query`	Yes
`results`	Yes	Best matches first: exact name, then names starting with the query, then names containing it. Several Italian comuni share a name — check the province before picking one.
`truncated`	Yes	True when more comuni matched than `limit` allowed — narrow the query.
`attribution`	Yes

Schema Changelog

Changes observed during successful MCP inspections.

Changed1 schema field changedOct 9, 2026

changedOutput schema / (root)

Previous value: -nullNew value: +{
+  "$schema": "http://json-schema.org/draft-07/schema#",
+  "additionalProperties": false,
+  "properties": {
+    "attribution": {
+      "additionalProperties": false,
+      "properties": {
+        "citeAs": {
+          "description": "A ready-made citation line.",
+          "type": "string"
+        },
+        "page": {
+          "description": "The expatliving.it page these figures come from — link it when you quote them.",
+          "type": "string"
+        },
+        "publisher": {
+          "type": "string"
+        },
+        "request": {
+          "type": "string"
+        },
+        "url": {
+          "type": "string"
+        }
+      },
+      "required": [
+        "publisher",
+        "url",
+        "citeAs",
+        "request"
+      ],
+      "type": "object"
+    },
+    "query": {
+      "type": "string"
+    },
+    "results": {
+      "description": "Best matches first: exact name, then names starting with the query, then names containing it. Several Italian comuni share a name — check the province before picking one.",
+      "items": {
+        "additionalProperties": false,
+        "properties": {
+          "istatCode": {
+            "description": "6-digit ISTAT comune code — pass this to GET /comuni/{istatCode} or get_comune.",
+            "type": "string"
+          },
+          "name": {
+            "type": "string"
+          },
+          "page": {
+            "description": "The comune's profile page on expatliving.it.",
+            "type": "string"
+          },
+          "province": {
+            "type": "string"
+          },
+          "provinceCode": {
+            "type": "string"
+          },
+          "region": {
+            "type": "string"
+          }
+        },
+        "required": [
+          "istatCode",
+          "name",
+          "province",
+          "provinceCode",
+          "region",
+          "page"
+        ],
+        "type": "object"
+      },
+      "maxItems": 25,
+      "type": "array"
+    },
+    "truncated": {
+      "description": "True when more comuni matched than `limit` allowed — narrow the query.",
+      "type": "boolean"
+    }
+  },
+  "required": [
+    "query",
+    "results",
+    "truncated",
+    "attribution"
+  ],
+  "type": "object"
+}

First observedSep 27, 2026

TDQS

A4.3/5.0

Behavior4/5

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

Annotations already cover the safety profile (readOnly, idempotent, closed-world), so the description's job is to add matching and output semantics — and it does: case- and accent-insensitive, partial names accepted, identifiers returned with no figures. The duplicate-name ambiguity warning is genuinely useful behavioral context not derivable from the annotations.

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?

Three tight sentences, front-loaded with the core action, then output, then the ambiguity caveat. No filler, and the ordering matches how an agent would need the information.

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 structure needn't be spelled out, yet the description still flags that only identifiers come back ('no figures') and warns about name collisions — exactly the decision-relevant facts for a fuzzy search tool. Nothing needed to call it 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%, so both 'q' (accents optional, partial names) and 'limit' (1–25, default 10) are already fully documented in the schema. The description reinforces the partial-name/accent behavior but adds no syntax or constraints the schema lacks, so the baseline 3 applies.

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 (look up Italian comuni by name) and goes further to name the payload (6-digit ISTAT code, province, region) and the downstream tool that consumes it (get_comune). An agent can distinguish this from get_comune and find_comuni without opening a 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?

Gives clear context for when to reach for it — when you need the code that get_comune requires — and adds a genuine usage caveat: 'Several comuni share a name; check the province before choosing.' However, it never distinguishes itself from the sibling find_comuni, whose name suggests overlapping behavior, leaving that ambiguity unresolved.

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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