OpenDiscourse MCP

# OpenDiscourse MCP - Documentation Reference This folder contains comprehensive documentation and reference materials for building MCP servers to access bulk data from govinfo.gov and congress.gov. ## Repository Structure ### API Documentation - **govinfo-api-summary.md** - Quick reference for GovInfo API - **congress-api-summary.md** - Quick reference for Congress.gov API ### Downloaded Repositories - **govinfo-api/** - Official GovInfo API repository with samples and documentation - **govinfo-bulk-data/** - Bulk data repository with XML user guides - **congress-api/** - Official Congress.gov API repository with client libraries - **bill-status/** - Bill Status XML bulk data repository ### Key Resources #### GovInfo.gov - **API Base URL**: `https://api.govinfo.gov/` - **Documentation**: `https://api.govinfo.gov/docs` - **Bulk Data**: `https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata` - **API Key**: Required from `https://api.data.gov/signup` #### Congress.gov - **API Base URL**: `https://api.congress.gov/v3/` - **Documentation**: `https://api.congress.gov/` - **API Key**: Required from `https://api.congress.gov/sign-up/` - **Rate Limit**: 5,000 requests/hour ## Data Types Available ### GovInfo Collections - Congressional Bills (BILLS) - Congressional Record (CREC) - Federal Register (FR) - Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) - U.S. Courts (USCOURTS) - Committee Prints (CHRG) - And many more... ### Congress.gov Data - Bills and amendments - Member information - Committee data - Nominations - Roll call votes - Hearing transcripts ## Next Steps for MCP Development 1. **Authentication Setup** - Obtain API keys for both services - Implement key management 2. **Server Architecture** - Design MCP server structure - Implement rate limiting - Add error handling 3. **Data Processing** - Parse XML/JSON responses - Implement data transformation - Add caching mechanisms 4. **Tool Implementation** - Create tools for common queries - Implement bulk download capabilities - Add search functionality