Washington Law MCP Server

# CLAUDE.md This file provides guidance to Claude Code (claude.ai/code) when working with code in this repository. ## Essential Commands ### Build and Development ```bash npm run build # Compile TypeScript to JavaScript npm run dev # Watch mode for TypeScript compilation npm start # Run the MCP server npm test # Test with MCP Inspector ``` ### Database Operations ```bash npm run init:db # Initialize SQLite database with schema sqlite3 data/washington-laws.db # Direct database access ``` ### Data Collection (Scrapers) ```bash npm run scrape:rcw # Scrape RCW laws (uses simple-rcw-scraper.ts) npm run scrape:rpc # Scrape RPC (Rules of Professional Conduct) PDFs npm run scrape:ralj # Scrape RALJ (Rules for Appeal of Decisions of Courts of Limited Jurisdiction) PDFs npx tsx src/scraper/court-rules-pdf-scraper-v2.ts # Scrape IRLJ/CRLJ court rules PDFs ``` ### Testing Specific Laws ```bash # Query RCW sections directly sqlite3 data/washington-laws.db "SELECT citation, substr(full_text, 1, 200) FROM rcw WHERE citation = '46.61.502';" # Query court rules sqlite3 data/washington-laws.db "SELECT rule_set, rule_number, rule_name FROM court_rules WHERE rule_set = 'CRLJ' AND rule_number = '60.0';" ``` ## Architecture Overview ### MCP Server Architecture The system implements a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that provides offline access to Washington State laws (RCW, WAC, and Court Rules including RPC and RALJ). The architecture ensures complete offline operation after initial data collection. **Key Design Principles:** - All law texts are persisted locally in SQLite (no runtime web/API calls) - Read-only database access during MCP server operation - Full-text search via SQLite FTS5 indexes - Separate data collection phase from serving phase ### Data Flow 1. **Data Collection Phase** (one-time or periodic updates): - Web scrapers fetch RCW sections from apps.leg.wa.gov - PDF scrapers download and parse court rules from courts.wa.gov using pdfjs-dist - Data stored in SQLite with FTS5 indexes for search 2. **MCP Server Runtime**: - `src/index.ts` initializes StdioServerTransport - Exposes 7+ tools for law retrieval via MCP protocol - `LawDatabase` class (`src/database/database.ts`) provides read-only access - All queries served from local database ### Database Schema Four main tables with Full-Text Search: - `rcw`: RCW sections with citation, title/chapter/section hierarchy, full_text - `court_rules`: IRLJ/CRLJ/RPC/RALJ rules from PDFs with rule_set, rule_number, full_text - `wac`: WAC sections (placeholder, not yet populated) - FTS5 tables: `rcw_fts`, `court_rules_fts`, `wac_fts` for search functionality - Triggers maintain FTS indexes on insert/update/delete ### Scraper Implementation Details **RCW Scraper** (`simple-rcw-scraper.ts`): - Targets specific titles (1, 9, 9A, 46) in `testTitles` array - Rate-limited with 200-500ms delays between requests - Handles both relative and absolute URLs from legislature website - Uses cheerio for HTML parsing **Court Rules PDF Scraper** (`court-rules-pdf-scraper-v2.ts`): - Uses pdfjs-dist for PDF parsing (pdf-parse had dependency issues) - Downloads IRLJ (26 rules) and CRLJ (74 rules) as PDFs - Extracts text and cleans formatting artifacts - Stores in `court_rules` table with rule_set, rule_number, rule_name, full_text **RPC Scraper** (`rpc-scraper.ts`): - Downloads RPC (Rules of Professional Conduct) PDFs from courts.wa.gov - Processes 60 RPC rules (1.1 through 8.5) - Extracts and cleans text from PDFs using pdfjs-dist - Stores in same `court_rules` table with rule_set='RPC' **RALJ Scraper** (`ralj-scraper.ts`): - Downloads RALJ (Rules for Appeal of Decisions of Courts of Limited Jurisdiction) PDFs - Processes 45 RALJ rules (1.1 through 11.9) - Handles appeal procedures from limited jurisdiction courts - Stores in same `court_rules` table with rule_set='RALJ' ### MCP Tools Implementation Tools defined in `src/index.ts` with parameter validation: - `get_rcw`: Direct citation lookup (e.g., "46.61.502") - `get_court_rule`: Retrieve court rules by rule set and number (supports IRLJ, CRLJ, RPC, RALJ) - `list_court_rules`: List all court rules with optional rule set filter (IRLJ, CRLJ, RPC, RALJ) - `search_laws`: FTS5-powered full-text search across RCW, WAC, and Court Rules (including RPC and RALJ) - `list_rcw_titles/chapters/sections`: Hierarchical browsing - `get_statistics`: Returns counts for all law types and last update time ### Claude Desktop Configuration Add to `~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json`: ```json { "mcpServers": { "washington-law": { "command": "node", "args": ["/absolute/path/to/law_rule_mcp/dist/index.js"] } } } ``` ## Known Issues and Solutions - **pdf-parse error "ENOENT ./test/data/05-versions-space.pdf"**: Use pdfjs-dist instead (implemented in court-rules-pdf-scraper-v2.ts) - **NPM permission errors**: Use `--cache ./.npm-cache` flag - **Missing RCW sections**: Check if title is included in `testTitles` array in simple-rcw-scraper.ts - **Court rule number format**: Database stores with ".0" suffix (e.g., "60.0"), but `getCourtRule()` handles both "60" and "60.0" - **TypeScript undefined args**: Use optional chaining (`args?.property`) in MCP server