FamilySearch MCP Server

This is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for FamilySearch APIs. It allows AI tools like Claude or Cursor to interact with FamilySearch's family history data directly.

Features

Authentication with FamilySearch credentials
Search for person records in FamilySearch Family Tree
View detailed person information
Explore ancestors and descendants
Search historical records

Prerequisites

Node.js 16+ and npm
A FamilySearch developer account and API credentials
A FamilySearch user account with access to Family Tree data

Installation

Clone this repository
Install dependencies:

npm install

Build the project:

npm run build

FamilySearch API Setup

Before using this tool, you'll need to register for FamilySearch API access:

Go to FamilySearch Developers
Sign in with your FamilySearch account
Create a new application
Set the redirect URI to https://localhost:8080/oauth-redirect (you can change this later)
Copy your Client ID - you'll need it for configuration

Usage

Run the server:

npm start

Then, in your AI tool that supports MCP (like Claude or Cursor), you can use the FamilySearch tools to interact with family history data.

Configuration

The first time you use the MCP, you'll need to configure it with your FamilySearch API credentials:

Configure FamilySearch API credentials with clientId: YOUR_CLIENT_ID_HERE

Then authenticate with your FamilySearch username and password:

Authenticate with FamilySearch using username: your_username and password: your_password

Once authenticated, your credentials will be stored securely in ~/.familysearch-mcp/config.json for future use.

Available MCP Tools

Basic

say-hello: A simple greeting function
configure: Set up your FamilySearch API credentials
authenticate: Log in to FamilySearch
get-current-user: View details about your FamilySearch account

Family Tree

search-persons: Search for individuals in FamilySearch Family Tree
get-person: View detailed information about a specific person
get-ancestors: View a person's ancestors (up to 8 generations)
get-descendants: View a person's descendants (up to 3 generations)

Historical Records

search-records: Search FamilySearch's historical record collections

Example Queries

Search for persons with name: "John Smith" birthPlace: "New York"

Get person with personId: ABCD-123

Get ancestors for personId: ABCD-123 with generations: 4

Search records with surname: "Johnson" birthPlace: "England" deathDate: "1880-01-01"

Security Notice

Your FamilySearch credentials are stored locally on your machine in ~/.familysearch-mcp/config.json. Never share this file with others.

License

ISC