Protocols.io MCP Server

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that enables MCP clients like Claude Desktop to interact with protocols.io, a popular platform for sharing scientific protocols and methods.

Available Tools

The server provides the following tools that can be used by MCP clients:

Search and Retrieval

• search_public_protocols - Search for public protocols by keyword

• get_protocol - Get basic protocol information by ID

• get_protocol_steps - Get detailed steps for a specific protocol

• get_my_protocols - Retrieve all protocols from your account

Protocol Creation and Management

• create_protocol - Create a new protocol with title and description

• update_protocol_title - Update the title of an existing protocol

• update_protocol_description - Update the description of an existing protocol

Step Management

• set_protocol_steps - Replace all steps in a protocol

• add_protocol_step - Add a single step to the end of a protocol

• delete_protocol_step - Delete a specific step from a protocol

Requirements

• Python 3.10 or higher

• protocols.io account with API access token

• MCP client (such as Claude Desktop)

Installation

Quick Start with Docker

Install the package using pip

Configuration

Environment Variables

Before running the server or tests, you must set your protocols.io API access token:

To obtain an API token:

1. Visit protocols.io/developer

2. Sign in to your account

3. Go to API clients section and add a new client

4. Copy the generated client access token and set it in your environment

Usage

Command Line Interface

Run the MCP server with various transport options:

CLI Options

Integration with Claude Desktop

To use this server with Claude Desktop, add the following configuration to your claude_desktop_config.json:

Troubleshooting

MCP protocols-io: spawn protocols-io-mcp ENOENT

This error indicates that Claude Desktop cannot find the protocols-io-mcp command. To resolve this:

1. Make sure you have installed the protocols-io-mcp package globally using pip.

2. Change the command field in your claude_desktop_config.json to the full path of the protocols-io-mcp executable. You can find the path by running:

   which protocols-io-mcp

3. Your final configuration should look like:

   { "mcpServers": { "protocols-io": { "command": "/full/path/to/protocols-io-mcp", "env": { "PROTOCOLS_IO_CLIENT_ACCESS_TOKEN": "your_client_access_token" } } } }

Development

Running Tests

Ensure you have set the PROTOCOLS_IO_CLIENT_ACCESS_TOKEN environment variable, then run:

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License. See the LICENSE file for details.