NIH RePORTER MCP

# NIH RePORTER MCP A Model Context Protocol [(MCP)](https://modelcontextprotocol.io/introduction) server for chatting with [NIH RePORTER](https://reporter.nih.gov/). Search for NIH-funded research projects and publications in a conversational manner. Accompanying blog post [here](https://open.substack.com/pub/johndamask/p/building-an-mcp-server-over-nihs?r=2ee1b&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true).  ## Features - Search NIH-funded research projects with various criteria: - Fiscal years - Principal Investigator names - Organization details (name, state, city, type, department) - Funding amounts - COVID-19 response status - Funding mechanism - Institute/Center codes - RCDC terms - Date ranges - Search publications associated with NIH projects - Combined search functionality for both projects and publications - Detailed project and publication information including abstracts - Configurable result limits ## Prerequisites - Python 3.12 or higher - UV package manager (recommended for faster dependency installation) ## Installation 1. Clone the repository: ```bash git clone <repository-url> cd mcp-nih-reporter ``` 2. Create and activate a virtual environment: ```bash python -m venv .venv source .venv/bin/activate # On Windows, use `.venv\Scripts\activate` ``` 3. Install dependencies using UV: ```bash uv pip install -e . ``` ## Usage This MCP server provides access to the NIH RePORTER API through several tools: - `search_projects`: Search for NIH-funded research projects - `search_publications`: Search for publications associated with NIH projects - `search_combined`: Combined search for both projects and publications - `test_connection`: Test the API connection You can use this MCP with any MCP-compatible client, such as: - Claude Desktop - Cursor - Other MCP-enabled tools ### Example claude_desktop_config.json ``` { "mcpServers": { "nih-reporter": { "command": "<fully qualified path to>/uv", "args": [ "run", "--with", "mcp[cli]", "mcp", "run", "<fully qualified path to>/mcp-nih-reporter/mcp-nih-reporter.py" ] } } } ``` The search results will be returned in a structured format containing project details including: - Project title and abstract - Principal Investigator information - Organization details - Funding information - Project dates and status ## Debugging A log file will be created in the root folder when the MCP attempts to run in a client (e.g. Claude Desktop). Check there if you're having trouble. ## Development The project uses: - `httpx` for async HTTP requests - `mcp` for the Mission Control Protocol implementation - `python-dotenv` for environment variable management - `uv` for dependency management ## Logging Logs are written to `mcp-nih-reporter.log` in the project root directory. The logging level is set to INFO by default. ## Contributing Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request. For major changes, please open an issue first to discuss what you would like to change. 1. Fork the repository 2. Create your feature branch (`git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature`) 3. Commit your changes (`git commit -m 'Add some amazing feature'`) 4. Push to the branch (`git push origin feature/amazing-feature`) 5. Open a Pull Request Please make sure to update tests as appropriate and follow the existing code style. ## License This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the [LICENSE](LICENSE) file for details.