# Rechtsinformationen Bund DE MCP Server - Local Setup Guide
## Quick Start
### 1. Install and Build
```bash
cd /Users/wolfgang.ihloff/workspace/semantic-norm-discovery
npm install
npm run build
```
### 2. Test the Server
```bash
# Test the golden cases to ensure everything works
node test-golden-fixed.js
# Should show: Success Rate: 100.0%
```
### 3. Configure Claude Desktop
#### For macOS:
Edit your Claude Desktop configuration file at:
```
~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
```
Add this configuration:
```json
{
"mcpServers": {
"rechtsinformationen-bund-de": {
"command": "node",
"args": ["/Users/wolfgang.ihloff/workspace/semantic-norm-discovery/dist/index.js"]
}
}
}
```
#### For Windows:
Edit your Claude Desktop configuration file at:
```
%APPDATA%/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
```
Add this configuration:
```json
{
"mcpServers": {
"rechtsinformationen-bund-de": {
"command": "node",
"args": ["C:\\path\\to\\your\\project\\dist\\index.js"]
}
}
}
```
### 4. Restart Claude Desktop
Close and reopen Claude Desktop completely for the changes to take effect.
### 5. Test in Claude Desktop
Try these example queries:
- "Search for German laws about data protection"
- "Find court decisions about employment law"
- "What are the rules for parental leave in Germany?"
## Detailed Configuration
### Complete Claude Desktop Config Example
```json
{
"mcpServers": {
"rechtsinformationen-bund-de": {
"command": "node",
"args": ["/Users/wolfgang.ihloff/workspace/semantic-norm-discovery/dist/index.js"],
"env": {
"NODE_ENV": "production"
}
}
},
"globalShortcut": null
}
```
### Available Tools in Claude Desktop
Once configured, Claude Desktop will have access to these tools:
1. **search_german_laws** - Search federal legislation
2. **search_case_law** - Search court decisions
3. **search_all_documents** - Search across all document types
4. **semantic_search** - Natural language search with fuzzy matching
5. **get_document_details** - Get full details of specific documents
6. **get_legislation_by_eli** - Retrieve laws by European Legislation Identifier
## Troubleshooting
### Server Won't Start
```bash
# Check if Node.js is installed
node --version
# Should show v18+ or v20+
# Check if dependencies are installed
npm list
# Rebuild if needed
npm run build
```
### Claude Desktop Can't Find the Server
1. **Check file path**: Ensure the path in `claude_desktop_config.json` is correct
2. **Check permissions**: Make sure the files are readable
3. **Check logs**: Look at Claude Desktop logs for error messages
4. **Restart Claude Desktop**: Always restart after config changes
### No Search Results
```bash
# Test API connectivity
node debug-api.js
# Should show successful connections to the German legal API
```
### Config File Location Issues
#### Find your Claude Desktop config directory:
**macOS:**
```bash
# Open the directory in Finder
open "~/Library/Application Support/Claude"
# Or create the config file
mkdir -p "~/Library/Application Support/Claude"
touch "~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json"
```
**Windows:**
```cmd
# Open the directory in Explorer
explorer "%APPDATA%\\Claude"
# Or create the config file
mkdir "%APPDATA%\\Claude" 2>nul
echo {} > "%APPDATA%\\Claude\\claude_desktop_config.json"
```
## Development Mode
### Running in Development Mode
```bash
# Start the server directly for debugging
npm run dev
# Or run the built version
npm start
```
### Testing Individual Components
```bash
# Test API endpoints
node debug-api.js
# Test response parsing
node debug-response.js
# Run golden tests
node test-golden-fixed.js
```
## Alternative: HTTP Server Mode (if stdio doesn't work)
If you need to run the server via HTTP instead of stdio, here's how to modify it:
### Create HTTP Server Wrapper
```bash
# Create a new file for HTTP mode
cat > http-server.js << 'EOF'
#!/usr/bin/env node
import express from 'express';
import cors from 'cors';
import { GermanLegalMCPServer } from './dist/index.js';
const app = express();
app.use(cors());
app.use(express.json());
const mcpServer = new GermanLegalMCPServer();
app.post('/mcp', async (req, res) => {
try {
const result = await mcpServer.handleRequest(req.body);
res.json(result);
} catch (error) {
res.status(500).json({ error: error.message });
}
});
const PORT = process.env.PORT || 3000;
app.listen(PORT, () => {
console.log(`Rechtsinformationen Bund DE MCP Server running on http://localhost:${PORT}`);
});
EOF
```
### Install HTTP Dependencies
```bash
npm install express cors
```
### Run HTTP Server
```bash
node http-server.js
```
Then configure Claude Desktop to use:
```json
{
"mcpServers": {
"rechtsinformationen-bund-de": {
"command": "curl",
"args": ["-X", "POST", "http://localhost:3000/mcp", "-H", "Content-Type: application/json", "-d"]
}
}
}
```
## Support
If you encounter issues:
1. Check the golden tests still pass: `node test-golden-fixed.js`
2. Verify API connectivity: `node debug-api.js`
3. Check Claude Desktop logs for error messages
4. Ensure the file paths in the config are absolute and correct
