MAL MCP Server

Overview Schema Source Related Servers Discussions Admin

Search manga

search_manga

Read-only

Search MyAnimeList manga, light novels, manhwa, and manhua by keyword or filters; get compact summaries with the mal_id needed by other manga tools.

Instructions

Search MyAnimeList manga by keyword (also light novels, manhwa/manhua); returns compact summaries with the mal_id that other manga tools require. If Tenrai is unavailable and MAL_CLIENT_ID is set and q has at least 3 characters (the official search rejects anything shorter, so a filter-only or 1-2 character search has no fallback), transparently retries via the official API, which ignores every filter except q/sfw/limit/page (type/status/genres/genres_exclude/score/min_score/max_score/letter/magazines/start_date/end_date/unapproved/order_by/sort are silently dropped), always returns empty themes/demographics (no official-API equivalent), and — for a query with no real title match — comes back with a page of unrelated manga instead of an empty result (a quirk of the official search endpoint itself, not a mal-mcp bug; don't treat a nonsense-query result as a real match during a fallback).

Input Schema

Name	Required	Description
`q`	No	Search query, e.g. a manga title. Omit to browse by the other filters alone (e.g. genres + order_by). Cannot be combined with `letter`.
`sfw`	No	If true, exclude adult/explicit-rated entries (R+ Mild Nudity and up). Defaults to false (no filtering). Note: this alone still allows mainstream, safely-rated shows tagged with the Ecchi genre (fanservice) through — use `sfw_strict` to also exclude those.
`page`	No	1-based page number for pagination (1-20000).
`sort`	No	Sort direction. Only takes effect together with `order_by`; ignored on its own.
`type`	No	Restrict to one or more publication types.
`limit`	No	Max results per page (1-100).
`score`	No	Restrict to entries with exactly this average score (rarely useful — prefer min_score/max_score for a range).
`genres`	No	Comma-separated MAL genre IDs to include (max 25), e.g. '1,4'. Look up IDs with get_manga_genres.
`letter`	No	Restrict results to entries whose title starts with this single letter.
`status`	No	Filter by publication status.
`end_date`	No	Only include entries whose end date is on or before this date: YYYY-MM-DD, or YYYY-MM / YYYY for the end of that month/year. Entries with no end date are excluded.
`order_by`	No	Field to order by.
`magazines`	No	Comma-separated MAL magazine IDs to restrict to (max 25). Look up IDs with get_magazines.
`max_score`	No	Maximum average MAL score (inclusive), 1-10.
`min_score`	No	Minimum average MAL score (inclusive), 0-10.
`sfw_strict`	No	If true, exclude adult/explicit-rated entries AND anything tagged with the Ecchi genre, even otherwise-mainstream/safely-rated shows. Stricter than `sfw` alone. Defaults to false.
`start_date`	No	Only include entries whose start date is on or after this date: YYYY-MM-DD, or YYYY-MM / YYYY for the start of that month/year.
`unapproved`	No	Entries not yet approved by MAL's moderators: 'true' also includes them, 'false' (default) excludes them, 'only' returns exclusively unapproved entries.
`genres_exclude`	No	Comma-separated MAL genre IDs to exclude (max 25), e.g. '1,4'. Look up IDs with get_manga_genres.

Output Schema

Name	Required	Description	Default
`page`	Yes
`results`	Yes

Schema Changelog

Changes observed during successful MCP inspections.

Changed15 schema fields changedv0.11.0Oct 25, 2026

changedInput schema / properties / end_date / description

Previous value: -"Only include entries whose end date is on or before this date (YYYY-MM-DD)."New value: +"Only include entries whose end date is on or before this date: YYYY-MM-DD, or YYYY-MM / YYYY for the end of that month/year. Entries with no end date are excluded."

changedInput schema / properties / end_date / pattern

Previous value: -"^\\d{4}-\\d{2}-\\d{2}$"New value: +"^\\d{4}(-\\d{2}(-\\d{2})?)?$"

changedInput schema / properties / limit / description

Previous value: -"Max results per page (1-50)."New value: +"Max results per page (1-100)."

changedInput schema / properties / limit / maximum
```
Previous value: -50New value: +100
```

changedInput schema / properties / page / description

Previous value: -"1-based page number for pagination (1-1000)."New value: +"1-based page number for pagination (1-20000)."

changedInput schema / properties / page / maximum
```
Previous value: -1000New value: +20000
```

changedInput schema / properties / q / description

Previous value: -"Search query, e.g. a manga title."New value: +"Search query, e.g. a manga title. Omit to browse by the other filters alone (e.g. genres + order_by). Cannot be combined with `letter`."

addedInput schema / properties / q / maxLength
```
Added value: +300
```

changedInput schema / properties / sort / description

Previous value: -"Sort direction."New value: +"Sort direction. Only takes effect together with `order_by`; ignored on its own."

changedInput schema / properties / start_date / description

Previous value: -"Only include entries whose start date is on or after this date (YYYY-MM-DD)."New value: +"Only include entries whose start date is on or after this date: YYYY-MM-DD, or YYYY-MM / YYYY for the start of that month/year."

changedInput schema / properties / start_date / pattern

Previous value: -"^\\d{4}-\\d{2}-\\d{2}$"New value: +"^\\d{4}(-\\d{2}(-\\d{2})?)?$"

changedInput schema / properties / unapproved / description

Previous value: -"If true, also include entries not yet approved by MAL's moderators (excluded by default). Defaults to false."New value: +"Entries not yet approved by MAL's moderators: 'true' also includes them, 'false' (default) excludes them, 'only' returns exclusively unapproved entries."

addedInput schema / properties / unapproved / enum

Added value: +[
+  "true",
+  "false",
+  "only"
+]

changedInput schema / properties / unapproved / type
```
Previous value: -"boolean"New value: +"string"
```
removedInput schema / required
```
Removed value: -[
-  "q"
-]
```

Changed50 schema fields changedv0.9.0Jul 30, 2026

addedInput schema / properties / end_date

Added value: +{
+  "description": "Only include entries whose end date is on or before this date (YYYY-MM-DD).",
+  "pattern": "^\\d{4}-\\d{2}-\\d{2}$",
+  "type": "string"
+}

changedInput schema / properties / genres / description

Previous value: -"Comma-separated Jikan genre IDs, e.g. '1,4'. Look up the IDs with get_manga_genres."New value: +"Comma-separated MAL genre IDs to include (max 25), e.g. '1,4'. Look up IDs with get_manga_genres."

addedInput schema / properties / genres_exclude

Added value: +{
+  "description": "Comma-separated MAL genre IDs to exclude (max 25), e.g. '1,4'. Look up IDs with get_manga_genres.",
+  "pattern": "^\\d+(,\\d+)*$",
+  "type": "string"
+}

addedInput schema / properties / letter

Added value: +{
+  "description": "Restrict results to entries whose title starts with this single letter.",
+  "maxLength": 1,
+  "minLength": 1,
+  "type": "string"
+}

changedInput schema / properties / limit / description

Previous value: -"Max results per page (1-25)."New value: +"Max results per page (1-50)."

changedInput schema / properties / limit / maximum
```
Previous value: -25New value: +50
```

addedInput schema / properties / magazines

Added value: +{
+  "description": "Comma-separated MAL magazine IDs to restrict to (max 25). Look up IDs with get_magazines.",
+  "pattern": "^\\d+(,\\d+)*$",
+  "type": "string"
+}

addedInput schema / properties / max_score

Added value: +{
+  "description": "Maximum average MAL score (inclusive), 1-10.",
+  "maximum": 10,
+  "minimum": 1,
+  "type": "number"
+}

addedInput schema / properties / min_score

Added value: +{
+  "description": "Minimum average MAL score (inclusive), 0-10.",
+  "maximum": 10,
+  "minimum": 0,
+  "type": "number"
+}

changedInput schema / properties / order_by / enum

Previous value: -[
-  "title",
-  "start_date",
-  "score",
-  "rank",
-  "popularity",
-  "members",
-  "favorites",
-  "chapters",
-  "volumes"
-]New value: +[
+  "mal_id",
+  "title",
+  "start_date",
+  "end_date",
+  "chapters",
+  "volumes",
+  "score",
+  "scored_by",
+  "rank",
+  "popularity",
+  "members",
+  "favorites"
+]

changedInput schema / properties / page / description

Previous value: -"1-based page number for pagination."New value: +"1-based page number for pagination (1-1000)."

changedInput schema / properties / page / maximum

Previous value: -9007199254740991New value: +1000

addedInput schema / properties / score

Added value: +{
+  "description": "Restrict to entries with exactly this average score (rarely useful — prefer min_score/max_score for a range).",
+  "maximum": 9.99,
+  "minimum": 1,
+  "type": "number"
+}

changedInput schema / properties / sfw / description

Previous value: -"If true, exclude adult (NSFW) entries. Defaults to false (no filtering)."New value: +"If true, exclude adult/explicit-rated entries (R+ Mild Nudity and up). Defaults to false (no filtering). Note: this alone still allows mainstream, safely-rated shows tagged with the Ecchi genre (fanservice) through — use `sfw_strict` to also exclude those."

addedInput schema / properties / sfw_strict

Added value: +{
+  "description": "If true, exclude adult/explicit-rated entries AND anything tagged with the Ecchi genre, even otherwise-mainstream/safely-rated shows. Stricter than `sfw` alone. Defaults to false.",
+  "type": "boolean"
+}

changedInput schema / properties / sort / enum

Previous value: -[
-  "desc",
-  "asc"
-]New value: +[
+  "asc",
+  "desc"
+]

addedInput schema / properties / start_date

Added value: +{
+  "description": "Only include entries whose start date is on or after this date (YYYY-MM-DD).",
+  "pattern": "^\\d{4}-\\d{2}-\\d{2}$",
+  "type": "string"
+}

changedInput schema / properties / type / description

Previous value: -"Filter by publication type."New value: +"Restrict to one or more publication types."

removedInput schema / properties / type / enum

Removed value: -[
-  "manga",
-  "novel",
-  "lightnovel",
-  "oneshot",
-  "doujin",
-  "manhwa",
-  "manhua"
-]

addedInput schema / properties / type / items

Added value: +{
+  "description": "A publication type.",
+  "enum": [
+    "manga",
+    "novel",
+    "lightnovel",
+    "oneshot",
+    "doujin",
+    "manhwa",
+    "manhua"
+  ],
+  "type": "string"
+}

addedInput schema / properties / type / minItems
```
Added value: +1
```

changedInput schema / properties / type / type

Previous value: -"string"New value: +"array"

addedInput schema / properties / unapproved

Added value: +{
+  "description": "If true, also include entries not yet approved by MAL's moderators (excluded by default). Defaults to false.",
+  "type": "boolean"
+}

addedOutput schema / properties / page / properties / current_page / exclusiveMinimum
```
Added value: +0
```
addedOutput schema / properties / page / properties / current_page / maximum
```
Added value: +9007199254740991
```
changedOutput schema / properties / page / properties / current_page / type
```
Previous value: -"number"New value: +"integer"
```
addedOutput schema / properties / page / properties / last_visible_page / exclusiveMinimum
```
Added value: +0
```
addedOutput schema / properties / page / properties / last_visible_page / maximum
```
Added value: +9007199254740991
```
changedOutput schema / properties / page / properties / last_visible_page / type
```
Previous value: -"number"New value: +"integer"
```
addedOutput schema / properties / page / properties / total / maximum
```
Added value: +9007199254740991
```
addedOutput schema / properties / page / properties / total / minimum
```
Added value: +0
```
changedOutput schema / properties / page / properties / total / type
```
Previous value: -"number"New value: +"integer"
```
addedOutput schema / properties / results / items / properties / chapters / maximum
```
Added value: +9007199254740991
```
addedOutput schema / properties / results / items / properties / chapters / minimum
```
Added value: +0
```
changedOutput schema / properties / results / items / properties / chapters / type
```
Previous value: -"number"New value: +"integer"
```
addedOutput schema / properties / results / items / properties / mal_id / exclusiveMinimum
```
Added value: +0
```
addedOutput schema / properties / results / items / properties / mal_id / maximum
```
Added value: +9007199254740991
```
changedOutput schema / properties / results / items / properties / mal_id / type
```
Previous value: -"number"New value: +"integer"
```
addedOutput schema / properties / results / items / properties / members / maximum
```
Added value: +9007199254740991
```
addedOutput schema / properties / results / items / properties / members / minimum
```
Added value: +0
```
changedOutput schema / properties / results / items / properties / members / type
```
Previous value: -"number"New value: +"integer"
```
addedOutput schema / properties / results / items / properties / popularity / exclusiveMinimum
```
Added value: +0
```
addedOutput schema / properties / results / items / properties / popularity / maximum
```
Added value: +9007199254740991
```
changedOutput schema / properties / results / items / properties / popularity / type
```
Previous value: -"number"New value: +"integer"
```
addedOutput schema / properties / results / items / properties / rank / exclusiveMinimum
```
Added value: +0
```
addedOutput schema / properties / results / items / properties / rank / maximum
```
Added value: +9007199254740991
```
changedOutput schema / properties / results / items / properties / rank / type
```
Previous value: -"number"New value: +"integer"
```
addedOutput schema / properties / results / items / properties / volumes / maximum
```
Added value: +9007199254740991
```
addedOutput schema / properties / results / items / properties / volumes / minimum
```
Added value: +0
```
changedOutput schema / properties / results / items / properties / volumes / type
```
Previous value: -"number"New value: +"integer"
```

Changed3 schema fields changedv0.8.0Jul 29, 2026

addedInput schema / additionalProperties
```
Added value: +false
```

changedInput schema / properties / genres / description

Previous value: -"Comma-separated Jikan genre IDs, e.g. '1,4'."New value: +"Comma-separated Jikan genre IDs, e.g. '1,4'. Look up the IDs with get_manga_genres."

addedInput schema / properties / genres / pattern
```
Added value: +"^\\d+(,\\d+)*$"
```

Changed3 schema fields changedv0.7.1Jul 22, 2026

changedInput schema / $schema

Previous value: -"http://json-schema.org/draft-07/schema#"New value: +"https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema"

changedInput schema / properties / genres / description

Previous value: -"Comma-separated Jikan genre IDs."New value: +"Comma-separated Jikan genre IDs, e.g. '1,4'."

changedOutput schema / (root)

Previous value: -nullNew value: +{
+  "$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema",
+  "additionalProperties": false,
+  "properties": {
+    "page": {
+      "additionalProperties": false,
+      "properties": {
+        "current_page": {
+          "type": "number"
+        },
+        "has_next_page": {
+          "type": "boolean"
+        },
+        "last_visible_page": {
+          "type": "number"
+        },
+        "total": {
+          "type": "number"
+        }
+      },
+      "type": "object"
+    },
+    "results": {
+      "items": {
+        "additionalProperties": false,
+        "properties": {
+          "authors": {
+            "items": {
+              "type": "string"
+            },
+            "type": "array"
+          },
+          "chapters": {
+            "type": "number"
+          },
+          "demographics": {
+            "items": {
+              "type": "string"
+            },
+            "type": "array"
+          },
+          "genres": {
+            "items": {
+              "type": "string"
+            },
+            "type": "array"
+          },
+          "image_url": {
+            "type": "string"
+          },
+          "mal_id": {
+            "type": "number"
+          },
+          "members": {
+            "type": "number"
+          },
+          "popularity": {
+            "type": "number"
+          },
+          "published": {
+            "type": "string"
+          },
+          "rank": {
+            "type": "number"
+          },
+          "score": {
+            "type": "number"
+          },
+          "status": {
+            "type": "string"
+          },
+          "synopsis": {
+            "type": "string"
+          },
+          "themes": {
+            "items": {
+              "type": "string"
+            },
+            "type": "array"
+          },
+          "title": {
+            "type": "string"
+          },
+          "title_english": {
+            "type": "string"
+          },
+          "type": {
+            "type": "string"
+          },
+          "url": {
+            "type": "string"
+          },
+          "volumes": {
+            "type": "number"
+          }
+        },
+        "required": [
+          "mal_id"
+        ],
+        "type": "object"
+      },
+      "type": "array"
+    }
+  },
+  "required": [
+    "results",
+    "page"
+  ],
+  "type": "object"
+}

First observedv0.1.0Jun 27, 2026

TDQS

A4.6/5.0

Behavior5/5

Does the description disclose side effects, auth requirements, rate limits, or destructive behavior?

Beyond the readOnly/openWorld annotations, it discloses the fallback to the official API, the required MAL_CLIENT_ID, the minimum q length, which filters are silently dropped, missing themes/demographics, and the unrelated-result quirk. These are highly relevant behavioral caveats that an agent could not infer from structured fields alone.

Agents need to know what a tool does to the world before calling it. Descriptions should go beyond structured annotations to explain consequences.

Conciseness4/5

Is the description appropriately sized, front-loaded, and free of redundancy?

The purpose is front-loaded in the first clause, and the fallback caveats are relevant. However, the second sentence is very dense with nested parentheticals, making it less skimmable than ideal for an otherwise well-structured definition.

Shorter descriptions cost fewer tokens and are easier for agents to parse. Every sentence should earn its place.

Completeness5/5

Given the tool's complexity, does the description cover enough for an agent to succeed on first attempt?

Given the output schema and annotations already present, the description covers the critical gaps: fallback behavior, auth requirements, filter support limitations, and result quirks. An agent has enough context to invoke and interpret this tool correctly.

Complex tools with many parameters or behaviors need more documentation. Simple tools need less. This dimension scales expectations accordingly.

Parameters4/5

Does the description clarify parameter syntax, constraints, interactions, or defaults beyond what the schema provides?

Schema coverage is 100%, so the schema already documents all 19 parameters thoroughly. The description adds meaningful fallback-specific semantics: official API fallback only honors q/sfw/limit/page, and q must have at least 3 characters for fallback to work.

Input schemas describe structure but not intent. Descriptions should explain non-obvious parameter relationships and valid value ranges.

Purpose5/5

Does the description clearly state what the tool does and how it differs from similar tools?

It states a specific verb and resource ('Search MyAnimeList manga by keyword') and extends scope to light novels/manhwa/manhua. It also names the key return value (mal_id) that other manga tools require, which cleanly distinguishes it from generic or non-search siblings.

Agents choose between tools based on descriptions. A clear purpose with a specific verb and resource helps agents select the right tool.

Usage Guidelines4/5

Does the description explain when to use this tool, when not to, or what alternatives exist?

The description gives clear context: use keyword search to obtain mal_id values for other manga tools. It also explains fallback conditions when Tenrai is unavailable, but it does not explicitly name sibling alternatives such as get_manga for direct ID lookup or search_anime for anime.

Agents often have multiple tools that could apply. Explicit usage guidance like "use X instead of Y when Z" prevents misuse.

Deploy Server

Search manga

Instructions

Input Schema

Output Schema

Schema Changelog

TDQS

Other Tools