Theosis MCP

Theological Research AI Interface — PostgreSQL-backed MCP server for deep Bible study.

Connect any MCP-compatible AI (Claude, GPT, Hermes Desktop, or Open WebUI) to a unified theological database with a growing Bible translation catalogue, Greek/Hebrew lexicons, 340K+ cross-references, Church Fathers, Apocrypha, Pseudepigrapha, and AI-powered semantic search.

Features

• Word Studies: LSJ Greek, BDB Hebrew, Abbott-Smith NT lexicons (19K+ entries)

• Original Languages: Morphologically-tagged Greek NT and Hebrew OT (31K verses)

• Cross-References: 340K+ connections from TSK, Harrison/Romhild, and scholarly sources

• Study Notes: Aquifer Open Study Notes (102K entries) + Tyndale Bible Dictionary

• Translation catalogue: 140 Scrollmapper source editions; imported batches retain language, coverage, and licence metadata

• Extra-Biblical Library: Church Fathers, Apocrypha, Pseudepigrapha (69+ texts)

• Semantic Search: pgvector embeddings for finding thematically related passages

• ANE Context: Ancient Near East cultural background across 9 historical periods

• Theographic Data: 1,100+ biblical persons with genealogy and relationship graphs

Related MCP server: mcp-bible

Quick Start

The repository contains the current schema in schema.sql. A fresh installation requires PostgreSQL 16+, the pgvector extension, and a database role named theosis.

git clone https://github.com/PrattyT85/theosis-mcp.git
cd theosis-mcp
uv sync

# Apply the schema to an already-created UTF-8 database
sudo -u postgres psql -d theosis -f schema.sql

export THEOSIS_DATABASE_URL="postgresql://theosis@/theosis?host=/var/run/postgresql"

# Run locally over stdio (for Hermes Desktop, Claude Desktop, Cursor, etc.)
.venv/bin/theosis-mcp --transport stdio

# Run Streamable HTTP on the required LAN address
.venv/bin/theosis-mcp --transport streamable-http --host 192.168.1.130 --port 8000

The schema file creates tables and indexes, not the large source corpus. Use the import scripts to acquire licensed source editions, and keep a PostgreSQL backup before large imports.

Operations

The deployment templates include a daily logical backup (keep-last 3) and a health check every 15 minutes. The health check verifies UTF-8 encoding, pgvector, required data, the active systemd service, MCP initialization, and the newest backup archive.

sudo systemctl enable --now theosis-backup.timer theosis-healthcheck.timer theosis-restore-test.timer
sudo systemctl start theosis-backup.service
sudo systemctl start theosis-healthcheck.service
# Run the disposable restore test manually when needed
sudo systemctl start theosis-restore-test.service
journalctl -u theosis-backup.service -u theosis-healthcheck.service -u theosis-restore-test.service -n 50 --no-pager

Backups are written to /root/theosis-backups/ and are not committed to Git.

Translation imports

Scrollmapper currently publishes 140 source editions in flat CSV format. Theosis imports them in reviewed batches so each edition can retain its language, canon coverage, and source licence metadata. The importer supports English and selected historical-language editions, for example:

# From a checkout of this repository
python3 scripts/import_translations.py --download \\
  --translations KJV,KJVPCE,NHEBJE,NHEBME

# Historical Hebrew, Greek, Latin, Syriac, Coptic, Gothic editions
python3 scripts/import_translations.py --download \\
  --translations WLC,StatResGNT,Vulgate,Peshitta,CopSahBible2,Wulfila,HebModern

# Inspect an import without writing to PostgreSQL
python3 scripts/import_translations.py --download \\
  --translations WLC --dry-run

The importer preserves non-canonical books when the source edition includes them. Partial editions (for example, New Testament- or Psalms-only) are reported by their actual source-book coverage rather than being described as complete Bibles.

Open WebUI Integration

1. In Open WebUI Admin Settings → External Tools, add an MCP connection:

   • URL: http://192.168.1.130:8000/mcp

   • Transport: Streamable HTTP

2. All tools become available to any model in Open WebUI

Tools

Credits

Built on the foundation of StudyBible MCP by David Jayatillake. Data from scrollmapper/bible_databases, STEPBible (CC BY 4.0), and the Theographic Bible Knowledge Graph.

License

MIT