NEMAD MCP
Server Configuration
Describes the environment variables required to run the server.
| Name | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| NEMAD_API_KEY | No | Your NEMAD API key. Required only when making material queries; startup, discovery, and local cache inspection work without a key. | |
| NEMAD_BASE_URL | No | The NEMAD API base URL. Must include the API prefix /api. Only HTTPS or loopback HTTP is accepted. | https://api.nemad.org/api |
Instructions
Guidance the server publishes about itself, which clients place ahead of the tool catalog so the model reads it before choosing anything.
Search first, then read cached results in pages. Cache keys expire after 15 minutes.
Capabilities
Features and capabilities supported by this server
Protocol revision2025-11-25
| Capability | Details |
|---|---|
| tools | {
"listChanged": false
} |
| prompts | {
"listChanged": false
} |
| resources | {
"subscribe": false,
"listChanged": false
} |
Tools
Functions exposed to the LLM to take actions
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| nemad_searchA | Search NEMAD by comma-separated elements (for example Fe,Co), then cache results. exact_match requires exactly those elements. limit is 1..1000, or -1 for all results subject to the response-size bound. Use nemad_read_results to read pages. |
| nemad_formula_searchB | Search NEMAD by exact chemical formula (for example Fe2O3), then cache results. |
| nemad_read_resultsA | Read a cached page: start inclusive, end exclusive, at most 100 results. Omit end_index for the next 100 results. An empty search produces an empty page. Results are local to this process and expire after 15 minutes. |
| nemad_list_cacheA | List unexpired cache keys and result counts for this local single-user process. |
Prompts
Interactive templates invoked by user choice
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
No prompts | |
Resources
Contextual data attached and managed by the client
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
No resources | |
TDQS
Scored across 4 tools
The four tools have largely distinct roles: element-based search, formula-based search, cache listing, and paginated reading. The only plausible confusion is between nemad_search and nemad_formula_search, but the descriptions clearly distinguish comma-separated element sets from exact formulas.
All names use a consistent nemad_ prefix and snake_case, with clear verb/object semantics (search, list_cache, read_results). nemad_formula_search slightly breaks the verb_noun ordering by leading with the noun 'formula', a minor deviation.
Four tools is a tight, well-scoped surface for a search-and-cache server: two search entry points plus two cache/pagination utilities. No tool appears redundant or superfluous.
Search, cache listing, and paged retrieval cover the core workflow, but there is no way to explicitly clear or invalidate a cache entry (only 15-minute expiry), and no way to fetch a single full record by ID. These are minor, workable gaps.