@cyanheads/gdelt-mcp-server
by cyanheads
README.md
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<h1>@cyanheads/gdelt-mcp-server</h1>
<p><b>Search and analyze global news coverage and US television transcripts from the GDELT Project's real-time APIs via MCP. STDIO or Streamable HTTP.</b>
<div>9 Tools</div>
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[](./CHANGELOG.md) [](./LICENSE) [](https://github.com/users/cyanheads/packages/container/package/gdelt-mcp-server) [](https://modelcontextprotocol.io/) [](https://www.npmjs.com/package/@cyanheads/gdelt-mcp-server) [](https://www.typescriptlang.org/) [](https://bun.sh/)
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[](https://github.com/cyanheads/gdelt-mcp-server/releases/latest/download/gdelt-mcp-server.mcpb) [](https://cursor.com/en/install-mcp?name=gdelt-mcp-server&config=eyJjb21tYW5kIjoibnB4IiwiYXJncyI6WyIteSIsIkBjeWFuaGVhZHMvZ2RlbHQtbWNwLXNlcnZlciJdfQ==) [](https://vscode.dev/redirect?url=vscode:mcp/install?%7B%22name%22%3A%22gdelt-mcp-server%22%2C%22command%22%3A%22npx%22%2C%22args%22%3A%5B%22-y%22%2C%22%40cyanheads%2Fgdelt-mcp-server%22%5D%7D)
[](https://www.npmjs.com/package/@cyanheads/mcp-ts-core)
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**Public Hosted Server:** [https://gdelt.caseyjhand.com/mcp](https://gdelt.caseyjhand.com/mcp)
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---
## Overview
News and TV coverage analysis from the GDELT Project: the last 3 months of global news in 65+ languages, and US TV transcripts from 2009 through October 2024 across 150+ stations. Search articles and clips, track coverage spikes, analyze tone, and trace how a story spread across languages and countries.
### Tools
| Tool | Description |
|:---|:---|
| `gdelt_search_articles` | Search the last 3 months of global news coverage (65+ languages) with full-text and filter operators. Fetches up to 250 articles, returns as many as fit a 48,000-byte response, and hands back the date windows to re-query for the rest. |
| `gdelt_get_coverage_timeline` | Retrieve a time series of coverage volume or average tone for a query. `volume_with_articles` mode includes top articles per spike timestep, with `points` to get named timesteps' full article lists. Pages by `offset` within a 48,000-byte response. |
| `gdelt_get_tone_distribution` | Get a tone histogram (bins ~−30 to +30) showing whether coverage is uniformly negative, bimodal, or clustered near neutral. Pages by `offset` within a 48,000-byte response. |
| `gdelt_get_coverage_breakdown` | Break down coverage volume by source language or source country — a multi-series time series showing geographic propagation. Values are normalized shares of media output, not article counts. Pages by `offset` within a 48,000-byte response. |
| `gdelt_search_themes` | Find GKG theme identifiers for the `theme:` operator the DOC tools accept — `drought` finds `NATURAL_DISASTER_DROUGHT`, `cyberattack` finds `CYBER_ATTACK` — ranked by the count GDELT's theme lookup lists. |
| `gdelt_search_tv` | Search US television news closed captions (2009–Oct 2024) and return per-station airtime time series. |
| `gdelt_get_tv_clips` | Retrieve matching TV clips with transcript excerpts and Internet Archive viewing links — up to 3,000 fetched, as many as fit a 48,000-byte response returned — and the date windows to re-query for the rest. |
| `gdelt_get_tv_context` | Get the most frequent co-occurring words and phrases from GDELT's relevance-ranked sample of TV clips matching a query. |
| `gdelt_list_tv_stations` | List TV stations with market, network, and monitoring date ranges — all of them, or filtered by station ID, network, or market — to verify station availability before querying. |
## Capability reference
### `gdelt_search_articles` <sub>tool</sub>
- Full GDELT query syntax: phrases, boolean OR, exclusion, filter operators (`sourcecountry:`, `sourcelang:`, `domain:`, `theme:`, `tone<`/`tone>`), proximity (`near20:`) and repetition (`repeat3:`) — `gdelt_search_themes` finds the identifiers `theme:` takes
- Configurable sort (`relevance`, `dateDesc`, `dateAsc`, `toneDesc`, `toneAsc`, `hybridRel`) and fetch count, up to 250 per call — a `maxRecords` up to 2,500 runs at 250 and reports the clamp in `limitClamp`; above 2,500 the call is rejected
- Returns URL, title, publication date, domain, language, source country, and social image URL
- Responses carry as many articles as fit a 48,000-byte budget; the rest are counted in `withheldCount`, and `continuationWindows` gives date windows to re-query for them (de-duplicate by `url`). 250 is a hard ceiling, not a page size, so narrowing the date window is the only way past it
- Articles outside an explicit `startDatetime`/`endDatetime` window are dropped, and the notice counts them
---
### `gdelt_get_coverage_timeline` <sub>tool</sub>
- Three modes: `volume` (normalized % per timestep), `volume_with_articles` (volume plus top articles per spike — signal detection in one call), `tone` (average sentiment per timestep)
- Each timestep carries its first 3 article links beside `referenceCount`, the true count; `points: ["<date>"]` returns only the named timesteps, each with every link
- Responses hold as many whole timesteps as fit a 48,000-byte budget; a cut page returns `nextOffset` to pass back as `offset`. Each series' `pointCount` and `peak` cover the whole series on every page
- Configurable smoothing (0–5 timesteps) and time range (`timespan`, or explicit `startDatetime`/`endDatetime`); date resolution (`15min`/`hour`/`day`) is inferred from the returned intervals
- A `points` date matching no timestep, or an `offset` past the last timestep, is rejected with the valid values
---
### `gdelt_get_tone_distribution` <sub>tool</sub>
- Histogram bins from approximately −30 to +30; each bin carries its first 3 article links beside `referenceCount`, and `bins: [<bin>]` returns only the named bins, each with every link. A `bins` value matching no bin is rejected with the available bins
- Summary fields over the whole histogram: `peakNegativeBin`, `peakPositiveBin`, `neutralPct` (% of articles in the −2 to +2 range)
- Responses hold as many whole bins as fit a 48,000-byte budget; a cut page returns `nextOffset` to pass back as `offset`. A snapshot across all matching articles, unlike the tone timeline (`gdelt_get_coverage_timeline` mode `tone`)
---
### `gdelt_get_coverage_breakdown` <sub>tool</sub>
- Breaks down by `language` or `country` into a multi-series time series: the top 10 series by summed value, with every other series named in `otherSeriesLabels`
- `series: ["<label>"]` returns only those series, complete, under `selectedSeries`; a label matching no series is rejected with the available labels
- Responses hold as many whole series as fit a 48,000-byte budget; a cut page returns `nextOffset` to pass back as `offset`
- Values are normalized shares of each source's media output, not article counts, so don't sum them across sources
---
### `gdelt_search_themes` <sub>tool</sub>
- Searches the identifiers in GDELT's [GKG theme lookup](https://data.gdeltproject.org/api/v2/guides/LOOKUP-GKGTHEMES.TXT) (59,315 themes); each match is the identifier, its listed count, and a paste-ready `operator` such as `theme:TAX_DISEASE_OUTBREAK`
- Case-insensitive, with no stemming or synonyms: words match parts of an identifier (`cyberattack` → `CYBER_ATTACK`, `plant disease` → `TAX_PLANTDISEASE`). If nothing matches, it retries once with a trailing `s` dropped (`protests` → `PROTEST`) and the notice says so
- Ranked by exact match, then listed count (a static prevalence figure, not a live article total), then identifier
- Pages with `offset` / `limit` (1–100, default 25; a `limit` up to 1,000 runs at 100 and reports the clamp in `limitClamp`, and above 1,000 the call is rejected); `nextOffset` appears only when more matches remain, and an offset past a non-empty result fails `offset_out_of_range`
- Does not queue behind the DOC and TV rate limit
---
### `gdelt_search_tv` <sub>tool</sub>
- Up to 10 structured `stations` (e.g. `["CNN", "FOXNEWS"]`), or a `station:` selector embedded in the query — the TV API requires at least one, either way
- `normalize` toggles relative airtime % (default) vs. raw matching 15-second clip counts; optional `dateres` aggregation (`hour`/`day`/`week`/`month`/`year`). TV operators: `station:`, `network:`, `market:`, `show:`, `context:`
- Each series carries `station` (the ID the `stations` input takes, `FOXNEWS`) and `stationName` (GDELT's label, `FOX News`). If an ID can't be resolved, the series keeps `stationName` without `station` and the notice says so
- Pages at most 500 points per call in date-then-station-name order; pass `nextOffset` with the same inputs for the next page. A `limit` up to 5,000 runs at 500 and reports the clamp in `limitClamp`; above 5,000 the call is rejected. The text surface's per-station count, sum, and peak cover only the returned page
- Check station date ranges with `gdelt_list_tv_stations` before querying recent events
---
### `gdelt_get_tv_clips` <sub>tool</sub>
- Up to 3,000 clips fetched per call, sorted by relevance, date descending, or date ascending — a `maxRecords` up to 30,000 runs at 3,000 and reports the clamp in `limitClamp`; above 30,000 the call is rejected
- Each clip: show name, `station` and `stationName` (resolved as in `gdelt_search_tv`, so a series' `station` passes straight into `stations`), air timestamp, 15-second transcript excerpt, direct Archive.org link, and optional thumbnail
- The server requests whole clock hours, so any window width works; clips outside an explicit `startDatetime`/`endDatetime` window are dropped and counted in the notice (a `timespan` call drops nothing)
- Responses carry as many clips as fit a 48,000-byte budget; the rest are counted in `withheldCount`, and `continuationWindows` gives date windows to re-query for them (de-duplicate by `archiveUrl`). 3,000 is a hard ceiling, not a page size, so narrowing the date window is the only way past it
---
### `gdelt_get_tv_context` <sub>tool</sub>
- Returns the most frequent non-stopword terms co-occurring with the query
- Terms and scores come from GDELT's sample of the 200 most relevant matching clips, not all coverage; every non-empty response says so in `notice`. Compare windows or stations with a separate, narrower call for each
- Relative frequency scores 0–100, where the query term itself scores 100
---
### `gdelt_list_tv_stations` <sub>tool</sub>
- Returns every station with market, network, monitoring start date, and end date — or only those matching the optional `stations`, `network`, and `market` filters
- Filters match whole values case-insensitively and combine with AND (`network: "FOX"` does not match `FOXNEWS`); `activeCount` and `totalCount` count the returned stations
- A filter or station ID that matches nothing is named in the notice; `isActive` is true when the end date is within the last 24 hours
- Use to verify a station was active during a target period, or to find valid station IDs for the `stations` parameter on other TV tools
## Features
Built on [`@cyanheads/mcp-ts-core`](https://github.com/cyanheads/mcp-ts-core): stdio and Streamable HTTP transports, pluggable auth (`none` / `jwt` / `oauth`), swappable storage (`in-memory`, `filesystem`, `Supabase`, `Cloudflare KV/R2/D1`), structured logging with optional OpenTelemetry tracing.
GDELT-specific:
- Shared request pacer across the DOC and TV tools: one request in flight at 1 req/5s, with a backoff (5s, doubling to 60s) after any rate-limit response
- Structured `stations` arrays instead of raw TV query syntax
- GKG theme lookup held in memory after first download
Agent-friendly output:
- Query echo on every response: the original query and applied timespan, so calls chain without re-deriving parameters
- Typed series `label` fields (`"Volume Intensity"`, `"Average Tone"`, language/country names) instead of positional arrays
- Station metadata with an `isActive` boolean and ISO 8601 dates
- Zero matches return the normal output shape with empty arrays and a `notice` on how to broaden the query
## Getting started
### Public Hosted Instance
A public instance is available at `https://gdelt.caseyjhand.com/mcp` — no installation required. Point any MCP client at it via Streamable HTTP:
```json
{
"mcpServers": {
"gdelt-mcp-server": {
"type": "streamable-http",
"url": "https://gdelt.caseyjhand.com/mcp"
}
}
}
```
### Self-Hosted / Local
Add the following to your MCP client configuration file.
```json
{
"mcpServers": {
"gdelt-mcp-server": {
"type": "stdio",
"command": "bunx",
"args": ["@cyanheads/gdelt-mcp-server@latest"],
"env": {
"MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE": "stdio",
"MCP_LOG_LEVEL": "info"
}
}
}
}
```
Or with npx (no Bun required):
```json
{
"mcpServers": {
"gdelt-mcp-server": {
"type": "stdio",
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "@cyanheads/gdelt-mcp-server@latest"],
"env": {
"MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE": "stdio",
"MCP_LOG_LEVEL": "info"
}
}
}
}
```
Or with Docker:
```json
{
"mcpServers": {
"gdelt-mcp-server": {
"type": "stdio",
"command": "docker",
"args": [
"run", "-i", "--rm",
"-e", "MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE=stdio",
"ghcr.io/cyanheads/gdelt-mcp-server:latest"
]
}
}
}
```
For Streamable HTTP, set the transport and start the server:
```sh
MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE=http MCP_HTTP_PORT=3010 bun run start:http
# Server listens at http://localhost:3010/mcp
```
### Prerequisites
- [Bun v1.4.0](https://bun.sh/) or higher (or Node.js v24+).
- No API key required — GDELT is a free public API.
### Installation
1. **Clone the repository:**
```sh
git clone https://github.com/cyanheads/gdelt-mcp-server.git
```
2. **Navigate into the directory:**
```sh
cd gdelt-mcp-server
```
3. **Install dependencies:**
```sh
bun install
```
4. **Configure environment:**
```sh
cp .env.example .env
# edit .env if you need to override defaults
```
## Configuration
All configuration is validated at startup via Zod schemas in `src/config/server-config.ts`. Key environment variables:
| Variable | Description | Default |
|:---------|:------------|:--------|
| `GDELT_BASE_URL` | Override the GDELT API base URL for both DOC and TV APIs. | `https://api.gdeltproject.org/api/v2` |
| `GDELT_REQUEST_DELAY_MS` | Minimum milliseconds between GDELT requests (enforces 1 req/5s limit). | `5300` |
| `GDELT_REQUEST_TIMEOUT_MS` | Deadline for a single GDELT request (a call with retries is bounded at twice this). | `60000` |
| `MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE` | Transport: `stdio` or `http`. | `stdio` |
| `MCP_HTTP_PORT` | Port for the HTTP server. | `3010` |
| `MCP_HTTP_ENDPOINT_PATH` | HTTP endpoint path where the MCP server is mounted. | `/mcp` |
| `MCP_PUBLIC_URL` | Public origin override for TLS-terminating reverse-proxy deployments. | none |
| `MCP_AUTH_MODE` | Auth mode: `none`, `jwt`, or `oauth`. | `none` |
| `MCP_SESSION_MODE` | HTTP session mode: `auto`, `stateful`, or `stateless`. | `stateless` |
| `MCP_LOG_LEVEL` | Log level (`debug`, `info`, `warning`, `error`, etc.). | `info` |
| `MCP_GC_PRESSURE_INTERVAL_MS` | Opt-in Bun-only forced-GC loop interval in ms. | `0` (disabled) |
| `LOGS_DIR` | Directory for log files (Node.js only). | `<app-root>/logs` |
| `STORAGE_PROVIDER_TYPE` | Storage backend: `in-memory`, `filesystem`, `supabase`, `cloudflare-kv/r2/d1`. | `in-memory` |
| `OTEL_ENABLED` | Enable [OpenTelemetry instrumentation](https://github.com/cyanheads/mcp-ts-core/tree/main/docs/telemetry). | `false` |
See [`.env.example`](./.env.example) for the full list of optional overrides.
## Running the server
### Local development
- **Build and run:**
```sh
# One-time build
bun run rebuild
# Run the built server
bun run start:stdio
# or
bun run start:http
```
- **Run checks and tests:**
```sh
bun run devcheck # Lint, format, typecheck, security audit
bun run test # Vitest test suite
bun run lint:mcp # Validate MCP definitions against spec
```
### Docker
```sh
docker build -t gdelt-mcp-server .
docker run --rm -p 3010:3010 gdelt-mcp-server
```
The Dockerfile defaults to HTTP transport, stateless session mode, and logs to `/var/log/gdelt-mcp-server`. OpenTelemetry peer dependencies are installed by default — build with `--build-arg OTEL_ENABLED=false` to omit them.
## Project structure
| Directory | Purpose |
|:----------|:--------|
| `src/index.ts` | `createApp()` entry point — registers tools and inits services. |
| `src/config` | Server-specific environment variable parsing and validation with Zod. |
| `src/mcp-server/tools` | Tool definitions (`*.tool.ts`). Nine tools across the DOC and TV APIs and the GKG theme lookup. |
| `src/services/gdelt` | `GdeltDocService` and `GdeltTvService` wrapping the DOC and TV APIs, the shared outbound pacer every DOC and TV call queues behind, and `GdeltThemeService` for the GKG theme lookup. |
| `tests/` | Unit and integration tests mirroring `src/`. |
## Development guide
See [`CLAUDE.md`](./CLAUDE.md) for development guidelines and architectural rules. The short version:
- Handlers throw, framework catches — no `try/catch` in tool logic
- Use `ctx.log` for request-scoped logging, `ctx.state` for tenant-scoped storage
- Register new tools via the barrels in `src/mcp-server/tools/definitions/index.ts`
- Wrap GDELT API calls: validate raw JSON → normalize to domain type → return output schema; never fabricate missing fields
## Contributing
Issues are welcome. Run checks and tests before submitting:
```sh
bun run devcheck
bun run test
```
## License
Apache-2.0 — see [LICENSE](./LICENSE) for details.
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