google-news-mcp-server

Google News: top stories by topic

get_topic_news

Read-only

Retrieve current Google News top stories by topic and country/language to track world, business, technology, sports, science, health, or entertainment headlines.

Instructions

Get the current Google News top stories for a topic (world, business, technology, sports...) in a given country and language.

Tool call template

Replace each placeholder with a value matching the input schema. Only required parameters are included; add optional parameters as needed.

{
  "id": 1,
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "method": "tools/call",
  "params": {
    "arguments": {
      "topic": "<topic>"
    },
    "name": "get_topic_news"
  }
}

Input Schema

Name	Required	Description	Default
`topic`	Yes
`region`	No	Country:language, e.g. US:en, GB:en, IN:en, FR:fr, DE:de, ES:es, BR:pt-419, JP:ja (84 pairs)	US:en
`full_text`	No	Include the full article text (longer answer)
`max_articles`	No

Schema Changelog

Changes observed during successful MCP inspections.

First observedv0.1.0Nov 15, 2026

TDQS

A3.5/5.0

Behavior3/5

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

Annotations already declare readOnlyHint=true and openWorldHint=true, so safety and open-world reach are covered. The description adds that results are "current," implying live retrieval rather than cached data, but says nothing about result volume, latency, or how the returned text differs when full_text is enabled. That is modest added value on top of annotations.

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

Conciseness5/5

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

A single front-loaded sentence with no filler; the verb and resource lead, and the qualifying dimensions follow. Nothing is repeated from the title and nothing extraneous is included.

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

Completeness3/5

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

With four parameters, one required, no output schema, and safety already handled by annotations, the description is adequate but incomplete. An agent can call it correctly for the required topic, yet gets no help on the two optional behavioral knobs (full_text, max_articles) that materially change the response.

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

Parameters3/5

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

At 50% schema description coverage, the schema already documents region formats and the full_text flag. The description reinforces the topic dimension with examples (world, business, technology, sports) and frames region as country-plus-language, but it never addresses max_articles or full_text, so it only partially compensates for the coverage gap.

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

Purpose4/5

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

The description names a specific verb and resource ("Get the current Google News top stories") and scopes it by topic, country and language, which is concrete enough to distinguish it from a free-text news search. It stops short of naming the search_news sibling explicitly, so the differentiation is implied by "top stories" rather than stated.

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

Usage Guidelines3/5

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

The phrasing "top stories for a topic" implies the browse-by-category use case, which subtly separates it from a query-based search. However, there is no explicit when-to-use statement, no exclusion, and no mention of the search_news alternative, leaving the agent to infer the choice.

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

Deploy Server