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find_sources

Read-only

Find genealogy databases and archives for a country (or region), period and kind of records — 171 sources across Russia and the former USSR, the Caucasus and Central Asia, Eastern, Western and Northern Europe, Germany, the British Isles…

Instructions

Find genealogy databases and archives for a country (or region), period and kind of records — 171 sources across Russia and the former USSR, the Caucasus and Central Asia, Eastern, Western and Northern Europe, Germany, the British Isles, the Americas, Australia and New Zealand, each with what it holds and how to search it well.

Tool call template

This tool declares no required parameters. Add optional parameters from the input schema as needed.

{
  "id": 1,
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "method": "tools/call",
  "params": {
    "arguments": {},
    "name": "find_sources"
  }
}

Input Schema

NameRequiredDescriptionDefault
langNoen
textNoFree text to match in names and descriptions
limitNo
countryNoCountry or region: 'Ukraine', 'UA', 'Россия', 'europe', 'latin_america', 'russian_empire'; several separated by commas. Empty = any.
recordsNoKinds of records: church, vital, census, revision, confession, household, military, repression, deportation, holocaust, forced_labour, displaced, emigration, newspapers, directories, books, graves, trees, catalogs, places, maps, clergy, nobility
year_toNoLast year of interest
year_fromNoFirst year of interest
include_worldwideNo

Output Schema

NameRequiredDescriptionDefault

No arguments

Schema Changelog

Changes observed during successful MCP inspections.

  1. First observedv0.5.1

TDQS

B3.4/5.0
Behavior3/5

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

Annotations already declare readOnlyHint=true and openWorldHint=false, so safety and closed-world behavior are covered. The description adds that this is a curated catalog of 171 sources where each entry carries 'what it holds and how to search it well', which is useful, but it says nothing about paging, result counts, or how the limit interacts with the catalog.

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 core purpose is front-loaded in the first clause. The long geographic enumeration ('Caucasus and Central Asia, Eastern, Western and Northern Europe...') is somewhat padded since it essentially restates worldwide coverage already indicated by include_worldwide, but it does help an agent judge whether its region is covered.

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 8 parameters, an output schema, and annotations covering safety, the description need not explain return values. But it leaves the interaction of include_worldwide with country filtering and the meaning of limit/pagination unexplained, which matters for a tool with this many optional parameters.

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?

Schema coverage is 63%, and the description only implicitly maps to the country, year range, and records parameters through its prose. It gives no added meaning for lang, text, limit, or include_worldwide, so the schema does most of the work and the baseline of 3 applies.

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 states a specific verb and resource ('Find genealogy databases and archives') and enumerates the filtering axes (country/region, period, kind of records). It is clearly distinct in spirit from siblings like source_details or search_online, but it never names an alternative to differentiate itself explicitly.

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?

Usage is implied by the phrase 'for a country (or region), period and kind of records', so an agent can infer the right query shape. However, there is no statement of when to prefer this over where_are_records, source_details, or search_online, and no exclusions or prerequisites.

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