zdf-mcp
Server Configuration
Describes the environment variables required to run the server.
| Name | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
No arguments | |||
Instructions
Guidance the server publishes about itself, which clients place ahead of the tool catalog so the model reads it before choosing anything.
Unofficial read-only MCP server for ZDF heute news via the official zdfheute.de RSS feeds (no key, no login): latest headlines, news by topic (politik, wissen, kultur), keyword search over the latest headlines and full article text. This server covers the NEWS lane only — the ZDF Mediathek is served by the live Kotlin server Nicklas2751/zdfmediathek-mcp, so there is no mediathek search or programme tool here. Search covers only the latest headlines in the RSS feed (~173 items), not the full archive. Built by Mohammad Abbasi (mohammad-abbasi-sh) — https://almanibama.ir · https://mabbasi.ir — Germany MCP factory.
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
} |
| experimental | {} |
Tools
Functions exposed to the LLM to take actions
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| zdf_headlinesB | Latest ZDF heute headlines. limit: 1..50 (default 10). |
| zdf_news_by_topicA | ZDF heute news by topic. topic: politik, wissen or kultur. limit: 1..50 (default 10). |
| zdf_search_newsA | Keyword search over the LATEST ZDF heute headlines (the RSS feed holds roughly the last 173 items — this is not a full-archive search). query: keyword or phrase. limit: 1..50 (default 10). |
| zdf_get_articleA | Full text of one ZDF heute article. article: a zdfheute.de article link (e.g. https://www.zdfheute.de/politik/.../... -100.html) or a bare path/slug. |
| zdf_healthA | Check whether zdfheute.de is reachable right now. Returns status ok (HTTP 200), blocked (HTTP 403/429 — bot wall or rate limit) or error, plus the HTTP status and the probed URL. One polite request; it does not fetch any listings. |
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 5 tools
Each tool has a distinct role: listing headlines, topic filtering, keyword search, article fetch, and a health probe. The only mild overlap is between zdf_headlines and zdf_search_news, but the descriptions clearly explain that search operates over the same latest-headlines feed, making the boundary understandable.
The zdf_ prefix is applied uniformly, which is good, but the suffixes mix conventions: verb_noun (search_news, get_article) versus bare nouns (headlines, health) and a noun phrase (news_by_topic). It remains readable, but the pattern is not predictable enough to be called consistent.
Five tools is well-scoped for a news-reading server, and each one earns its place: discovery via headlines/topic/search, retrieval via get_article, and diagnostics via health. Nothing feels redundant or missing at the surface level.
The read-only lifecycle (browse, filter, search, fetch full text, connectivity check) is covered, which fits the stated scope. Minor gaps exist: only three topics are exposed (politik, wissen, kultur) and there is no way to page beyond the RSS window, though agents can work around these.