OpenVan MCP Server

Search Vanlife News

search_stories

Read-onlyIdempotent

Find recent campervan, motorhome and road-travel news by headline words, category, country or language, returning concise summaries and source links for planning and monitoring.

Instructions

Search recent news about campervans, motorhomes and road travel collected by OpenVan.camp from public news sources. Returns for each story only a headline, a short summary of up to 300 characters, date, category, countries and a link to the story page on openvan.camp, which credits the original publishers. Never returns full article text. Filter by words in the headline, category, country and language.

Input Schema

Name	Required	Description	Default
`limit`	No
`locale`	No	Language the user writes in (en, ru, de, fr, es, pt, tr). Set it on every call: the answer and the interactive card are shown in this language and units; without it the card falls back to the app's interface language.	en
`search`	No	Words to look for in story headlines.
`country`	No	ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country code.
`category`	No	Story category.

Output Schema

Name	Required	Description	Default
No arguments

Schema Changelog

Changes observed during successful MCP inspections.

Changed3 schema fields changedv0.9.7Oct 25, 2026
- removedInput schema / additionalProperties
```
Removed value: -false
```
- removedInput schema / properties / limit / default
```
Removed value: -10
```
- changedOutput schema / additionalProperties
```
Previous value: -trueNew value: +{}
```

Changed7 schema fields changedv0.6.4Oct 15, 2026

changedInput schema / properties / category / description

Previous value: -"Category slug, e.g. camping, travel, gear, festival, industry."New value: +"Story category."

addedInput schema / properties / category / enum

Added value: +[
+  "law",
+  "ban",
+  "opening",
+  "closing",
+  "incident",
+  "industry",
+  "lifestyle",
+  "builds",
+  "festival",
+  "expo",
+  "review",
+  "other"
+]

changedInput schema / properties / limit / maximum
```
Previous value: -50New value: +20
```

addedInput schema / properties / locale / description

Added value: +"Language the user writes in (en, ru, de, fr, es, pt, tr). Set it on every call: the answer and the interactive card are shown in this language and units; without it the card falls back to the app's interface language."

changedInput schema / properties / search / description

Previous value: -"Full-text search in story title."New value: +"Words to look for in story headlines."

addedInput schema / properties / search / maxLength
```
Added value: +100
```

changedOutput schema / (root)

Previous value: -nullNew value: +{
+  "$schema": "http://json-schema.org/draft-07/schema#",
+  "additionalProperties": true,
+  "properties": {},
+  "type": "object"
+}

First observedv0.6.0Oct 3, 2026

TDQS

A3.9/5.0

Behavior4/5

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

Annotations already cover the read-only, idempotent, non-destructive, open-world safety profile. The description adds real value beyond that by disclosing the exact return shape (headline, ≤300-char summary, date, category, countries, link) and the important constraint that full article text is never returned, along with source-attribution context.

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?

Front-loaded with purpose, then return shape, then filters; no filler sentences. The middle sentence is long but each clause (fields returned, no full text, attribution) carries distinct information, so it earns its space.

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

Completeness4/5

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

For a 5-param, zero-required search tool with an output schema and full annotations, the description covers purpose, data provenance, return shape and filtering. Only explicit usage/exclusion guidance is missing, which keeps it from a 5.

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?

With 80% schema description coverage, the schema already documents the parameters well, including a detailed locale description. The description's line about filtering by words, category, country and language just restates the schema fields without adding syntax or behavioral nuance, so the baseline 3 applies.

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

Purpose5/5

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

The description states a specific verb (Search) and resource (recent news about campervans, motorhomes, road travel) plus the data source (OpenVan.camp from public news sources). It is clearly distinct from the sibling tools, which are all travel-data utilities rather than news search.

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?

It says what can be filtered by (words in headline, category, country, language), which implies how to use it, but there is no explicit when-to-use vs. when-not guidance or mention of alternatives. Since no sibling covers news, the omission is less costly, but the guidance remains only implied.

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