UK Legal Research MCP Server

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Search Parliamentary Committees

committees_search_committees

Read-onlyIdempotent

Search UK parliamentary select committees by name, house, or active status. Returns summaries for follow-up membership or evidence retrieval.

Instructions

USE THIS TOOL WHEN searching or listing UK parliamentary select committees by name, house, or active status.

Returns committee summaries (name, house, active status, ID). AFTER calling, pass committee_id into committees_get_committee for current membership, or into committees_search_evidence to retrieve oral and written evidence submitted to that committee.

Input Schema

TableJSON Schema

Name	Required	Description
`house`	No	Filter by house.
`limit`	No	Maximum committees to return. Default 100 comfortably covers all currently-active UK select committees. Raise only for historical sweeps.
`query`	No	Search term for committee names, e.g. 'defence' or 'treasury'. Filtered client-side against committee names. Omit to list all committees.
`active_only`	No	If true, only return currently active committees.

Output Schema

TableJSON Schema

Name	Required	Description
`house`	No	House filter applied, or None
`query`	No	Name substring filter applied, or None
`total`	Yes	Number of committees returned in this call
`committees`	No	Matching committees. Use committees_get_committee for membership detail.
`active_only`	Yes	Whether results were restricted to currently active committees

Schema Changelog

Changes observed during successful MCP inspections.

Changed6 schema fields changedv0.6.0Jun 19, 2026

addedInput schema / properties / active_only

Added value: +{
+  "default": true,
+  "description": "If true, only return currently active committees.",
+  "type": "boolean"
+}

addedInput schema / properties / house

Added value: +{
+  "anyOf": [
+    {
+      "enum": [
+        "Commons",
+        "Lords",
+        "Joint"
+      ],
+      "type": "string"
+    },
+    {
+      "type": "null"
+    }
+  ],
+  "default": null,
+  "description": "Filter by house."
+}

addedInput schema / properties / limit

Added value: +{
+  "default": 100,
+  "description": "Maximum committees to return. Default 100 comfortably covers all currently-active UK select committees. Raise only for historical sweeps.",
+  "maximum": 500,
+  "minimum": 1,
+  "type": "integer"
+}

removedInput schema / properties / params

Removed value: -{
-  "additionalProperties": false,
-  "description": "CommitteeSearchInput.",
-  "properties": {
-    "active_only": {
-      "default": true,
-      "description": "If true, only return currently active committees.",
-      "type": "boolean"
-    },
-    "house": {
-      "anyOf": [
-        {
-          "enum": [
-            "Commons",
-            "Lords",
-            "Joint"
-          ],
-          "type": "string"
-        },
-        {
-          "type": "null"
-        }
-      ],
-      "default": null,
-      "description": "Filter by house."
-    },
-    "limit": {
-      "default": 100,
-      "description": "Maximum committees to return. Default 100 comfortably covers all currently-active UK select committees. Raise only for historical sweeps.",
-      "maximum": 500,
-      "minimum": 1,
-      "type": "integer"
-    },
-    "query": {
-      "anyOf": [
-        {
-          "maxLength": 300,
-          "type": "string"
-        },
-        {
-          "type": "null"
-        }
-      ],
-      "default": null,
-      "description": "Search term for committee names, e.g. 'defence' or 'treasury'. Filtered client-side against committee names. Omit to list all committees."
-    }
-  },
-  "type": "object"
-}

addedInput schema / properties / query

Added value: +{
+  "anyOf": [
+    {
+      "maxLength": 300,
+      "type": "string"
+    },
+    {
+      "type": "null"
+    }
+  ],
+  "default": null,
+  "description": "Search term for committee names, e.g. 'defence' or 'treasury'. Filtered client-side against committee names. Omit to list all committees."
+}

removedInput schema / required
```
Removed value: -[
-  "params"
-]
```

Changed1 schema field changedv0.5.1May 30, 2026

changedInput schema / properties / params / description

Previous value: -"CommitteeSearchInput with optional query, house, active_only, limit."New value: +"CommitteeSearchInput."

AddedMay 2, 2026
Removedv0.4.2Apr 30, 2026
First observedv0.4.0Apr 20, 2026

TDQS

A4.1/5.0

Behavior3/5

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

Annotations already declare readOnlyHint=true and destructiveHint=false, covering the safety profile. The description adds useful context about the return values ('committee summaries (name, house, active status, ID)') and the recommended next steps, but it does not disclose any non-obvious behaviors (e.g., client-side filtering, pagination details) that are not already in the schema. Given the annotations, the description adds moderate value beyond structured data.

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?

The description is short and efficient, with only two sentences. It front-loads the primary purpose in the first sentence and packs follow-up guidance into the second, avoiding any fluff or redundant repetition of schema details.

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

Completeness5/5

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

With a robust input schema (100% coverage), output schema, and comprehensive annotations (readOnlyHint, idempotentHint, destructiveHint), the description only needs to clarify the tool's role and workflow. It does so effectively, including the critical downstream step of passing committee_id to other tools, making it complete for the given complexity.

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 100%, meaning every parameter (house, limit, query, active_only) has a description in the input schema. The tool description does not add any additional parameter-specific semantics beyond what the schema already provides, so it meets the baseline of 3 without elevating.

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 ('searching or listing') and resource ('UK parliamentary select committees'), with clear filtering dimensions ('by name, house, or active status'). It also distinguishes itself by referencing downstream tools (committees_get_committee, committees_search_evidence), clearly separating its role from siblings.

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

Usage Guidelines4/5

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

The opening instruction 'USE THIS TOOL WHEN' explicitly marks the intended use case. It also provides clear context by describing the follow-up workflow ('AFTER calling, pass committee_id into...'), but it does not explicitly name alternatives when this tool should NOT be used, though sibling tool differentiation is implied.

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