UK Legal Research MCP Server
by paulieb89
README.md
# uk-legal-mcp
<!-- mcp-name: io.github.paulieb89/uk-legal-mcp -->
[](https://pypi.org/project/uk-legal-mcp/)
[](https://safeskill.dev/scan/paulieb89-uk-legal-mcp)
[](https://glama.ai/mcp/connectors/io.github.paulieb89/uk-legal-mcp)
[](https://smithery.ai/servers/bouch/uk-legal)
[](https://vscode.dev/redirect/mcp/install?name=uk-legal&config=%7B%22type%22%3A%22http%22%2C%22url%22%3A%22https%3A%2F%2Fuk-legal-mcp.fly.dev%2Fmcp%22%7D)
[](https://insiders.vscode.dev/redirect/mcp/install?name=uk-legal&config=%7B%22type%22%3A%22http%22%2C%22url%22%3A%22https%3A%2F%2Fuk-legal-mcp.fly.dev%2Fmcp%22%7D&quality=insiders)
[](https://cursor.com/en/install-mcp?name=uk-legal&config=eyJ0eXBlIjoiaHR0cCIsInVybCI6Imh0dHBzOi8vdWstbGVnYWwtbWNwLmZseS5kZXYvbWNwIn0=)
UK legal research sources for your AI assistant.
uk-legal-mcp connects ChatGPT, Claude, VS Code, Cursor, and other MCP-aware clients to UK case law, legislation, Hansard, bills, votes, committees, OSCOLA citation parsing, and HMRC guidance. It returns primary source text and citation metadata so your agent can build evidence packs you can check and footnote.
No API keys are required for the legal sources. HMRC's authenticated Making Tax Digital endpoint is optional.
For best results, tell your assistant to use the `uk-legal-mcp` server and not to answer from memory when a UK legal source can be checked.
---
## Quick Start
Use the hosted MCP endpoint:
```text
https://uk-legal-mcp.fly.dev/mcp
```
For clients that use `mcpServers` JSON:
```json
{
"mcpServers": {
"uk-legal": {
"type": "http",
"url": "https://uk-legal-mcp.fly.dev/mcp"
}
}
}
```
For local stdio use:
```bash
uvx uk-legal-mcp
```
Claude Desktop local config:
```json
{
"mcpServers": {
"uk-legal": {
"command": "uvx",
"args": ["uk-legal-mcp"]
}
}
}
```
If a hosted tool stops responding, refresh the server from your client's Apps / Customise menu. For very large Acts, local mode can be more reliable because it uses your own IP rather than a shared cloud IP.
---
## Try This First
After connecting the server, start a fresh chat and ask:
```text
I am checking a UK legal source. Only use uk-legal-mcp. Find the source, give me the source URL, and tell me what metadata I should check before relying on it.
```
For legal work, ask for an evidence pack rather than a bare answer:
```text
Only use uk-legal-mcp. Give me the source text or source summary, the source URL, citation metadata, and any caveats about jurisdiction, version, or uncertainty.
```
See [the lawyer guide](docs/lawyer-guide.md) for ready-to-run prompts.
---
## What It Covers
| Source area | What your assistant can check |
|---|---|
| Case law | UK judgments from TNA Find Case Law, including neutral citations, court, date, judgment metadata, paragraph reads, and in-judgment search. |
| Legislation | Acts and Statutory Instruments from legislation.gov.uk, including tables of contents, sections, territorial extent, in-force signals, and point-in-time reads. |
| Parliament | Hansard debates and contributions, debate-to-division chains, member biographies, column references, and petitions. |
| Bills | Parliamentary Bills, stages, sponsors, publications, and bill history. |
| Votes | Commons and Lords divisions, counts, results, and per-member voting records. |
| Committees | Select committees, memberships, oral evidence, and written evidence. |
| Citations | OSCOLA-style citation parsing and resolution to canonical sources. |
| HMRC | VAT rate lookups, GOV.UK HMRC guidance search, and optional authenticated MTD VAT status checks. |
The server also exposes `judgment://`, `legislation://`, and `hansard://` resources for source text that is too large to return in a single search result.
Full details are in the [tool reference](docs/tool-reference.md) and [upstream API reference](docs/api-reference.md).
---
## Examples
**Legislation check:** the assistant finds the Worker Protection Act duty, commencement position, territorial extent, and source links.
**Parliamentary evidence:** the assistant follows a House of Lords debate into a division result for an Automated Vehicles Bill amendment.
More examples are in the [lawyer guide](docs/lawyer-guide.md).
---
## Using It Safely
uk-legal-mcp helps your AI assistant find and quote UK legal sources. It does not replace legal judgement.
- **Check jurisdiction.** Legislation can apply differently in England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. When reading a section, check the `extent` field before relying on it.
- **Check whether a provision is current.** Some sections may be repealed, amended, prospective, or not yet in force. The server returns in-force and version-date information where the source provides it.
- **Verify citations before relying on them.** Ask the agent to resolve case citations and Hansard volume/column references against the primary source.
- **Separate exact matches from nearby candidates.** Case names and party names can be similar. A good answer should say which source was verified and which candidates were merely related.
- **Treat the result as an evidence pack.** The server returns primary source text and citation metadata. Your agent can summarise it, but you decide how the law applies.
---
## For Developers
Run the streamable HTTP server locally:
```bash
python -m src.gateway
```
Run the declarative FastMCP manifest for inspection/dev tooling:
```bash
fastmcp run
fastmcp inspect
```
`fastmcp run` is for inspection/dev only — it wraps the FastMCP runner directly and skips the production uvicorn shape (`_HttpGuard`, `_AcceptNormalizer`, `proxy_headers`) that `python -m src.gateway` wires for the Fly deployment. The `_HttpGuard` GET-SSE shim is required by claude.ai's web connector, so use `python -m src.gateway` for anything prod-like.
Use a local checkout over stdio:
```json
{
"mcpServers": {
"local-uk-legal": {
"command": "uv",
"args": ["run", "--project", "<abs-path>", "uk-legal-mcp"],
"env": { "VIRTUAL_ENV": "" }
}
}
}
```
Release notes live in [CHANGELOG.md](CHANGELOG.md).
TDQS
A4.2/5.0
Scored across 35 tools
Disambiguation4/5
The tool set covers many overlapping domains (e.g., multiple Hansard search tools, multiple case-law retrieval tools), but each tool has a clearly distinct purpose with detailed descriptions that cross-reference others. The potential confusion between parliament_search_hansard and parliament_member_debates is mitigated by explicit guidance on when to use each.
Naming Consistency5/5
All domain tools follow a consistent domain_verb_noun pattern (e.g., case_law_search, legislation_get_toc, parliament_find_member, votes_get_division, citations_resolve, hmrc_get_vat_rate). Generic MCP tools (list_prompts, get_prompt, list_resources, read_resource) follow standard MCP naming conventions. No mixed styles or vague verbs.
Tool Count2/5
With 35 tools, the server is over-scoped for a single MCP endpoint. While each tool is narrowly defined, the sheer number makes it difficult for agents to efficiently select the correct one, and many tools could be split into separate servers by domain (parliament, case law, citations, HMRC).
Completeness5/5
The server provides comprehensive coverage of UK legal research workflows: case law search and retrieval, legislation navigation, parliamentary debates and members, bills, committees, votes, citation parsing/resolution/formatting, and HMRC guidance. No obvious gaps for research-oriented tasks are apparent; the resource templates further extend access to full documents.
Maintenance
ActivityMaintained
ResponsivenessResponsive