ncbi-datasets-mcp
Server Configuration
Describes the environment variables required to run the server.
| Name | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| NCBI_API_KEY | No | NCBI API key — raises rate limit to 10 req/s | |
| NCBI_CLI_PATH | No | Override path to datasets binary | |
| NCBI_MAX_RESULTS | No | Cap for summary tool result counts | 20 |
| NCBI_AUTO_INSTALL | No | Auto-install CLI tools on startup | false |
| NCBI_DOWNLOAD_DIR | No | Default download location | ~/Downloads/ncbi_datasets |
| NCBI_DATAFORMAT_PATH | No | Override path to dataformat binary | |
| NCBI_REQUEST_TIMEOUT | No | Seconds before a download times out | 300 |
Capabilities
Features and capabilities supported by this server
| 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 |
|---|---|
| ensure_cliA | Check whether the NCBI datasets/dataformat CLI tools are installed and, if not, download and install them automatically. Call this tool once before using any download or format-conversion tools. Returns the install status, binary paths, and version string. |
| genome_summary_by_taxonA | Search NCBI for genome assemblies matching a taxon name or tax ID. Returns assembly metadata including accession numbers, organism info, assembly statistics, annotation status, and submission details. Args: taxon: Taxon name (e.g. "human", "Mus musculus") or NCBI tax ID assembly_level: Filter by level — chromosome, complete_genome, contig, scaffold assembly_source: Filter by source — all, genbank, refseq reference_only: Return only reference/representative genomes annotated_only: Return only annotated genomes limit: Maximum number of assemblies to return (capped by server config) |
| genome_summary_by_accessionA | Retrieve genome assembly metadata for one or more NCBI accessions. Args: accessions: RefSeq or GenBank assembly accessions (e.g. ["GCF_000001405.40", "GCA_000001405.29"]) |
| genome_download_by_accessionA | Download a genome data package for one or more assembly accessions. Returns the local path to the downloaded ZIP file. Args: accessions: RefSeq/GenBank assembly accessions include: Data types — genome, rna, protein, cds, gff3, gbff, seq-report. Defaults to ["genome"]. output_dir: Directory for the download. Uses NCBI_DOWNLOAD_DIR if omitted. dehydrated: Download a lightweight dehydrated package (use rehydrate_genome_package to fetch the actual sequence files). |
| genome_download_by_taxonA | Download genome data packages for assemblies matching a taxon. For taxa with many assemblies, use dehydrated=True first, then call rehydrate_genome_package to fetch only the data you need. Args: taxon: Taxon name or NCBI tax ID include: Data types — genome, rna, protein, cds, gff3, gbff, seq-report output_dir: Directory for the download dehydrated: Download a dehydrated package (recommended for large taxa) reference_only: Download only the reference/representative genome |
| rehydrate_genome_packageA | Fetch the full sequence files for a dehydrated genome package. Args: package_path: Path to the dehydrated ZIP file or its extracted directory. |
| dataformat_genome_tsvB | Convert a genome JSONL data report from a downloaded package to TSV. Args: jsonl_path: Path to the genome data_report.jsonl file inside the package. fields: Optional list of fields to include. Omit to use the default set. |
| taxonomy_summaryA | Get taxonomy metadata for a taxon — lineage, rank, scientific name, common names, and child taxa. Args: taxon: Taxon name (e.g. "human", "Bacteria") or NCBI tax ID |
| taxonomy_downloadC | Download a taxonomy data package for a given taxon. Args: taxon: Taxon name or NCBI tax ID output_dir: Directory for the download |
Prompts
Interactive templates invoked by user choice
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
No prompts | |
Resources
Contextual data attached and managed by the client
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
No resources | |
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