FamilySearch MCP Server

This is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for FamilySearch APIs. It allows AI tools like Claude or Cursor to interact with FamilySearch’s family history data directly.

Features

• Authentication with FamilySearch credentials
• Search for person records in FamilySearch Family Tree
• View detailed person information
• Explore ancestors and descendants
• Search historical records

Prerequisites

• Node.js 16+ and npm
• A FamilySearch developer account and API credentials
• A FamilySearch user account with access to Family Tree data

Installation

1. Clone this repository
2. Install dependencies:

npm install

3. Build the project:

npm run build

FamilySearch API Setup

Before using this tool, you’ll need to register for FamilySearch API access:

1. Go to FamilySearch Developers
2. Sign in with your FamilySearch account
3. Create a new application
4. Set the redirect URI to https://localhost:8080/oauth-redirect (you can change this later)
5. Copy your Client ID - you’ll need it for configuration

Usage

Run the server:

npm start

Then, in your AI tool that supports MCP (like Claude or Cursor), you can use the FamilySearch tools to interact with family history data.

Configuration

The first time you use the MCP, you’ll need to configure it with your FamilySearch API credentials:

Configure FamilySearch API credentials with clientId: YOUR_CLIENT_ID_HERE

Then authenticate with your FamilySearch username and password:

Authenticate with FamilySearch using username: your_username and password: your_password

Once authenticated, your credentials will be stored securely in ~/.familysearch-mcp/config.json for future use.

Available MCP Tools

Basic

• say-hello: A simple greeting function
• configure: Set up your FamilySearch API credentials
• authenticate: Log in to FamilySearch
• get-current-user: View details about your FamilySearch account

Family Tree

• search-persons: Search for individuals in FamilySearch Family Tree
• get-person: View detailed information about a specific person
• get-ancestors: View a person’s ancestors (up to 8 generations)
• get-descendants: View a person’s descendants (up to 3 generations)

Historical Records

• search-records: Search FamilySearch’s historical record collections

Example Queries

Search for persons with name: "John Smith" birthPlace: "New York"

Get person with personId: ABCD-123

Get ancestors for personId: ABCD-123 with generations: 4

Search records with surname: "Johnson" birthPlace: "England" deathDate: "1880-01-01"

Security Notice

Your FamilySearch credentials are stored locally on your machine in ~/.familysearch-mcp/config.json. Never share this file with others.

License

ISC