ITIS MCP Server

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for interacting with the ITIS (Integrated Taxonomic Information System) database via their SOLR API.

Overview

This MCP server provides access to the ITIS database, which contains taxonomic information for hundreds of thousands of species. It uses the ITIS SOLR API to perform searches and retrieve taxonomic data.

Features

• Search by Scientific Name: Find organisms by their scientific names

• Search by Vernacular/Common Names: Find organisms by their common names (e.g., "human", "dog", "oak tree")

• Search by TSN: Look up organisms by their Taxonomic Serial Number

• Search by Kingdom: Find organisms within specific kingdoms

• Search by Taxonomic Rank: Search for organisms of specific ranks

• Autocomplete Search: Get suggestions for partial scientific names

• Hierarchical Data: Retrieve complete taxonomic hierarchies

• General SOLR Search: Perform flexible searches with custom SOLR queries

• Random Species Discovery: Get random species from any taxonomic group with flexible filtering

• Statistics: Get database statistics

Installation

1. Clone or download this repository

2. Install dependencies:

   npm install

3. Build the project:

   npm run build

Usage

As an MCP Server

The server communicates via stdin/stdout and can be used with MCP-compatible clients.

To run the server:

For development:

MCP Client Configuration

After building the project, add this configuration to your MCP client:

Claude Desktop (claude_desktop_config.json):

Cursor/Other MCP Clients:

Available Tools

1. search_itis

General SOLR search with flexible parameters.

Parameters:

• query (string): SOLR query string (e.g., "nameWInd:Homo*", "kingdom:Plantae")

• start (number): Starting index for pagination

• rows (number): Number of results to return

• sort (string): Sort order

• fields (array): Specific fields to return

• filters (object): Additional filters

2. search_by_scientific_name

Search for organisms by scientific name.

Parameters:

• name (string, required): Scientific name to search for

• rows (number): Number of results to return

• start (number): Starting index for pagination

3. search_by_tsn

Search by Taxonomic Serial Number.

Parameters:

• tsn (string, required): TSN to search for

4. search_by_kingdom

Search within a specific kingdom.

Parameters:

• kingdom (string, required): Kingdom name (e.g., "Animalia", "Plantae")

• rows (number): Number of results to return

• start (number): Starting index for pagination

5. search_by_rank

Search by taxonomic rank.

Parameters:

• rank (string, required): Taxonomic rank (e.g., "Species", "Genus", "Family")

• rows (number): Number of results to return

• start (number): Starting index for pagination

6. get_hierarchy

Get taxonomic hierarchy for a TSN.

Parameters:

• tsn (string, required): TSN to get hierarchy for

7. search_by_vernacular_name

Search for organisms by their common/vernacular names.

Parameters:

• vernacularName (string, required): Common/vernacular name to search for

• rows (number): Number of results to return

• start (number): Starting index for pagination

8. autocomplete_search

Autocomplete search for partial names.

Parameters:

• partialName (string, required): Partial scientific name

• rows (number): Number of results to return

9. get_random_species

Get random species with optional taxonomic filters.

Parameters:

• kingdom (string): Kingdom filter (e.g., "Animalia", "Plantae")

• class (string): Class filter (e.g., "Mammalia", "Aves")

• family (string): Family filter

• count (number): Number of species to return (max: 10)

• requireVernacular (boolean): Only return species with common names

Note: This tool is designed to work with the random_creature_discovery prompt, which intelligently interprets free-form requests like "big cats" or "sea birds" and determines the appropriate taxonomic filters.

10. get_statistics

Get database statistics.

Parameters: None

Example Queries

Here are some example queries you can use:

Search for Humans by Scientific Name

Search for Cougars by Common Name

Search for Plants

Autocomplete for Oak Trees

Get Random Birds

Get Random Mammals from Carnivora

Intelligent Creature Discovery

Discover Sea Birds

Get Random Plants

Custom SOLR Query

ITIS Database Fields

The ITIS database contains many fields. Here are the most commonly used ones:

• tsn: Taxonomic Serial Number (unique identifier)

• nameWInd: Scientific name with indicators

• kingdom: Kingdom name

• phylum: Phylum name

• class: Class name

• order: Order name

• family: Family name

• genus: Genus name

• species: Species name

• author: Author citation

• rank: Taxonomic rank

• usage: Usage status (valid, invalid, etc.)

• credibilityRating: Data quality rating

• phyloSort: Phylogenetic sort order

SOLR Query Examples

The ITIS SOLR API supports various query types:

• Exact match: nameWInd:"Homo sapiens"

• Wildcard: nameWInd:Homo*

• Range: tsn:[1 TO 1000]

• Boolean: kingdom:Animalia AND rank:Species

• Phrase: nameWInd:"oak tree"

Configuration

The server uses the official ITIS SOLR endpoint: https://services.itis.gov/

No API key is required as the ITIS database is publicly accessible.

Error Handling

The server includes comprehensive error handling:

• Network errors are caught and reported

• Invalid queries return helpful error messages

• Malformed responses are handled gracefully

Contributing

Feel free to submit issues and enhancement requests!

License

MIT License

References

• ITIS Website

• ITIS SOLR Documentation

• Model Context Protocol