FamilySearch MCP server

This MCP server enables AI tools like Claude or Cursor to interact directly with FamilySearch's family history data, allowing you to search and explore genealogical information through these AI interfaces.

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 the repository
2. Install dependencies:

npm install

3. Build the project:

npm run build

FamilySearch API Setup

Before using this tool, you 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
5. Copy your Client ID for configuration

Running the Server

Start the MCP server with:

npm start

Configuration

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

Configure FamilySearch API credentials with clientId: YOUR_CLIENT_ID_HERE

Then authenticate with your FamilySearch credentials:

Authenticate with FamilySearch using username: your_username and password: your_password

Your credentials will be stored securely in ~/.familysearch-mcp/config.json for future use.

Available Tools

Basic Functions

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

Family Tree Tools

• search-persons: Find 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 a person:

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

Get details about a specific person:

Get person with personId: ABCD-123

View ancestors:

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

Search historical records:

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

Security Note

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

How to install this MCP server

For Claude Code

To add this MCP server to Claude Code, run this command in your terminal:

claude mcp add-json "familysearch-mcp" '{"command":"npx","args":["familysearch-mcp"]}'

See the official Claude Code MCP documentation for more details.

For Cursor

There are two ways to add an MCP server to Cursor. The most common way is to add the server globally in the ~/.cursor/mcp.json file so that it is available in all of your projects.

If you only need the server in a single project, you can add it to the project instead by creating or adding it to the .cursor/mcp.json file.

Adding an MCP server to Cursor globally

To add a global MCP server go to Cursor Settings > Tools & Integrations and click "New MCP Server".

When you click that button the ~/.cursor/mcp.json file will be opened and you can add your server like this:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "familysearch-mcp": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "familysearch-mcp"
            ]
        }
    }
}

Adding an MCP server to a project

To add an MCP server to a project you can create a new .cursor/mcp.json file or add it to the existing one. This will look exactly the same as the global MCP server example above.

How to use the MCP server

Once the server is installed, you might need to head back to Settings > MCP and click the refresh button.

The Cursor agent will then be able to see the available tools the added MCP server has available and will call them when it needs to.

You can also explicitly ask the agent to use the tool by mentioning the tool name and describing what the function does.

For Claude Desktop

To add this MCP server to Claude Desktop:

1. Find your configuration file:

• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
• Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
• Linux: ~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

2. Add this to your configuration file:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "familysearch-mcp": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "familysearch-mcp"
            ]
        }
    }
}

3. Restart Claude Desktop for the changes to take effect