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CHGIS MCP Server

Provides access to CHGIS historical place data via MCP, enabling precise lookups, faceted searches, and historical context retrieval.

Installation
Add the following to your MCP client configuration file.

Configuration

View docs
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "huajibing-chgis_mcp_server": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": [
        "/path/to/your/chgis-mcp-server/src/index.js"
      ]
    }
  }
}

You run an MCP server that wraps the CHGIS historical place database, exposing search by ID, faceted searches, and historical context so you can build applications that explore ancient place names with confidence and speed.

How to use

You connect to this MCP server from your MCP client to perform three core actions: (1) look up a place by its unique id, (2) search for places using multiple criteria, and (3) retrieve the historical context of a place. You will typically configure a client to communicate with the server using the provided command or URL, then invoke the corresponding functions in your code to obtain structured data in formats like JSON, XML, or HTML.

Practical goals you can achieve include identifying a precise historical place by its ID, discovering places that match a name or time window, and understanding how a place’s administrative affiliations or boundaries changed over time. All data is delivered with detailed attributes such as spelling variants, administrative type, time spans, and geographic coordinates.

How to install

Prerequisites you need before installing: Node.js version 18.0.0 or newer, and a package manager such as npm or yarn.

Step by step install flow you should follow on your machine:

# Clone or download the MCP server project
# Navigate to the project directory
# Install dependencies
npm install

# Start the server
npm start

Additional sections

Configure the MCP server in your environment so your MCP client can locate and communicate with it. The server is exposed as an MCP endpoint via a local stdio process that you run with Node.js.

Example configuration for your MCP client (as shown in the setup):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "chgis": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/path/to/your/chgis-mcp-server/src/index.js"]
    }
  }
}

Notes and troubleshooting

If you encounter issues starting the server, verify that Node.js is installed, the path to the MCP server entry point is correct, and that you run the start command from the project root where dependencies were installed.

Common issues include invalid ID formats, missing required parameters for searches, network errors when connecting to the CHGIS API, and encoding considerations for Chinese text. Validate inputs, ensure the server has network access, and review error messages to adjust your client requests accordingly.

Available tools

search_place_by_id

Query a place by its unique id to retrieve detailed information including historical names, administrative divisions, time spans, and coordinates.

search_places

Perform faceted searches with multiple parameters such as name, year, feature_type, parent, and source, with output available in JSON, XML, or HTML.

get_place_historical_context

Obtain the historical evolution of a place, including its historical names, time spans, and administrative affiliations over different periods.