Gramps MCP - AI-Powered Genealogy Research & Management
Without Gramps MCP
Genealogy research with AI assistants is limited and frustrating:
- No direct access to your family tree data
- Manual data entry and research across multiple platforms
- Generic genealogy advice without context of your specific family
- No ability to automatically update or maintain your research
With Gramps MCP
Gramps MCP provides AI assistants with direct access to your Gramps genealogy database through a comprehensive set of tools. Your AI assistant can now:
- Smart Search: Find people, families, events, places, and sources across your entire database
- Data Management: Create and update genealogy records with proper validation
- Tree Analysis: Trace descendants, ancestors, and family connections
- Relationship Discovery: Explore family connections and research gaps
- Tree Information: Get comprehensive tree statistics and track changes
Add Gramps MCP to your AI assistant and transform how you research family history:
Search for all descendants of John Smith born in Ireland before 1850
Create a new person record for Mary O'Connor with birth date 1823 in County Cork
Find all families missing marriage dates and suggest research priorities
No more manual data entry, no context switching between apps, no generic genealogy advice.
- Connect to your Gramps Web API
- Install Gramps MCP in your AI assistant
- Start intelligent genealogy research with natural language
Features
16 Genealogy Tools
Search & Retrieval (3 tools)
- find_type - Universal search for any entity type (person, family, event, place, source, citation, media, repository) using Gramps Query Language
- find_anything - Text search across all genealogy data (matches literal text, not logical combinations)
- get_type - Get comprehensive information about specific persons or families by ID
Data Management (9 tools)
- create_person - Create or update person records
- create_family - Create or update family units
- create_event - Create or update life events
- create_place - Create or update geographic locations
- create_source - Create or update source documents
- create_citation - Create or update citations
- create_note - Create or update textual notes
- create_media - Create or update media files
- create_repository - Create or update repository records
Analysis Tools (4 tools)
- tree_stats - Get tree statistics and information
- get_descendants - Find all descendants of a person
- get_ancestors - Find all ancestors of a person
- recent_changes - Track recent modifications to your data
Installation
Requirements
- Gramps Web server with your family tree data - Setup Guide
- Docker and Docker Compose
- MCP-compatible AI assistant (Claude Desktop, Cursor, etc.)
Quick Start
-
Ensure Gramps Web is Running:
- Follow the Gramps Web setup guide to get your family tree online
- Note your Gramps Web URL, username, and password
- Find your tree ID under System Information in your Gramps Web interface
-
Start the Server:
# Download the configuration
curl -O https://raw.githubusercontent.com/cabout-me/gramps-mcp/main/docker-compose.yml
curl -O https://raw.githubusercontent.com/cabout-me/gramps-mcp/main/.env.example
cp .env.example .env
# Edit .env with your Gramps Web API credentials
# Start the server
docker-compose up -d
That's it! The MCP server will be running at http://localhost:8000/mcp
Alternative: Run Without Docker
If you prefer to run the server directly with Python:
- Setup Python Environment:
# Install uv (if not already installed)
curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh
# Install dependencies
uv sync
- Run the Server:
# HTTP transport (for web-based MCP clients)
uv run python -m src.gramps_mcp.server
# Stdio transport (for CLI-based MCP clients)
uv run python -m src.gramps_mcp.server stdio
The HTTP server will be available at http://localhost:8000/mcp, while stdio runs directly in the terminal.
Environment Configuration
Create a .env file with your Gramps Web settings:
# Your Gramps Web instance (from step 1)
GRAMPS_API_URL=https://your-gramps-web-domain.com # Without /api suffix - will be added automatically
GRAMPS_USERNAME=your-gramps-web-username
GRAMPS_PASSWORD=your-gramps-web-password
GRAMPS_TREE_ID=your-tree-id # Find this under System Information in Gramps Web
MCP Client Configuration
Claude Desktop
Add to your Claude Desktop MCP configuration file (claude_desktop_config.json):
Using Docker (works with both pre-built and local images):
{
"mcpServers": {
"gramps": {
"command": "docker",
"args": ["exec", "-i", "gramps-mcp-gramps-mcp-1", "python", "-m", "src.gramps_mcp.server", "stdio"]
}
}
}
Using uv directly (if running without Docker):
{
"mcpServers": {
"gramps": {
"command": "uv",
"args": ["run", "python", "-m", "src.gramps_mcp.server", "stdio"],
"cwd": "/path/to/gramps-mcp"
}
}
}
OpenWebUI
OpenWebUI recommends using the mcpo proxy to expose MCP servers as OpenAPI endpoints.
With uv:
uvx mcpo --port 8000 -- uv run python -m src.gramps_mcp.server stdio
With Docker:
uvx mcpo --port 8000 -- docker exec -i gramps-mcp-gramps-mcp-1 uv run python -m src.gramps_mcp.server stdio
Claude Code
HTTP Transport:
claude mcp add --transport http gramps http://localhost:8000/mcp
Stdio Transport (direct connection, more efficient):
# Using Docker
claude mcp add --transport stdio gramps "docker exec -i gramps-mcp-gramps-mcp-1 sh -c 'cd /app && python -m src.gramps_mcp.server stdio'"
# Using uv directly (requires local setup)
claude mcp add --transport stdio gramps "uv run python -m src.gramps_mcp.server stdio"
Transport Choice: Use stdio for better performance and direct integration with CLI tools like Claude Code. Use HTTP when you need the server to handle multiple clients or prefer web-based access.
Other MCP Clients
For any other MCP client, use the HTTP transport endpoint:
{
"mcpServers": {
"gramps": {
"url": "http://localhost:8000/mcp"
}
}
}
Architecture
Core Components
src/gramps_mcp/
|-- server.py # MCP server with HTTP transport
|-- tools.py # Tool registry and exports
|-- client.py # Gramps Web API client
|-- models.py # Pydantic data models
|-- auth.py # JWT authentication
|-- config.py # Configuration management
|-- tools/ # Modular tool implementations
| |-- search_basic.py
| |-- search_details.py
| |-- data_management.py
| |-- tree_management.py
| `-- analysis.py
|-- handlers/ # Data formatting handlers
`-- client/ # API client modules
Technology Stack
- MCP Python SDK: Model Context Protocol implementation
- FastAPI: HTTP server for MCP transport
- Pydantic: Data validation and serialization
- httpx: Async HTTP client for API communication
- PyJWT: JWT token authentication
- python-dotenv: Environment configuration
Usage Examples
Basic Search Operations
Find all people with the surname "Smith" born in Ireland
Show me recent changes to the family tree in the last 30 days
Data Creation and Updates
Create a new person record for Patrick O'Brien, born 1845 in Cork, Ireland
Add a marriage event for John and Mary Smith on June 15, 1870 in Boston
Genealogy Analysis
Find all descendants of Margaret Kelly and show their birth locations
Tree Information & Statistics
Show me statistics about my family tree - how many people, families, and events
What recent changes have been made to my family tree in the last week?
Security
- JWT token authentication with automatic refresh
- Environment-based credential management
- Input validation using Pydantic models
- Secure HTTP transport with proper error handling
- No sensitive data exposed in tool responses
Troubleshooting
Common Issues
Connection refused errors: Ensure your Gramps Web API server is running and accessible at the configured URL.
Authentication failures: Verify your username and password are correct and the user has appropriate permissions.
Tool timeout errors: Check your network connection and consider increasing timeout values for large datasets.
Docker issues: Ensure Docker and Docker Compose are installed and running.
Debug Mode
To enable debug logging, check your application logs with:
docker-compose logs -f
License
This project is licensed under the GNU Affero General Public License v3.0 - see the LICENSE file for details.
Related Projects
- Gramps - Free genealogy software
- Gramps Web API - Web API for Gramps
- Model Context Protocol - Standard for AI tool integration
Contributing
We welcome contributions! Please see our Contributing Guide for details on:
- Setting up the development environment
- Running tests and maintaining code quality
- Submitting pull requests
- Reporting issues and requesting features
Community & Support
- Bug Reports & Feature Requests: GitHub Issues
- Questions & Discussions: GitHub Discussions
- Documentation: Project Wiki
Acknowledgments
- The Gramps Project team for creating excellent genealogy software
- Anthropic for developing the Model Context Protocol
- The genealogy research community for inspiration and feedback