ape-mcp

Connect

Public and unauthenticated — the server holds its own APE key, so clients need no credential.

MCP Endpoint

URL: https://riksarkivet-ape-mcp.hf.space/mcp

Claude Code

claude mcp add --transport http ape https://riksarkivet-ape-mcp.hf.space/mcp

claude.ai

Settings → Connectors → Add custom connector, with the URL above and no authentication.

Claude Desktop / Cursor / Windsurf

Add as a streamable HTTP server with the URL above.

MCP Inspector

npx -y @modelcontextprotocol/inspector \
  --config <(echo '{"mcpServers":{"ape":{"type":"streamable-http","url":"https://riksarkivet-ape-mcp.hf.space/mcp"}}}')

A free-tier Space sleeps after ~48 h idle and answers 503 for about a minute while waking.

Tools

• search — Faceted full-text search over archival descriptions. Returns hits with reference code and APE id, a total, and a facet block (country, institution, document type, subject) for narrowing follow-up calls; page with offset.
• get_record — One archival unit's full description by APE id: reference code, durable [online] link, a Context: breadcrumb of ancestors and a sample of its children to drill into. Works on any id lifted from an APE portal URL.

Search tips

• Descriptions are in each record's source language — OR the likely translations into one query: (scheepvaart OR shipping OR Schifffahrt OR sjöfart).
• Narrow with country / institution / doc_type using facet values from a previous result, never guessed ones.
• Coverage reaches item level (notary records, lease registers, church records), so a person's name is a legitimate first query.
• Open-data contributors only (~8 countries). Sweden / Riksarkivet is not included — use ra-mcp for that.

Learn more

Parameter reference, search tips, and how the server is built and deployed:

GitHub · Archives Portal Europe