# FamilyLore [Health: Active]

**Category:** 🌎 Translation Services  
**Repository:** https://familylore.ai/  
**Views:** 0  
**Installs:** 0  
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**Directory Page:** https://allmcps.com/mcp/familylore

## Description
Reads handwritten family letters in old scripts and translates them, with notes on what they meant.

## Tools
Capabilities this server exposes over MCP:

- **real_letters** — FamilyLore's shelf of 16 real handwritten letters from 1758 to 1943, each with FamilyLore's reading: the transcription in the original script, an English translation, and notes on what the letter meant at the time. Use this when someone wants to see a real historical letter: one written in a given script (such as Kurrent, Sütterlin or old Russian cursive), in a given language, from a period or near a year, or the full reading of one of these letters. Without a letter id it lists the matching letters; with one it returns that letter's reading. Do not use it to read a letter or photo the person has: these are fixed example letters only.
- **script_guide** — FamilyLore's guide to the 137 letters of five old handwriting styles: Russian cursive, German Kurrent, Sütterlin, Hebrew cursive, American cursive. For one letter: how it was written (its forms, with images), what to look for, the letters it is mistaken for and how to tell them apart, and printed copybook plates where FamilyLore has them. Use this when someone asks how a letter was written in one of these hands, what an old letter shape is, or why two letters look alike; give the letter as written ("ѣ", "G"), by its name ("yat") or as transliterated, and the hand if known. With only a hand it returns that hand's alphabet. Do not use it to read a letter or photo the person has: it explains the alphabets only.
- **read_letter** — Read a photo of an old handwritten letter, postcard or document with FamilyLore: the transcription in its own script, a translation and notes on what it meant then. Use it when the person attaches a photo of a handwritten page and asks what it says. It reads pre-1918 Russian and Ukrainian cursive, German Kurrent and Sütterlin, and Yiddish. It needs the person's FamilyLore account and uses one page of the account's allowance. It starts the reading and answers at once with the page id; a reading takes about a minute and a half. If the photo can't be attached here, call it without one: it answers with a one-time link where the person sends the photo to FamilyLore, and the page id to pass to get_reading once they have.
- **get_reading** — The reading of a page in the person's FamilyLore account: the transcription in its own script with the words FamilyLore was unsure of marked, the translation, notes on what it meant, how sure the reading is, and the page's link. Use it with the page id read_letter answered, to show the reading once it is done or to see whether it is still being read.
- **reading_status** — Where a page's reading is, for FamilyLore's card while the page is read.
- **my_letters** — The pages in the person's FamilyLore account, newest first: each letter's title, language, the date it was added, whether it has been read, and its page id. Use it when the person asks about letters they have read on FamilyLore; pass a page id to get_reading for that letter's reading.
- **ask_letter** — Ask FamilyLore a question about one page in the person's account: what a phrase meant then, who someone was, what the letter says about something. The answer comes with the letter's lines it rests on, or says that the letter doesn't say. Use it with a page id from read_letter, my_letters or get_reading, once the page has been read. Questions the reading already answers (who is named, what the translation says) need no call.
- **my_allowance** — How many pages the person's FamilyLore account has left to read: today for a free account, this month otherwise, and when more come. Reading a page in the chat uses the same allowance as on the site.
- **upload_slot** — A one-time link where the person sends FamilyLore the photo of a page, for FamilyLore's card.

## Claude Desktop Quick Installation
No confirmed install details yet, so no config is published. Follow the setup steps in the repository above.

## Documentation

## What FamilyLore does

FamilyLore focuses on handwritten family letters whose scripts may be difficult for modern readers to interpret. It reads the letter content, translates it, and adds notes about the meaning of the text. The result is intended to help an AI agent or developer work with family correspondence that is not readily accessible to readers of contemporary scripts.

The service combines two related tasks: language or script interpretation and contextual explanation. A translation can convey the words, while the accompanying notes address what those words meant in context. This makes the server relevant to family-history work where understanding the message matters as much as producing translated text.

## How it works

An agent uses FamilyLore to process handwritten family letters. The server’s core workflow is centered on interpreting the old script, producing a translation, and returning explanatory notes. These outputs can then support research, transcription review, or conversations about the contents of historical correspondence.

FamilyLore is best suited to individual letters or collections of family correspondence that need specialist reading and translation. It is distinct from a general translation utility because its stated focus is handwritten material and the meaning of family letters. The old-script requirement is central to deciding whether it fits a particular workflow.

For ordinary modern text, this specialized focus may be unnecessary.

## Tools and capabilities

- Reads handwritten family letters.
- Handles letters written in old scripts.
- Translates the letter contents.
- Adds notes explaining what the letters meant.

The available capabilities are centered on interpreting the letters and explaining their meaning rather than on broader document management or general-purpose translation tasks.

_Full upstream README: https://allmcps.com/mcp/familylore/readme_