# Gramps Web MCP [Health: Active]

**Category:** 🔬 Research  
**Repository:** https://github.com/Scormave/gramps-web-mcp  
**GitHub Stars:** 12  
**Views:** 3  
**Installs:** 0  
**Upvotes:** 0  
**Directory Page:** https://allmcps.com/mcp/gramps-web-mcp

## Description
MCP server for structured access to Gramps Web genealogy data

## Claude Desktop Quick Installation
Remote MCP endpoint (confidence: high). Install path detected from listing signals. Add as a URL/SSE server in your client:

```json
"mcpServers": {
  "gramps-web-mcp": {
    "url": "http://127.0.0.1:8080/mcp"
  }
}
```

## Documentation

## What Gramps Web MCP does

Gramps Web MCP MCP server connects AI agents to an existing Gramps Web genealogy installation. It is an integration layer rather than a genealogy application: Gramps Web continues to provide the user interface, accounts, permissions, family trees, media, and primary editing environment.

The server exposes structured access to people, families, events, places, sources, citations, notes, media, repositories, and tags. Agents can search and browse records, examine family relationships, and perform record operations when write access is enabled. A read-only setting keeps the tools available while preventing create, update, and delete operations.

## How it works

Gramps Web MCP MCP server authenticates against a running Gramps Web instance with four required connection settings: the API base URL, username, password or token, and tree UUID. It can run locally over stdio for desktop clients or as an HTTP service using Streamable HTTP. Legacy SSE transport is also supported.

The HTTP deployment exposes the MCP endpoint at `/mcp` and a `/health` endpoint for checking whether the service can authenticate to Gramps Web. An optional MCP API key can protect requests when the service is reachable from other machines. Clients send that key as a bearer token or through the `X-Api-Key` header.

## Setup and configuration

Local development requires the .NET 8 SDK. Docker images are published for Linux AMD64 and ARM64, and the project also documents Docker Compose, Unraid, and a packaged Claude Desktop extension. The Claude Desktop bundle runs locally over stdio and does not require the .NET SDK on the client machine.

Set `GRAMPS_API_URL`, `GRAMPS_USERNAME`, `GRAMPS_PASSWORD`, and `GRAMPS_TREE_ID` before starting the service. Set `GRAMPS_READ_ONLY=true` to block mutations. For an HTTP deployment that needs request authentication, configure `MCP_API_KEY`. The default HTTP port is 8080, with the MCP endpoint at `/mcp`.

## Tools and capabilities

Gramps Web MCP MCP server includes 57 MCP tools covering:

- Full-text search and paginated object listing
- Reading, creating, updating, and deleting genealogy records
- Ancestor, descendant, relationship, and timeline queries
- Composite actions such as adding a person or attaching an event to a person
- Lookup by Gramps ID
- Optional media thumbnail and file retrieval

It also provides six MCP resources for type vocabularies, input guidance, tree metadata, name settings, and optional media content. Media access includes size limits, MIME-type allowlists, and private-record defaults. Vision-capable clients may receive image, audio, or embedded blob content when the relevant media access is enabled.

MCP prompts guide research, person and family creation, and import workflows. These prompts and tools can be used through clients such as Claude Desktop and Cursor.

## Limitations and notes

The Gramps Web MCP MCP server requires a reachable Gramps Web instance with API access; it does not store or manage a standalone genealogy database. The available records and permitted operations therefore depend on the selected tree and the credentials used to connect.

Write operations should be treated separately from research or browsing use. Read-only mode is available for safer initial sessions and can be enabled in container or stdio configuration. Media analysis also depends on the MCP client forwarding typed tool content or binary resource content to a model that supports it.

The project is licensed under AGPL v3. Its documented local development path uses .NET 8, while Docker and the Claude Desktop bundle provide alternatives for deployment or client installation.

## Getting started with this Gramps Web MCP MCP server
Always refer to the official documentation for the most accurate and up-to-date information.

_Full upstream README: https://allmcps.com/mcp/gramps-web-mcp/readme_