Side-by-Side Model Context Protocol Comparison
BC Curriculum vs Lumen
In-depth architectural comparison of the BC Curriculum and Lumen MCP servers. Compare execution transports, security boundaries, tool capabilities, quality scores, and ready-to-paste client installation snippets for Claude, Cursor, Windsurf, and VS Code.
At a Glance & Executive Verdict
BC Curriculum
Education · Local stdio
Quality: 52/100 (Good) | Auth: No auth required
Lumen
Education · Remote HTTP/SSE
Quality: 41/100 (Fair) | Auth: No auth required
Verdict Summary: Choose BC Curriculum if you need specialized Education tools running via a local process. Choose Lumen if your workspace requires Education integration with remote web transport. Both servers can be configured concurrently in your client's
mcpServers manifest.Which MCP Server Should You Choose?
Choose BC Curriculum when:
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Education domain.
- You prefer local stdio subprocess transport architecture.
- Your security boundary fits: No auth required (Free / Open Source).
- Primary tools included: bc_search_curriculum, bc_get_course_curriculum, bc_get_grade_progression.
Choose Lumen when:
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Education domain.
- You prefer remote streaming HTTP/SSE transport architecture.
- Your security boundary fits: No auth required (BYOK (Pay Provider Direct)).
- You have access to required keys:
LUMEN_MCP_AUTH_TOKEN, DATABASE_URL. - Primary tools included: Nine MCP tools for learning workflows, Course-scoped RAG tutoring with citations, FSRS review management.
Feature & Specification Comparison
Tools & Capabilities Breakdown
BC Curriculum Tools (12)
bc_search_curriculum
Search BC curriculum (K-12) for standards, competencies, content items, and assessment resources using full-text search. Returns structured results with source metadata.
Args:
- query (string): Natural language search query (e.g., 'empathetic design thinking', 'coding and computational thinking')
- subject (string, optional): Filter by subject slug (e.g., 'adst', 'science')
- grade (integer, optional): Filter by grade level (0=K, 1-12)
- content_type (string, optional): Filter by content type ('big_idea', 'competency', 'content_item', 'elaboration', 'assessment', 'all')
- limit (integer, optional): Max results (default 10, max 50)
Returns: Matching curriculum elements with source type, course, subject, and grade metadata.
bc_get_course_curriculum
Get the complete BC curriculum for a specific course: Big Ideas, Curricular Competencies (grouped by domain), and Content/KDU items with elaborations. Returns the full three-column structure used by BC Ministry of Education.
Args:
- subject (string): Subject slug (e.g., 'adst', 'science')
- grade (integer): Grade level (0=K, 1-12)
- course (string, optional): Course slug (e.g., 'technology-explorations'). If omitted, returns all courses for that subject+grade.
Returns: Complete three-column curriculum structure per course, including elaborations.
bc_get_grade_progression
Show how Big Ideas, Competencies, and Content progress across grade levels for a BC subject. Useful for understanding scaffolding, prerequisites, and learning trajectories. When a query is provided, filters to only matching items at each grade — showing a focused vertical thread rather than a full data dump.
Args:
- subject (string): Subject slug
- grade_from (integer): Starting grade (0=K, 1-12)
- grade_to (integer): Ending grade (0=K, 1-12)
- focus (string, optional): Which element to trace ('big_ideas', 'competencies', 'content', 'all'). Default 'all'.
- query (string, optional): Focus on a specific concept (e.g., 'evidence', 'multiplication'). Only matching items shown at each grade.
Returns: Grade-by-grade breakdown of curriculum elements showing progression, optionally filtered to a concept thread.
Ready-to-Paste Client Configurations
Paste either (or both) of these JSON server blocks into your client config file (e.g. claude_desktop_config.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json).
BC Curriculum Configuration
Lumen Configuration