In-depth architectural comparison of the Federal Register and Service agreement 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
Federal Register
Legal · Local stdio
Quality: 41/100 (Fair) | Auth: No auth required
Service agreement
Legal · Local stdio
Quality: 52/100 (Good) | Auth: No auth required
Verdict Summary: Choose Federal Register if you need specialized Legal tools running via a local process. Choose Service agreement if your workspace requires Legal integration with local subprocess execution. Both servers can be configured concurrently in your client's mcpServers manifest.
Which MCP Server Should You Choose?
Choose Federal Register when:
You need dedicated capabilities in the Legal domain.
You prefer local stdio subprocess transport architecture.
Your security boundary fits: No auth required (Free / Open Source).
Primary tools included: Full-text document search, Document lookup by number, Agency and document-type coverage.
Write an agreement: parties, scope, deliverables, rate and payment terms, dates, termination notice, liability cap, jurisdiction. Stores it and returns the rendered Markdown. Returns `SA-YYYY-NNNN
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).
Federal Register is categorized under Legal and uses a local stdio subprocess. In contrast, Service agreement belongs to Legal using local stdio subprocess. Select Federal Register when you need capabilities focused on legal and Service agreement when you require tools for legal.
Read one agreement in full by SA number or client name, with its status history
agreement_list
List agreements newest first; filter by status and client
agreement_update_status
Move the agreement exactly one step -- draft, sent, signed, expired -- stamping date and note into its history
clause_library
The five built-in clauses: IP assignment, mutual confidentiality, late payment interest, kill fee, revision rounds. Pro: full texts with the agreement's variables filled in
agreement_render
Render for signing: Markdown, or self-contained HTML with print CSS (Pro). Includes the signature block and the template-not-legal-advice line
agreement_checklist
The before-you-send-it checklist: missing fields and one-sided gaps flagged neutrally