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PoetryDB MCP Server

Searches, filters, and discovers classic poetry from PoetryDB through a 12-tool stdio MCP interface.

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Install PoetryDB MCP Server

Pick your client, then add it in one click or paste the config.

STDIONode.js
~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
claude_desktop_config.json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "poetrydb-mcp-server": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "mcp-poetry"
      ],
      "env": {
        "POETRYDB_BASE_URL": "YOUR_VALUE_HERE",
        "POETRYDB_REQUEST_TIMEOUT_MS": "YOUR_VALUE_HERE",
        "POETRYDB_REQUEST_RETRIES": "YOUR_VALUE_HERE"
      }
    }
  }
}

Settings → Developer → Edit Config, merge this into mcpServers, then fully quit and reopen Claude Desktop.

Values are written into the snippet above so you can paste it as is. They never leave your browser.

Automated check passed— started and listed 12 tools correctly (11d ago).

Overview

PoetryDB MCP Server MCP server connects MCP clients to the PoetryDB API for searching and browsing classic poetry. It provides tools for author, title, line-text, line-count, and combined-field queries, along with author and title listings. Discovery tools return random poems, sonnets, and haikus, while catalog tools describe available categories and operations. Reach for it when an agent needs structured access to PoetryDB content without API-key authentication.

Use cases

  • Search poems by author, title, or line text
  • Filter poems by exact line count
  • Discover random poems, sonnets, and haikus
  • Browse available PoetryDB authors and titles
  • Combine author and form criteria in one query

Key features

  • 12 PoetryDB search and discovery tools
  • Author, title, line-text, and line-count queries
  • Combined-field search
  • Random poem retrieval
  • Sonnet and haiku discovery
  • Catalog browsing tools

Tools12

What PoetryDB MCP Server lets your agent do. Expand a tool for its parameters.

Verified live~873 tokens of context

Security & health

What it can reach and how reliably it runs — from our own checks, not the maintainer’s claims.

ActiveLast checked 1d ago

Recent health check succeeded.

6/6 checks healthy over the last 39d

What it can do

From the 12 tools this server returned when we ran it.

Read-only tools · 12
Network at startup3 connections
Files written at startupNone
Install scriptsNone
npm provenanceNot published
Package age187 days
Maintainers1

Observed 2026-10-16 in an isolated sandbox. A description of reach, not a security audit.

Supply-chain signal

No high-severity advisories surfaced by our automated scan.

Critical 0High 0Medium 0Low 0

Scanned 14h ago via OSV.dev · mcp-poetry (npm)

Adoption & maintenance

Factual signals from GitHub, npm, and our automated checks — not a rating.

GitHub stars2Stargazers on the source repository.
npm downloads121Package downloads in the last 30 days.
Last commit6mo agoMost recent push to the default branch.
Availability100%Our rolling endpoint + install checks that succeeded.
Install checkPassedOur sandbox started it and listed its tools.
Tools exposed12Callable tools this server registers over MCP.
Directory activity1 viewsConfig copies, upvotes, and views on AllMCPs.

How PoetryDB MCP Server works

What PoetryDB MCP Server MCP server does

PoetryDB MCP Server MCP server exposes PoetryDB’s classic poetry collection through the Model Context Protocol. It is intended for agents that need to find, browse, or retrieve poems using metadata and text rather than relying on manually opened web pages.

The server covers three functional areas: catalog information, search, and discovery. Catalog operations explain the available categories and tools. Search operations locate poems by author, title, words or phrases in their lines, exact line count, or several PoetryDB fields together. Discovery operations provide random poems, poems with 14 lines, poems with three lines, and lists of available titles or authors.

How it works

The package communicates with the PoetryDB source API at https://poetrydb.org and presents the results as MCP tool calls. It uses stdio transport, so an MCP client starts the process locally and exchanges requests and responses through standard input and output. Authentication is not required.

Queries can be narrow or exploratory. An agent can first call the catalog tools to inspect the available operations, list authors or titles before choosing a target, or go directly to a search tool. search_combined supports requests that combine PoetryDB fields, such as an author with a specific line count. Search tools can also request selected fields, as shown by the example that returns only a poem’s title and line count.

Setup and configuration

Install the published npm package globally with:

Terminal
npm install -g mcp-poetry

A source checkout can instead install dependencies and build the project with npm install followed by npm run build. The package requires Node.js 18 or newer.

For Claude Desktop, configure an MCP server whose command is npx and whose argument is -y mcp-poetry. A local build can be launched with node and the absolute path to dist/index.js. The package is also published in the MCP Registry as io.github.lacausecrypto/poetrydb.

Tools and capabilities

PoetryDB MCP Server MCP server provides these operations:

  • catalog_overview lists categories and available tools.
  • catalog_category shows tools within one category.
  • search_by_author finds poems by author name.
  • search_by_title finds a poem by title.
  • search_by_lines searches text contained in poem lines.
  • search_by_linecount matches an exact number of lines.
  • search_combined queries multiple PoetryDB fields in one request.
  • list_authors returns available authors.
  • random_poem fetches one or more random poems.
  • get_sonnets returns 14-line poems.
  • get_haikus returns 3-line poems.
  • list_titles returns poem titles.

These operations support workflows ranging from “find Ozymandias” to multi-step exploration that begins with the catalog and ends by retrieving a poem form.

Limitations and notes

The server is an unofficial PoetryDB integration and is not affiliated with PoetryDB. Its content comes from PoetryDB, with attribution also given to the upstream PoetryDB project. No API key is needed. The implementation is designed as a compact stdio server rather than a custom integration with another poetry provider.

Three configuration variables are documented: POETRYDB_BASE_URL, POETRYDB_REQUEST_TIMEOUT_MS, and POETRYDB_REQUEST_RETRIES.

Read the full README View source on GitHub

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Frequently Asked Questions about PoetryDB MCP Server

PoetryDB MCP Server is an MCP server that connects MCP clients to the PoetryDB API for classic poetry. Its main tools search by author, title, line text, line count, or combined fields, and discover random poems, sonnets, haikus, authors, and titles through a stdio connection without an API key.

Install it globally with `npm install -g mcp-poetry`. You can also install dependencies and build it from a source checkout with `npm install` and `npm run build`. Node.js 18 or newer is required.

Add an MCP entry that runs `npx` with the argument `-y mcp-poetry`. For a local checkout, run `node` with the absolute path to `dist/index.js` instead.

No, PoetryDB MCP Server does not require an API key. It connects to the PoetryDB API over its stdio MCP process, with documented variables for the base URL, request timeout, and request retries.

Use `search_combined` with the author and linecount fields, such as `author,linecount`, and provide corresponding values such as `Shakespeare;14`. This searches multiple PoetryDB fields in one request.

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