In-depth architectural comparison of the Uniprot MCP and Plant Genomics MCP 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
Uniprot MCP
Biology, Medicine and Bioinformatics · Local stdio
Quality: 60/100 (Good) | Auth: No auth required
Plant Genomics MCP
Biology, Medicine and Bioinformatics · Local stdio
Quality: 60/100 (Good) | Auth: No auth required
Verdict Summary: Choose Uniprot MCP if you need specialized Biology, Medicine and Bioinformatics tools running via a local process. Choose Plant Genomics MCP if your workspace requires Biology, Medicine and Bioinformatics integration with local subprocess execution. Both servers can be configured concurrently in your client's mcpServers manifest.
Which MCP Server Should You Choose?
Choose Uniprot MCP when:
You need dedicated capabilities in the Biology, Medicine and Bioinformatics domain.
You prefer local stdio subprocess transport architecture.
Your security boundary fits: No auth required (Free / Open Source).
You have access to required keys: UNIPROT_MCP_CACHE_DIR.
Auditable UniProt MCP server: 41 tools over the UniProt knowledgebase (entries, features, variants, PTMs, GO terms, cross-references) with per-query SHA-256 provenance and offline replay. uvx uniprot-mcp-server
32 tools for plant-genomics locus lookup across 11 public backends (Ensembl Plants, Phytozome, UniProtKB, KEGG, STRING-DB, Gramene, Europe PMC, QuickGO, NCBI BLAST, ATTED-II, BAR). Single-locus, parallel-batch, and cross-source synthesis variants; JSON output schemas and EDAM ontology tags on every tool. pipx install plant-genomics-mcp.
Category & Scope
Tools & Capabilities Breakdown
Uniprot MCP Tools (41)
uniprot_get_entry
Fetch a UniProt protein entry by accession (e.g. P04637 for p53, P38398 for BRCA1).
Returns function, gene, organism, disease associations, cross-references.
uniprot_search
The general-purpose entry point for finding UniProtKB proteins by any
combination of gene, organism, keyword, or free text. Use this first when
you don't already have an accession; use ``uniprot_get_entry`` once you
do. Examples: '(gene:TP53) AND (organism_id:9606)', 'kinase AND reviewed:true'.
``reviewed_only`` and ``organism`` are convenience shortcuts equivalent to
adding the corresponding clause to ``query`` yourself.
uniprot_get_sequence
Fetch the canonical protein sequence in FASTA format. Use this when
you need the raw residue string itself (e.g. for local sequence
analysis); for pre-computed chemistry derived from this same sequence
(molecular weight, pI, hydrophobicity) call ``uniprot_compute_properties``
instead, which fetches the FASTA internally so you don't have to parse
it yourself. Always returns markdown/plain-text FASTA — there is no
``response_format`` parameter because FASTA is already the interchange
format.
uniprot_get_features
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).
Uniprot MCP is categorized under Biology, Medicine and Bioinformatics and uses a local stdio subprocess. In contrast, Plant Genomics MCP belongs to Biology, Medicine and Bioinformatics using local stdio subprocess. Select Uniprot MCP when you need capabilities focused on biology, medicine and bioinformatics and Plant Genomics MCP when you require tools for biology, medicine and bioinformatics.
Return the full, unfiltered feature array for an entry: domains,
binding sites, PTMs, signal peptides, and every other annotated region,
optionally narrowed by ``feature_types``. For a residue-specific view
('what's at position 175?') use ``uniprot_features_at_position``
instead; for the curated subsets (active/binding sites, processing,
PTMs alone) the dedicated ``uniprot_get_active_sites`` /
``uniprot_get_processing_features`` / ``uniprot_get_ptms`` tools apply
the same filter server-side.
uniprot_get_go_terms
Get GO annotations grouped by aspect.
uniprot_get_cross_refs
List every external-database cross-reference UniProt has curated for
an entry (PDB, Pfam, Ensembl, Reactome, KEGG, STRING, and dozens more),
optionally narrowed to one ``database``. For the common single-database
cases there are dedicated, richer tools that resolve structured details
beyond a bare ID: ``uniprot_resolve_pdb`` (structures with
method/resolution), ``uniprot_resolve_alphafold``, ``uniprot_resolve_interpro``,
and ``uniprot_resolve_chembl``. Use this tool for any other database or
to see the full cross-reference set at once.
uniprot_get_variants
List every literature-described natural variant UniProt has curated
for an entry, including disease-associated mutations. Use this to see
the full variant catalogue for a protein; to check one specific
HGVS-shorthand change (e.g. 'R175H') use ``uniprot_lookup_variant``
instead, which does the position/residue matching for you. UniProt's
natural-variant annotations only cover literature-described variants —
for population-scale clinical significance data use
``uniprot_resolve_clinvar``.
uniprot_id_mapping
Map identifiers between UniProt and external databases (or between
two external databases) via UniProt's ID mapping service. Submits an
async job and polls it to completion server-side, so the call may take
a few seconds for large batches.
uniprot_batch_entries
Fetch multiple entries in a single call. Use this instead of repeated
``uniprot_get_entry`` calls when you already have a list of accessions —
one network round-trip instead of N, with invalid accessions reported
rather than aborting the batch.
uniprot_taxonomy_search
Resolve an organism name to its NCBI taxonomy ID(s) — the numeric ID
other UniProt tools expect (e.g. the ``organism`` parameter of
``uniprot_search``, or ``organism_id:`` in a query string). Returns
each match's taxonomy ID, scientific name, common name, and rank
(species / genus / etc.); a name can resolve to multiple IDs when
it's ambiguous (e.g. a genus with several species), so inspect the
rank and full scientific name before picking one. Use this before
filtering any other search by organism if you only know the name,
not the numeric ID.
uniprot_get_keyword
Fetch a UniProt keyword by ID (e.g. KW-0007 for Acetylation, KW-0539 for Nucleus).
Returns name, definition, category, synonyms, GO cross-refs, and parent/child hierarchy.
uniprot_search_keywords
Search UniProt's controlled keyword vocabulary (the ``KW-####`` terms)
by name or definition. Use this to discover a keyword ID from a concept;
once you have the ``KW-####`` ID, call ``uniprot_get_keyword`` for its full
record (definition, category, hierarchy, GO cross-references). Returns up
to ``size`` matches, or an empty list if nothing matches.
Examples: 'acetylation', 'nucleus', 'kinase activity'.
+29 more tools listed on main page
Plant Genomics MCP Tools (50)
ensembl_plants_lookup_locus
Fetch metadata for a plant locus identifier from Ensembl Plants. Defaults to arabidopsis_thaliana; pass organism= for other plant species (oryza_sativa, zea_mays, ...). Locus is the TAIR-style identifier (e.g. AT1G01010 for Arabidopsis NAC001).
get_gene_xrefs
Fetch cross-database references (UniProt, NCBI Gene, TAIR, ArrayExpress, …) for a plant locus from Ensembl Plants. Defaults to arabidopsis_thaliana; pass organism= for other Ensembl Plants species. Returns count + raw xref list + a by_db rollup keyed on Ensembl's dbname (e.g. 'Uniprot_gn', 'EntrezGene') for fast lookup of a single foreign identifier.
get_sequence
Fetch a locus's sequence from Ensembl Plants. seq_type is one of genomic / cds / cdna / protein (default protein — the canonical-transcript product). Closes the lookup → fetch → BLAST loop: feed the returned `sequence` straight to blast_sequence (protein for blastp, cds/cdna for blastn). Defaults to arabidopsis_thaliana; pass organism= for other plant species.
ensembl_region_query
List features overlapping a genomic interval via Ensembl Plants /overlap/region. region is the seq-region name (chromosome / contig, e.g. '1'); start and end are 1-based inclusive. feature is one of gene / transcript / cds / exon (default gene). Answers 'what genes are in this QTL interval / assembly window' without a per-locus lookup. Ensembl caps the span — oversized regions error. Defaults to arabidopsis_thaliana; pass organism= for other species.
phytozome_lookup_locus
Fetch a gene record from Phytozome BioMart (phytozome-next.jgi.doe.gov). Defaults to arabidopsis_thaliana; pass organism= for other Phytozome proteomes (slug, scientific/common name, or NCBI taxid — e.g. glycine_max, sorghum_bicolor). Locus is the source-genome gene name (e.g. AT1G01010, Glyma.01G000100). Returns organism_name, gene_name, chromosome, gene_start, gene_end, strand, description.
resolve_locus_to_uniprot
Resolve a plant locus to its canonical UniProtKB record. Prefers reviewed (Swiss-Prot) entries; falls back to unreviewed (TrEMBL) when no curated record exists (common for non-Arabidopsis plants). organism accepts a canonical slug, scientific/common name, or NCBI taxid (default arabidopsis_thaliana; e.g. oryza_sativa, zea_mays). Returns primaryAccession, uniProtkbId, entryType, recommendedName, geneNames, organism, taxonId, sequenceLength, web_url. This is the protein-side entry point — pair with InterPro / AlphaFold / Reactome / structural-bio tools.
locus_literature
Search Europe PMC for literature mentioning a plant locus. Free, no API key. Returns up to `size` results (default 10, capped at 25) with title, authors, journal, year, DOI, PMID, open-access status, citation count, and abstract. For non-Arabidopsis species the species common name is appended to the query to disambiguate locus IDs (rice, maize, ...). Pair with resolve_locus_to_uniprot or ensembl_plants_lookup_locus to ground the locus before fanning out to the literature.
locus_go_annotations
Fetch Gene Ontology annotations for a plant locus from QuickGO (EBI). Free, no API key. The locus is first resolved to a UniProt accession via the same logic as resolve_locus_to_uniprot, then QuickGO is queried by geneProductId. Returns annotations[] with goId/goName/goAspect/qualifier/evidence + a by_aspect rollup ({molecular_function: [{goId, goName}, ...], biological_process: [...], cellular_component: [...]}) deduped on goId so the high-level term set is one read away.
locus_plant_ontology
Fetch Plant Ontology (PO) + Trait Ontology (TO) + experimental-condition (PECO) annotations for a plant locus from Planteome (browser.planteome.org, AmiGO2/GOlr; free, no API key). Complements locus_go_annotations: QuickGO serves GO (species-agnostic), Planteome serves the plant-specific ontologies — PO (anatomy + developmental stage), TO (traits). The locus is matched across Planteome's searchable bioentity fields and filtered by the organism's NCBI taxon. Returns annotations[] (term_id / term_name / ontology / aspect / evidence / reference) + a by_ontology rollup ({PO: [{term_id, term_name}, ...], TO: [...], PECO: [...]}) deduped on term_id. Coverage is strong for arabidopsis, rice, maize, grape, soybean, tomato; other organisms return an empty list, not an error. Defaults to arabidopsis_thaliana; pass organism= for other species.
go_enrichment
GO + KEGG over-representation analysis for a gene LIST via g:Profiler g:GOSt (biit.cs.ut.ee/gprofiler; free, no API key). Unlike locus_go_annotations (one locus → its terms), this answers 'what is my gene SET enriched for?' — the dominant question for a differential-expression or co-expression cluster. loci is the query gene list (e.g. AT-codes for Arabidopsis, RAP-DB IDs for rice). sources defaults to GO:BP/GO:MF/GO:CC + KEGG; user_threshold is the g:SCS-corrected significance cutoff (default 0.05). Optional background sets a custom statistical domain (default: all annotated genes). Returns enriched[] (term_id/name/p_value/intersection_size/…, capped at top_n by p-value) plus unmapped[] — query loci g:Profiler could not recognize, surfaced so a locus-namespace mismatch is visible. Defaults to arabidopsis_thaliana; pass organism= for any of the 12 species.
gramene_homologs
Fetch orthologs and paralogs for a plant locus from Gramene compara (data.gramene.org v69). Default homology_type='ortholog'; pass 'paralog' for in-species duplicates or 'all' for everything. Returns target_locus + homology category (type) + shared gene_tree_id per hit. The fl=homology projection does not carry per-row taxon, identity, or protein ID; pair with resolve_locus_to_uniprot for protein-level enrichment and with blast_sequence for sequence similarity discovery.
kegg_pathways
Fetch KEGG pathway memberships for an Arabidopsis locus from rest.kegg.jp. Returns a list of pathway IDs + names + KEGG category classes the locus participates in. Pairs with locus_go_annotations for the GO-level functional view. Multi-organism caveat (v1.1.0): the organism= field accepts any plant in the matrix for symmetry with the other backends, but only arabidopsis_thaliana resolves — KEGG uses NCBI Entrez Gene IDs for rice/maize/etc. and our cross-backend locus contract can't produce those yet, so any other organism raises OrganismNotSupported before any HTTP call. KEGG v118+ is case-sensitive on the locus: pass AGI loci as uppercase.