The full upstream README, mirrored here for reference. Install config, tool schemas, adoption signals, and an original overview live on the Umls listing page.
UMLS MCP — wraps the NLM UMLS Terminology Services REST API (uts-ws.nlm.nih.gov/rest)
Part of Pipeworx — an MCP gateway connecting AI agents to 1684+ live data sources.
| Tool | Description |
|---|---|
umls_search | Search clinical terms/codes → UMLS concepts (CUIs). Maps free text or a source code to UMLS concept unique identifiers spanning SNOMED CT, ICD-10, RxNorm, LOINC, MeSH, etc. Example: umls_search({ query: "myocardial infarction", _apiKey: "your-key" }) |
umls_concept | Concept detail for a CUI. Returns the preferred name, semantic types, atom count, and relation count for a UMLS Concept Unique Identifier. Example: umls_concept({ cui: "C0027051", _apiKey: "your-key" }) |
umls_atoms | Source codes (ICD/SNOMED/RxNorm/LOINC) for a concept. Lists the source-asserted atoms of a CUI — the actual codes and names each vocabulary uses for that concept (the crosswalk table). Example: umls_atoms({ cui: "C0027051", _apiKey: "your-key" }) |
umls_crosswalk | Crosswalk a code from one vocabulary to others. Given a code in a source vocabulary (e.g. an ICD-10-CM code), returns the concepts that share the same UMLS CUI in other vocabularies (SNOMED CT, RxNorm, LOINC, etc.). Example: umls_crosswalk({ source: "ICD10CM", code: "I21.9", _apiKey: "your-key" }) |
Add to your MCP client (Claude Desktop, Cursor, Windsurf, etc.):
tools/list at https://gateway.pipeworx.io/umls/mcp returns the tools in the table
above plus the shared Pipeworx meta-tools — ask_pipeworx,
discover_tools, search_within, remember/recall and the rest of the
gateway-wide set. So the tool count you see is larger than this table: a
single-pack endpoint currently lists roughly 30 shared tools alongside the
pack's own. The connection's initialize response states its exact scope, and
is the authoritative answer for a given day.
This is deliberate, not multiplexing by accident. The meta-tools are what let a
scoped connection answer a question this pack does not cover — via
ask_pipeworx, which routes across the whole catalog — without you adding a
second MCP server. There is currently no way to mount a pack endpoint without
them; if the extra schemas cost you more context than the routing is worth,
connect to the full gateway once rather than to several pack endpoints.
Or connect to the full Pipeworx gateway to get every pack's tools listed directly, instead of just this one's:
Both URLs reach the same gateway and the same 1684+ data sources. The
only difference is which pack's tools are listed directly; ask_pipeworx
reaches all of them from either one.
This pack takes your own API key (_apiKey) — we don't front one for it, so there's no curl here that would run without it. Inspect any tool: GET https://gateway.pipeworx.io/v1/tools/umls_search. Find one: POST https://gateway.pipeworx.io/v1/tools/search_packs with {"query":"..."}.
This package also runs as a local stdio MCP server — no Pipeworx account, no gateway round-trip:
Or run it directly to confirm it starts:
It speaks MCP over stdin/stdout and answers initialize/tools/list/tools/call
for only this pack's tools — none of the shared meta-tools the gateway
connection above adds. Same source, same tools, no ask_pipeworx routing.
Instead of calling tools directly, you can ask questions in plain English — this works on the pack endpoint above as well as on the full gateway:
The gateway picks the right tool and fills the arguments automatically.
MIT