使用说明
GEDCOM MCP Server
A FastMCP server that enables AI assistants to query genealogy data from GEDCOM files.
Features
Version 2.0 advertises 9 read-only tools, or 13 with edits enabled.
A consolidated interface covers tree context, people search, batch person views,
qualified relatives, relationships, evidence timelines and original records.
Specialized research and exact edit schemas are discovered on demand using
search_tools; call_research_tool executes reads only.
- All research functionality retained: source/repository reads, reverse citations, event search, GIS proximity, place/surname analysis, military evidence, associates, pedigree collapse and whole-tree audit.
- Explicit editing stages:
prepare_changepreviews person creation, name corrections, atomic record batches or restoration;apply_tree_changeapplies a specifically reviewed proposal.maintain_treecreates backups/exports. - Evidence preserved: original fields, unknown tags, alternate facts, citations, date text and qualified parent-family assertions remain available.
- Bounded results: summary/detail views, pagination, snapshot guards and traversal limits keep results useful without silently hiding incompleteness.
- Six resources: individual, family, source, sources, statistics and surnames.
- Large-tree indexes: GEDCOM parses once at startup; search and graph reads use in-memory indexes.
This is a new major interface, with no legacy aliases or compatibility profile. See API.md for the complete interface and discovery examples, RESEARCH_TOOLS.md for evidence semantics and research gaps, and WRITES.md for versioned edit guarantees.
Optional Features
Semantic Search Enable natural language semantic matching (e.g., "coal miners in Pennsylvania", "emigrated from Ireland"):
export SEMANTIC_SEARCH_ENABLED=true
Requires sentence-transformers (included in dependencies). First run builds embeddings (~15-30 seconds for large files), subsequent runs load from cache.
GIS Proximity Search Find people within X miles of a location or within a region's bounding box. Enabled by default with background geocoding. Results include:
- Proximity mode: Within X miles of a point
- Within mode: Inside a region's bounding box
No configuration needed - geocoding runs automatically at startup and caches results.
Telemetry & Observability OpenTelemetry tracing with Arize Phoenix for debugging and performance monitoring:
export PHOENIX_ENABLED=true
Requires Phoenix server running (see .env.example and docker-compose.yml).
Installation
Using uvx (recommended, no install needed)
uvx gedcom-server --gedcom-file /path/to/your/tree.ged
Using uv tool install
uv tool install gedcom-server
gedcom-server --gedcom-file /path/to/your/tree.ged
From source
git clone git@github.com:sjmatta/gedcom-mcp.git
cd gedcom-mcp
uv sync
Configuration
The server requires a GEDCOM file path. Optionally, you can specify a "home person" (the tree owner).
Configuration Options
| Method | Option | Description |
|---|---|---|
| CLI arg | --gedcom-file, -f |
Path to GEDCOM file |
| Env var | GEDCOM_FILE |
Path to GEDCOM file |
| CLI arg | --home-person, -p |
GEDCOM ID of home person (e.g., @I123@) |
| Env var | GEDCOM_HOME_PERSON_ID |
GEDCOM ID of home person |
CLI arguments override environment variables.
If --home-person is not specified, the server auto-detects the most connected individual in the tree.
Examples
# Using CLI arguments
gedcom-server --gedcom-file ~/Documents/family.ged
# Using environment variables
export GEDCOM_FILE=~/Documents/family.ged
gedcom-server
# With explicit home person
gedcom-server -f ~/Documents/family.ged -p @I500@
Claude Desktop Configuration
Add to your Claude Desktop config (~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json):
Using uvx (recommended)
{
"mcpServers": {
"gedcom": {
"command": "uvx",
"args": ["gedcom-server"],
"env": {
"GEDCOM_FILE": "/path/to/your/tree.ged"
}
}
}
}
Using uv tool install
{
"mcpServers": {
"gedcom": {
"command": "gedcom-server",
"args": ["--gedcom-file", "/path/to/your/tree.ged"]
}
}
}
From source
{
"mcpServers": {
"gedcom": {
"command": "/path/to/gedcom-mcp/.venv/bin/python",
"args": ["-m", "gedcom_server"],
"env": {
"GEDCOM_FILE": "/path/to/your/tree.ged"
}
}
}
}
GEDCOM File
The server supports GEDCOM 5.5.1 format, which can be exported from:
- Ancestry.com
- FamilySearch
- MyHeritage
- Gramps
- Most other genealogy software
Development
# Install dev dependencies
uv sync
# Run tests
uv run poe test
# Run linter
uv run poe lint
# Run formatter
uv run poe format
# Run type checker
uv run poe typecheck
# Run all checks
uv run poe check
# Start server (requires GEDCOM_FILE env var)
uv run poe serve
For detailed development instructions, see CONTRIBUTING.md.
Pre-commit Hooks
Pre-commit hooks are configured for:
- Pre-commit: ruff linting, ruff formatting, mypy type checking
- Pre-push: pytest test suite
Install hooks:
uv run pre-commit install --install-hooks
License
MIT License - see LICENSE for details.
ChatGPT deployment
The authenticated Rivendell deployment is documented in deploy/README.md, including the OAuth portal URL, service operations, credential rotation, and rollback.
Versioned writes (opt-in)
The original GEDCOM remains an immutable baseline. Optional write tools support
reviewed field/subtree corrections, multiline notes, citations, sourced events, reciprocal
relationship edits, evidence-preserving person merges, explicit deletion/pruning,
revision history, whole-tree undo, lossless exports, and verified backups. A
record inventory locates sources, repositories, media, shared notes and custom
records for editing. Subtree hashes guard evidence-preserving updates and explicit
replacement/removal; source creation and citation can share one atomic batch. A
whole-tree audit and conservative pruning planner expose review blockers and
selected force=true overrides before any change is applied. Unchanged records are
shared between revisions to keep storage growth small. See WRITES.md
for configuration, limitations, recovery, and the replaceable editor interface.