About Wikipedia MCP Server
Wikipedia MCP Server lets AI assistants search and retrieve Wikipedia articles, images, and historical events through the Wikipedia API.
Key features
- 01Search Wikipedia pages
- 02Retrieve page content
- 03Get images from pages
- 04Look up events by date
Use cases
- 01Find articles matching a query
- 02Read a page by title
- 03Retrieve images from an article
- 04Check events on a specific date
MCP support
It exposes Wikipedia API operations as tools for MCP clients, including search, page retrieval, image lookup, and historical events.
Configuration
Local server config is the same for every client. Copy it into your client’s MCP config file.
Tools
4Saved tool list · updated 3w ago
| Parameter | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| date | string | Yes | ISO8601 date portion (YYYY-MM-DD) |
Details
From the project READMEWikipedia MCP Server
An MCP (Model Context Protocol) server for Wikipedia API interactions.
Overview
This server provides tools for interacting with the Wikipedia API through the Model Context Protocol. It allows AI assistants to access Wikipedia content, search for articles, get historical events, and retrieve images.
Features
The server provides the following tools:
- onThisDay: Get historical events that occurred on a specific date
- findPage: Search for Wikipedia pages matching a query
- getPage: Get content of a Wikipedia page by title
- getImagesForPage: Get images from a Wikipedia page by title
Installation
npm install @shelm/wikipedia-mcp-server
For development:
git clone https://github.com/scotthelm/wikipedia-mcp-server.git
cd wikipedia-mcp-server
npm install
npm run build
Usage
Running the Server
npx @shelm/wikipedia-mcp-server
This will start the MCP server, which communicates over stdio.
Using Programmatically
You can also use the package programmatically in your own projects:
import {
WikipediaServer,
isValidOnThisDayArgs,
isValidFindPageArgs,
isValidGetPageArgs,
isValidGetImagesForPageArgs,
} from "@shelm/wikipedia-mcp-server";
// Create a new server instance
const server = new WikipediaServer();
// Run the server
server.run().catch(console.error);
// Or use the validation functions and handlers directly
if (isValidOnThisDayArgs({ date: "2023-01-01" })) {
const result = await server.handleOnThisDay({ date: "2023-01-01" });
console.log(result);
}
Example Client
An example client is provided to demonstrate how to interact with the server:
node example-client.js
This will:
- Start the server
- Query for available tools
- Demonstrate each tool with sample queries
- Display the results in a simple web interface at http://localhost:3000
Development
Building
npm run build
Running in Development Mode
npm run dev
Testing
This project can be tested manually using the example client:
node example-client.js
This will demonstrate all the available tools with sample queries.
MCP Server Configuration
To use this server with Claude or other MCP-compatible assistants, add it to your MCP configuration:
{
"mcpServers": {
"wikipedia": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["@shelm/wikipedia-mcp-server"],
"env": {}
}
}
}
Attribution
This would not be possible without the great work done by the folks who created the wikipedia package
License
MIT
Comments
New to MCP?
From what the protocol is to installing your first server, these answers cover most first questions.
An open protocol that defines how AI applications connect to external tools and data in a uniform way. Clients talk to the model; MCP servers provide tools, resources and prompt templates. They exchange standard messages, so one server can be reused by many clients.