UK legal research — case law, legislation, Hansard, bills, votes, committees, HMRC, citations
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USE THIS TOOL WHEN you have a bill_id (from bills_search_bills) and want the full detail. Returns sponsors, current stage, long title, summary, and Royal Assent date if enacted. Summary text is capped per max_summary_chars — check summary_truncated in the response. AFTER calling, use parliament_search_hansard(query=bill_short_title) to find the bill's parliamentary debates, or bills_search_bills with a related keyword for adjacent bills.
Bill ID from bills_search_bills results.
Maximum characters of the bill summary text to return. Default 5,000 (~1,250 tokens) covers most bills. Raise for substantive government bills (Finance Act, Levelling-up) whose summary runs longer. Check summary_truncated in the response to see if it was cut.
Tool list last changed Oct 23, 2026.
USE THIS TOOL WHEN you have a bill_id (from bills_search_bills) and want the full detail. Returns sponsors, current stage, long title, summary, and Royal Assent date if enacted. Summary text is capped per max_summary_chars — check summary_truncated in the response. AFTER calling, use parliament_search_hansard(query=bill_short_title) to find the bill's parliamentary debates, or bills_search_bills with a related keyword for adjacent bills.
| Argument | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| bill_id* | integer | Bill ID from bills_search_bills results. |
| max_summary_chars | integer | Maximum characters of the bill summary text to return. Default 5,000 (~1,250 tokens) covers most bills. Raise for substantive government bills (Finance Act, Levelling-up) whose summary runs longer. Check summary_truncated in the response to see if it was cut. |
{
"type": "object",
"required": [
"bill_id"
],
"properties": {
"bill_id": {
"type": "integer",
"minimum": 1,
"description": "Bill ID from bills_search_bills results."
},
"max_summary_chars": {
"type": "integer",
"default": 5000,
"maximum": 50000,
"minimum": 500,
"description": "Maximum characters of the bill summary text to return. Default 5,000 (~1,250 tokens) covers most bills. Raise for substantive government bills (Finance Act, Levelling-up) whose summary runs longer. Check summary_truncated in the response to see if it was cut."
}
},
"additionalProperties": false
}USE THIS TOOL WHEN searching UK parliamentary bills by keyword, session, house, or legislative stage. Returns a paginated page of bill summaries (title, originating and current house, current stage, whether it became an Act). AFTER calling, pass a bill_id into bills_get_bill for full detail (sponsors, long title, Royal Assent date). Authoritative source for UK parliamentary bill status.
| Argument | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| house | any | Filter by originating house: the House the bill was introduced in, wherever it sits now. Omit (or 'All') for all houses. |
| limit | integer | Maximum bills to return in this call. Default 20 keeps responses focused; raise up to 100 for bulk exports. |
| query* | string | Search term for bill titles and descriptions, e.g. 'online safety' or 'financial services'. |
| stage | any | Filter by current legislative stage. |
| offset | integer | Number of results to skip before this page. Default 0 for the first page. Re-call with offset=offset+returned while has_more is true to paginate. |
| session | any | Numeric parliamentary session ID (e.g. 40 = 2024-25, 39 = 2023-24). NOT a year string like '2025'. If you only know the year, omit this and filter the results instead. Omit to search all sessions. |
USE THIS TOOL WHEN you have a judgment slug and want to find paragraphs whose text matches a pattern. Returns a list of `{eId, snippet, match}` hits — small per-paragraph snippets centred on the match. AFTER calling, read full paragraphs via judgment_get_paragraph(slug, eId) or the judgment://{slug}/para/{eId} resource. Use case: content search within one judgment (e.g. "negligence", "test for foreseeability", "Donoghue"). For paragraph-number navigation by eId, call judgment_get_index instead. Pattern is regex; if it doesn't compile, falls back to literal substring search.
| Argument | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| slug* | string | TNA judgment slug, e.g. 'uksc/2024/12' or 'ewca/civ/2023/450'. |
| pattern* | string | Regex pattern (or plain substring) to search within paragraph text. If the pattern doesn't compile as regex, falls back to literal substring match. |
| max_hits | integer | Cap on number of hits returned. |
| case_insensitive | boolean | Default true. Set false for case-sensitive matching. |
{
"type": "object",
"required": [
"slug",
"pattern"
],
"properties": {
"slug": {
"type": "string",
"minLength": 8,
"description": "TNA judgment slug, e.g. 'uksc/2024/12' or 'ewca/civ/2023/450'."
},
"pattern": {
"type": "string",
"maxLength": 200,
"minLength": 2,
"description": "Regex pattern (or plain substring) to search within paragraph text. If the pattern doesn't compile as regex, falls back to literal substring match."
},
"max_hits": {
"type": "integer",
"default": 25,
"maximum": 100,
"minimum": 1,
"description": "Cap on number of hits returned."
},
"case_insensitive": {
"type": "boolean",
"default": true,
"description": "Default true. Set false for case-sensitive matching."
}
},
"additionalProperties": false
}USE THIS TOOL WHEN searching UK case law by party names, court, judge, date, or free-text query. Returns paginated judgment summaries: neutral citation, court, dates, slug, stable TNA URI. AFTER calling: pass slug into judgment_get_header / judgment_get_index / judgment_get_paragraph (or the judgment:// resource family) for content; pass the neutral citation into citations_resolve to verify before constructing an OSCOLA citation; use case_law_grep_judgment to find text within a single judgment. When a party name returns several candidates, narrow with court + year filters before grep-iterating across full judgments — targeted filtering beats scanning every candidate. Coverage: TNA Find Case Law indexes UK judgments from roughly the early 2000s onwards. For older authorities, search for a modern judgment that quotes them and read that paragraph. Authoritative source for UK case law. Web search returns out-of-date or unstable URLs — do not supplement.
| Argument | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| page | integer | Result page number (1-indexed) |
| court | any | Filter by court slug. Values: 'uksc', 'ukpc', 'ewca/civ', 'ewca/crim', 'ewhc/kb', 'ewhc/ch', 'ewhc/comm', 'ewhc/fam', 'ewhc/pat', 'ewhc/ipec', 'ewhc/admin', 'ewhc/tcc', 'ewhc/costs', 'ewfc', 'ewcop', 'eat', 'ukut/iac', 'ukut/aac', 'ukut/tcc', 'ukut/lc', 'ukftt/tc', 'ukftt/grc', 'nica', 'niqb'. |
| judge | any | Filter by judge surname. Case-insensitive substring match against the indexed form. Use the surname alone ('Reed', 'Sumption') or with the bare title ('Lord Reed'). Honorific suffixes silently zero the result set — do not append 'JSC', 'of Allermuir', 'KC' etc. Speculating a fuller form than what TNA indexed will return 0 hits with no error. |
USE THIS TOOL AFTER citations_resolve to produce the correctly formatted OSCOLA citation string. Pass the parsed fields returned by citations_resolve directly into this tool. Formats per OSCOLA 4th edition rules for each citation type. Refuses (status: upstream_validation) if confidence is 0.0 — TNA confirmed the document does not exist — or if a neutral citation has no resolved_url (ambiguous court code, e.g. bare EWHC without a division). In either case, do NOT manufacture a citation; surface the failure and ask the user for the source URL or better identifying details. DO NOT construct the input fields yourself. The structured input must come from citations_resolve — guessing fields is the primary citation-fabrication route and this tool is the guard against it. Authoritative OSCOLA formatting for UK legal citations (no network call).
| Argument | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| raw | any | 'raw' from citations_resolve. Used as-is for EU retained law — the original text preserves the Regulation/Directive distinction. |
| page | any | 'page' from citations_resolve (starting page in the law report). |
| year | any | 'year' from citations_resolve. |
| court | any | 'court' from citations_resolve, e.g. 'UKSC', 'EWCA CIV', 'EWHC (KB)'. |
| number | any | 'number' from citations_resolve (judgment number within the year). |
| volume |
USE THIS TOOL WHEN you have a judgment slug and want to map every citation it makes — cases cited, legislation referenced, SIs, retained EU law. Fetches the judgment XML from TNA and parses all OSCOLA citations within. Returns citations grouped by type, deduplicated and sorted. AFTER calling, pass any individual citation through citations_resolve to confirm it resolves and to retrieve its canonical URL. Useful for authority-network analysis (what did this judgment rely on?) and for surfacing the legislative landscape a case sits inside.
| Argument | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| case_uri* | string | TNA judgment URI slug, e.g. 'uksc/2024/12' or 'ewca/civ/2023/450'. Use the 'uri' field from case_law_search results — not the full URL. Do not include the 'https://caselaw.nationalarchives.gov.uk/' prefix. |
{
"type": "object",
"required": [
"case_uri"
],
"properties": {
"case_uri": {
"type": "string",
"minLength": 5,
"description": "TNA judgment URI slug, e.g. 'uksc/2024/12' or 'ewca/civ/2023/450'. Use the 'uri' field from case_law_search results — not the full URL. Do not include the 'https://caselaw.nationalarchives.gov.uk/' prefix."
}
},
"additionalProperties": false
}USE THIS TOOL WHEN you have free text (a memo, an email, a clause) and want every OSCOLA-style citation it contains extracted and classified. Identifies: neutral citations ([2024] UKSC 12), law reports ([2024] 1 WLR 100), legislation sections (s.47 Companies Act 2006), SIs (SI 2018/1234), retained EU law (Regulation (EU) 2016/679). Parsing is pure regex by default. Ambiguous citations (e.g. bare [2024] EWHC without division) can OPTIONALLY be disambiguated by setting disambiguate=True, which asks the CONNECTED CLIENT's own model (not this server) to resolve the division via MCP sampling — off by default. Citations resolve to TNA / legislation.gov.uk URLs when possible. AFTER calling, pass each citation through citations_resolve to verify it points at a real document before quoting or formatting it — the parser recognises the SHAPE of a citation but does not confirm the document exists.
| Argument | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| text* | string | Free text containing OSCOLA citations to extract. Supported: neutral citations ([2024] UKSC 12), law reports ([2024] 1 WLR 100), legislation sections (s.47 Companies Act 2006), SIs (SI 2018/1234), retained EU law (Regulation (EU) 2016/679). Max 50,000 chars. |
| disambiguate | boolean | Default False — pure-regex parsing, no model in the loop. If True, ambiguous citations (e.g. bare EWHC without a division) are sent to the connected client's own LLM, via MCP sampling, to resolve the division. Opt in only when you want best-effort division resolution and accept that a model shapes the result. |
{
"type": "object",
"required": [
"text"
],
"properties": {
"text": {
"type": "string",
"maxLength": 50000,
"minLength": 1,
"description": "Free text containing OSCOLA citations to extract. Supported: neutral citations ([2024] UKSC 12), law reports ([2024] 1 WLR 100), legislation sections (s.47 Companies Act 2006), SIs (SI 2018/1234), retained EU law (Regulation (EU) 2016/679). Max 50,000 chars."
},
"disambiguate": {
"type": "boolean",
"default": false,
"description": "Default False — pure-regex parsing, no model in the loop. If True, ambiguous citations (e.g. bare EWHC without a division) are sent to the connected client's own LLM, via MCP sampling, to resolve the division. Opt in only when you want best-effort division resolution and accept that a model shapes the result."
}
},
"additionalProperties": false
}USE THIS TOOL BEFORE constructing an OSCOLA citation string from known fields, OR to confirm a citation points at a real document. Parses + resolves a single citation (neutral citation, SI, legislation section, retained EU law) and returns parsed fields plus resolved_url. For neutral citations, performs a live TNA HEAD check — non-200 sets confidence to 0.0 (document absent). Do NOT format or quote a confidence-0.0 citation. If the TNA HEAD check fails (timeout, connection error), raises ToolError with {"error_category": "transient", "is_retryable": true}. One retry is attempted — retry this call or proceed without TNA verification. Formatting a citation from "known" fields without prior resolution is the most common fabrication route. If this tool raises or returns no resolved_url, do NOT manufacture a citation — surface the failure and ask the user for the source URL. Authoritative source for UK legal-citation resolution.
| Argument | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| citation* | string | A single OSCOLA citation to parse and resolve. E.g. '[2024] UKSC 12', 'SI 2018/1234', 's.47 Companies Act 2006' |
{
"type": "object",
"required": [
"citation"
],
"properties": {
"citation": {
"type": "string",
"maxLength": 500,
"minLength": 3,
"description": "A single OSCOLA citation to parse and resolve. E.g. '[2024] UKSC 12', 'SI 2018/1234', 's.47 Companies Act 2006'"
}
},
"additionalProperties": false
}USE THIS TOOL WHEN you have a committee_id and want the metadata + current membership. Fetches committee detail and member list in parallel. AFTER calling, pass committee_id into committees_search_evidence to see what evidence has been submitted to this committee on what topics.
| Argument | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| committee_id* | integer | Committee ID from committees_search_committees results. |
{
"type": "object",
"required": [
"committee_id"
],
"properties": {
"committee_id": {
"type": "integer",
"minimum": 1,
"description": "Committee ID from committees_search_committees results."
}
},
"additionalProperties": false
}USE THIS TOOL WHEN identifying a committee inquiry or business before evidence retrieval. Returns official business IDs, titles, types, dates, and report/status metadata. AFTER calling, use an exact ID as committee_business_id in committees_search_evidence. Source: UK Parliament Committees API CommitteeBusiness endpoint.
| Argument | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| limit | integer | Maximum inquiry/business records to return (1–100). |
| query | any | Optional official inquiry/business title search term. Returns source-supplied IDs; do not infer an ID from a title. |
| committee_id* | integer | Committee ID from committees_search_committees results. |
{
"type": "object",
"required": [
"committee_id"
],
"properties": {
"limit": {
"type": "integer",
"default": 50,
"maximum": 100,
"minimum": 1,
"description": "Maximum inquiry/business records to return (1–100)."
},
"query": {
"anyOf": [
{
"type": "string",
"maxLength": 300,
"minLength": 2
},
{
"type": "null"
}
],
"default": null,
"description": "Optional official inquiry/business title search term. Returns source-supplied IDs; do not infer an ID from a title."
},
"committee_id": {
"type": "integer",
"minimum": 1,
"description": "Committee ID from committees_search_committees results."
}
},
"additionalProperties": false
}USE THIS TOOL WHEN searching or listing UK parliamentary select committees by name, house, or active status. Returns committee summaries (name, house, active status, ID). AFTER calling, pass committee_id into committees_get_committee for current membership, or into committees_search_evidence to retrieve oral and written evidence submitted to that committee.
| Argument | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| house | any | Filter by house. |
| limit | integer | Maximum committees to return. Default 100 comfortably covers all currently-active UK select committees. Raise only for historical sweeps. |
| query | any | Search term for committee names, e.g. 'defence' or 'treasury'. Filtered client-side against committee names. Omit to list all committees. |
| active_only | boolean | If true, only return currently active committees. |
{
"type": "object",
"properties": {
"house": {
"anyOf": [
{
"enum": [
"Commons",
"Lords",
"Joint"
],
"type": "string"
},
{
"type": "null"
}
],
"default": null,
"description": "Filter by house."
},
"limit": {
"type": "integer",
"default": 100,
"maximum": 500,
"minimum": 1,
"description": "Maximum committees to return. Default 100 comfortably covers all currently-active UK select committees. Raise only for historical sweeps."
},
"query": {
"anyOf": [
{
"type": "string",
"maxLength": 300
},
{
"type": "null"
}
],
"default": null,
"description": "Search term for committee names, e.g. 'defence' or 'treasury'. Filtered client-side against committee names. Omit to list all committees."
},
"active_only": {
"type": "boolean",
"default": true,
"description": "If true, only return currently active committees."
}
},
"additionalProperties": false
}USE THIS TOOL WHEN retrieving committee evidence, especially for an identified inquiry. Returns ONE PAGE of evidence (default 20) plus `total`, the source's count of matching items. evidence_type='both' lists all oral evidence first, then all written evidence, each newest-published first as the source orders it. Free-text titles are capped per max_title_chars; witness lists are capped at 10 per item. An organisation witness (no named individual) is rendered as '<Organisation> (<Role>)'; a null entry means the source gave no name for that witness at all. For committees with many submissions, re-call with offset=offset+returned while has_more is true. For inquiry-specific research, first call committees_search_businesses and pass its exact committee_business_id; this filters at the authoritative source before pagination. Source: UK Parliament Committees API oral and written evidence endpoints.
| Argument | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| limit | integer | Maximum evidence items to return. Default 20. For evidence_type='both' a page may hold only oral, only written, or the last oral items followed by the first written items. |
| offset | integer | Number of evidence items to skip before this page. Default 0. Re-call with offset=offset+returned while has_more is true. For evidence_type='both' this is a position in the combined sequence (all oral evidence, then all written evidence). |
| committee_id* | integer | Committee ID from committees_search_committees results. |
| published_to | any | Optional inclusive source publication-date upper bound (YYYY-MM-DD). Applied upstream before pagination. |
Get a prompt by name with optional arguments. Returns the rendered prompt as JSON with a messages array. Arguments should be provided as a dict mapping argument names to values.
| Argument | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| name* | string | The name of the prompt to get |
| arguments | any | Optional arguments for the prompt |
{
"type": "object",
"required": [
"name"
],
"properties": {
"name": {
"type": "string",
"description": "The name of the prompt to get"
},
"arguments": {
"anyOf": [
{
"type": "object",
"additionalProperties": true
},
{
"type": "null"
}
],
"default": null,
"description": "Optional arguments for the prompt"
}
},
"additionalProperties": false
}USE THIS TOOL WHEN you have a 9-digit VAT Registration Number and need that business's Making Tax Digital VAT mandate status. Returns whether the business is mandated for MTD, effective date, and trading name. Connects to the HMRC sandbox by default. Set HMRC_API_BASE to 'https://api.service.hmrc.gov.uk' for production. Requires HMRC_CLIENT_ID + HMRC_CLIENT_SECRET environment variables (OAuth 2.0). Raises if credentials are not configured — do not infer status.
| Argument | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| vrn* | string | VAT Registration Number: 9 digits, e.g. '123456789'. GB prefix accepted and stripped automatically. |
{
"type": "object",
"required": [
"vrn"
],
"properties": {
"vrn": {
"type": "string",
"maxLength": 12,
"minLength": 9,
"description": "VAT Registration Number: 9 digits, e.g. '123456789'. GB prefix accepted and stripped automatically."
}
},
"additionalProperties": false
}USE THIS TOOL WHEN a cited HMRC internal-manual page must be read. Returns bounded source-order text, canonical URL, manual reference, source metadata, and retrieval provenance. AFTER calling, cite or analyse only returned text; if retrieval fails, do not infer the page's contents. Source: the allowlisted official GOV.UK HMRC internal-manual page.
| Argument | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| max_chars | integer | Maximum main-text characters to return (500–20000). Truncation is explicitly reported. |
| reference | any | Manual page reference, e.g. 'EIM00500'. Required with manual_family when manual_url is omitted. |
| manual_url | any | Canonical HTTPS GOV.UK HMRC internal-manual page URL. Provide this OR manual_family plus reference. |
| manual_family | any | GOV.UK manual-family slug, e.g. 'employment-income-manual'. Required with reference when manual_url is omitted. |
{
"type": "object",
"properties": {
"max_chars": {
"type": "integer",
"default": 8000,
"maximum": 20000,
"minimum": 500,
"description": "Maximum main-text characters to return (500–20000). Truncation is explicitly reported."
},
"reference": {
"anyOf": [
{
"type": "string",
"maxLength": 100
},
{
"type": "null"
}
],
"default": null,
"description": "Manual page reference, e.g. 'EIM00500'. Required with manual_family when manual_url is omitted."
},
"manual_url": {
"anyOf": [
{
"type": "string",
"maxLength": 500
},
{
"type": "null"
}
],
"default": null,
"description": "Canonical HTTPS GOV.UK HMRC internal-manual page URL. Provide this OR manual_family plus reference."
},
"manual_family": {
"anyOf": [
{
"type": "string",
"maxLength": 100
},
{
"type": "null"
}
],
"default": null,
"description": "GOV.UK manual-family slug, e.g. 'employment-income-manual'. Required with reference when manual_url is omitted."
}
},
"additionalProperties": false
}USE THIS TOOL WHEN you know the UK VAT category name for a good or service and want its VAT treatment. Exact named-category lookup, not a free-text VAT classifier or tax advice. The query must equal a category name, ignoring only case, spacing, hyphens and apostrophe style. Extra qualifying words are never discarded: 'pet food' is its own category, and 'baby food' is not 'food'. A match returns `rate` (standard, reduced, zero or exempt), `rate_percentage` (None for exempt), conditions in `notes`, the GOV.UK `source_url`, and that entry's `verified_on` date. An unresolved query returns no rate: `matched_category`, `rate`, `rate_percentage` and `verified_on` are all null, never a default. Its `notes` list the category names. AFTER an unresolved result, retry with a listed name or call hmrc_search_guidance.
| Argument | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| commodity_code* | string | Commodity code or plain-English description. E.g. 'food', 'domestic fuel', 'software', 'financial services', 'new build residential' |
{
"type": "object",
"required": [
"commodity_code"
],
"properties": {
"commodity_code": {
"type": "string",
"maxLength": 200,
"minLength": 2,
"description": "Commodity code or plain-English description. E.g. 'food', 'domestic fuel', 'software', 'financial services', 'new build residential'"
}
},
"additionalProperties": false
}USE THIS TOOL WHEN discovering HMRC GOV.UK guidance on a topic. Returns official-search titles, URLs, descriptions, and published dates; descriptions do not establish the contents of a cited page. AFTER calling, use hmrc_get_manual_page when a result is an HMRC internal-manual URL. Source: GOV.UK's HMRC-filtered content search API.
| Argument | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| limit | integer | Maximum guidance results to return (1–25). Passed to the GOV.UK search count param. |
| query* | string | Search query for HMRC guidance, e.g. 'VAT digital services', 'R&D tax relief SME' |
{
"type": "object",
"required": [
"query"
],
"properties": {
"limit": {
"type": "integer",
"default": 10,
"maximum": 25,
"minimum": 1,
"description": "Maximum guidance results to return (1–25). Passed to the GOV.UK search count param."
},
"query": {
"type": "string",
"maxLength": 300,
"minLength": 3,
"description": "Search query for HMRC guidance, e.g. 'VAT digital services', 'R&D tax relief SME'"
}
},
"additionalProperties": false
}USE THIS TOOL WHEN you have a judgment slug and need metadata (parties, judges, neutral citation, court, dates). Call case_law_search FIRST to get the slug. AFTER calling, use judgment_get_index to discover paragraphs, then judgment_get_paragraph to read specific ones. Authoritative source for UK judgment metadata.
| Argument | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| slug* | string | Judgment slug, e.g. 'uksc/2024/12' or 'ewca/civ/2023/450' |
{
"type": "object",
"required": [
"slug"
],
"properties": {
"slug": {
"type": "string",
"maxLength": 200,
"minLength": 3,
"description": "Judgment slug, e.g. 'uksc/2024/12' or 'ewca/civ/2023/450'"
}
},
"additionalProperties": false
}USE THIS TOOL WHEN you have a judgment slug and want the paragraph navigation index (eId + preview line for every paragraph). Call case_law_search FIRST to get the slug. AFTER calling, pass an eId from the returned list into judgment_get_paragraph to read that paragraph's full text, or use case_law_grep_judgment for content search across all paragraphs.
| Argument | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| slug* | string | Judgment slug, e.g. 'uksc/2024/12' |
{
"type": "object",
"required": [
"slug"
],
"properties": {
"slug": {
"type": "string",
"maxLength": 200,
"minLength": 3,
"description": "Judgment slug, e.g. 'uksc/2024/12'"
}
},
"additionalProperties": false
}USE THIS TOOL WHEN you have a judgment slug + LegalDocML eId and want that paragraph's full text. Call judgment_get_index FIRST to discover available eIds (or use case_law_grep_judgment to locate paragraphs by content). Returns the paragraph XML content (400–1,700 tokens typical).
| Argument | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| eId* | string | Paragraph eId from judgment_get_index, e.g. 'para_12'. Numeric strings like '12' are accepted and normalized to 'para_12'. |
| slug* | string | Judgment slug, e.g. 'uksc/2024/12' |
{
"type": "object",
"required": [
"slug",
"eId"
],
"properties": {
"eId": {
"type": "string",
"maxLength": 100,
"minLength": 1,
"description": "Paragraph eId from judgment_get_index, e.g. 'para_12'. Numeric strings like '12' are accepted and normalized to 'para_12'."
},
"slug": {
"type": "string",
"maxLength": 200,
"minLength": 3,
"description": "Judgment slug, e.g. 'uksc/2024/12'"
}
},
"additionalProperties": false
}USE THIS TOOL WHEN you have a known Act / SI and want the parsed text of a specific section, regulation, or article, with extent and in-force metadata. Returns the provision's own text and heading, never a neighbouring Part/Chapter. Also returns extent, in-force/prospective data, and truncation metadata. Pass the bare number: the tool handles Act sections and SI regulations/articles. A missing provision raises not_found rather than returning a plausible neighbouring node. AFTER calling, check `extent` before relying on the provision and inspect content_truncated for long text. Call legislation_get_toc to discover valid numbers, or read_resource with a legislation:// URI when raw CLML XML is required. Source: legislation.gov.uk CLML, with an explicitly marked public-HTML fallback only when CLML is unavailable.
| Argument | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| type* | string | Legislation type code: 'ukpga' (Acts), 'uksi' (SIs), 'asp' (Scottish Acts), 'nia' (NI Acts). Use the value from legislation_search results. |
| year* | integer | Year of enactment |
| number* | integer | Chapter or SI number |
| section* | string | Provision number, e.g. '47' or '12A' — works for Act sections, SI regulations, and SI articles alike. Use the numeric part only — not 'section-47'/'regulation-47'/'article-47'. Schedules are not currently supported. |
| max_chars |
USE THIS TOOL WHEN you have a known Act / SI and want the structural table of contents (parts, chapters, individual sections/regulations/articles). Returns XML ids and titles in document order, including Parts, chapters, crossheadings, and provisions; a rare untitled provision is retained as its bare id. Results are paginated with offset/limit. AFTER calling, pass a provision's bare number (for example `47`, not `section-47`) to legislation_get_section. Check has_more and total_items for large statutes. Use read_resource with the legislation:// toc URI for the full raw listing. Source: legislation.gov.uk CLML table of contents.
| Argument | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| type* | string | Legislation type code: 'ukpga' (Acts), 'uksi' (SIs), 'asp' (Scottish Acts), 'nia' (NI Acts). Use the value from legislation_search results. |
| year* | integer | Year of enactment |
| limit | integer | Maximum items to return in this call (default 200, max 1000). Raise only when you need a larger slice in one response. Check has_more and total_items to know if further pages exist. |
| number* | integer | Chapter or SI number |
| offset | integer | Number of items to skip from the flattened TOC. Use with limit to page through very large statutes like the Companies Act 2006 (1300+ items). |
USE THIS TOOL WHEN searching UK Acts and Statutory Instruments by title, phrase, or full-text. Returns ranked results: title, type, year, number, legislation.gov.uk URL, and next_steps hints (toc URI, section template). AFTER calling, chain to legislation_get_toc then legislation_get_section for structural drill-in. Filter discipline: `type` and `year` are exact-match. Use only when you already know the value. For currency-driven searches, query by phrase and read the returned year; guessing an exact year can zero results. For broader concept queries across content, set `fulltext=True`. If the default title route receives a typed legislation.gov.uk WAF/non-XML failure, the tool automatically tries that documented full-text route once and marks search_mode="fulltext_fallback"; its broader relevance semantics must not be treated as a title-ranked result. Render-pending and ordinary HTTP failures do not trigger this fallback. Source: legislation.gov.uk Atom search feed, with an explicit fallback marker when the alternative official full-text route supplied results.
| Argument | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| type | any | Filter by type: 'ukpga' (Acts), 'uksi' (SIs), 'asp' (Scottish Acts), 'nia' (NI Acts). Exact-match — omit if you don't already know whether you're looking for an Act vs an SI. |
| year | any | Filter by year of enactment (exact-match — a single integer, not a range). Omit unless you already know the Act's year. Speculating a year (e.g. 'this is recent so it must be 2026') and getting it wrong will zero out the result set. Better workflow: query without `year`, then read the year from the returned results. |
| limit | integer | Maximum results to return (1–50). Passed to the upstream results-count param. |
List all available prompts. Returns JSON with prompt metadata including name, description, and optional arguments.
No arguments.
{
"type": "object",
"properties": {},
"additionalProperties": false
}List all available resources and resource templates. Returns JSON with resource metadata. Static resources have a 'uri' field, while templates have a 'uri_template' field with placeholders like {name}.
No arguments.
{
"type": "object",
"properties": {},
"additionalProperties": false
}USE THIS TOOL WHEN you have a member's name and need their integer member_id. Returns all members matching the name query, each with the integer `id`, party, constituency, house, and current-sitting status. Disambiguates common-name matches (e.g. "Lord Smith" returns multiple peers). CALL THIS BEFORE any tool that filters by member_id — including parliament_get_debate_contributions, parliament_member_debates, and parliament_member_interests. Name → ID first; ID-based filtering second. Skipping this step and text-searching by name returns unrelated results (see parliament_search_hansard's anti-bypass note for the Pannick case).
| Argument | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| name* | string | Name or partial name, e.g. 'Starmer', 'Baroness Hale' |
{
"type": "object",
"required": [
"name"
],
"properties": {
"name": {
"type": "string",
"maxLength": 200,
"minLength": 2,
"description": "Name or partial name, e.g. 'Starmer', 'Baroness Hale'"
}
},
"additionalProperties": false
}USE THIS TOOL WHEN you have a debate_ext_id and want verbatim contributions, optionally filtered to one member. Canonical path for "everything a member said in this debate" regardless of vocabulary — text-search tools (parliament_member_debates, parliament_search_hansard) filter by contribution TEXT, dropping members who spoke without using your phrase verbatim. This tool filters by MemberId on the debate's Items list, so vocabulary doesn't matter. Typical chain: parliament_find_member(name) → member_id, then parliament_search_hansard or parliament_lookup_by_column → debate_ext_id, then this tool. The parliament module's instructions describe the full composition pattern. Without member_id, returns every contribution (~100-200 for a long debate). If the wire returns no contributions for a member you expect to have spoken, report the empty result honestly — do NOT reconstruct quotes from training data. Authoritative source for member contributions.
| Argument | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| member_id | any | Optional integer Members API ID. When given, only that member's contributions in this debate are returned — regardless of which words they used. Resolves via parliament_find_member. When omitted, every contribution in the debate is returned (typical debate: 100-200 items). |
| debate_ext_id* | string | Debate GUID (DebateSectionExtId). Chain from parliament_search_hansard top_debates[].debate_ext_id, parliament_lookup_by_column matches[].debate_ext_id, or any tool that surfaces a debate identifier. |
{
"type": "object",
"required": [
"debate_ext_id"
],
"properties": {
"member_id": {
"anyOf": [
{
"type": "integer",
"minimum": 1
},
{
"type": "null"
}
],
"default": null,
"description": "Optional integer Members API ID. When given, only that member's contributions in this debate are returned — regardless of which words they used. Resolves via parliament_find_member. When omitted, every contribution in the debate is returned (typical debate: 100-200 items)."
},
"debate_ext_id": {
"type": "string",
"minLength": 8,
"description": "Debate GUID (DebateSectionExtId). Chain from parliament_search_hansard top_debates[].debate_ext_id, parliament_lookup_by_column matches[].debate_ext_id, or any tool that surfaces a debate identifier."
}
},
"additionalProperties": false
}USE THIS TOOL WHEN you have a debate_ext_id and want the divisions (formal votes) held within it. Most debates contain no divisions — Business of the House sittings, statements, urgent questions, debates without a vote. A populated list typically appears around bill stages, motions, and contested amendments. Empty list is the honest result, not a failure mode. Each returned division carries TWO IDs: - `id` — Hansard-side reference. Useful for cross-referencing in Hansard. - `votes_id` — Lords/Commons Votes API ID (cross-resolved by date+number). AFTER calling, pass `votes_id` as `division_id` into votes_get_division for the full member-by-member voting record. The two upstreams use distinct ID-spaces (Hansard Number=3 might be Votes-API divisionId=3392). The cross-resolve runs once per (date, house) group — typically one extra HTTP per debate. `votes_id` is None when the cross-resolve found no match.
| Argument | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| debate_ext_id* | string | Debate GUID (DebateSectionExtId). Chain from parliament_search_hansard contribution.debate_ext_id, top_debates[].debate_ext_id, or parliament_policy_position_summary top_debates[].debate_ext_id. |
{
"type": "object",
"required": [
"debate_ext_id"
],
"properties": {
"debate_ext_id": {
"type": "string",
"minLength": 8,
"description": "Debate GUID (DebateSectionExtId). Chain from parliament_search_hansard contribution.debate_ext_id, top_debates[].debate_ext_id, or parliament_policy_position_summary top_debates[].debate_ext_id."
}
},
"additionalProperties": false
}USE THIS TOOL WHEN you have an OSCOLA-style Hansard citation (column + volume + house) and need the debate. Example input: 'HL Deb 14 Oct 2025, vol 849, col 200'. AFTER calling, read the contribution at the cited column via read_resource(uri="hansard://debate/{debate_ext_id}/header") — or, equivalently, call parliament_get_debate_contributions(debate_ext_id) for the full list as a structured tool response. Each match carries: - `contribution_count` — real contribution count from the debate's Items - `source` / `source_code` — citation finality (1=Rolling, 2=Daily, 3=BoundVolume, 4=Historic). Resolution is NOT gated on publication state. Empty `matches` typically means the volume_number is wrong (opposing counsel sometimes cites running-volume rather than bound-volume) or the column is in a Written Statement (use the 'W'-suffixed column as-is). It does NOT mean the citation is fabricated — surface the failure. Authoritative source for OSCOLA Hansard column resolution.
| Argument | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| house | string | Restrict to one House. Default 'both' searches across both Houses. |
| column_number* | string | Hansard column number from an OSCOLA footnote, e.g. '200' for 'HL Deb 14 Oct 2025, vol 849, col 200'. String (not integer) to accommodate column suffixes like '1162W' for written answers. |
| volume_number* | integer | Hansard volume number (the 'vol 849' part of an OSCOLA citation). Required — the endpoint only resolves citations when given the volume; sitting date is NOT a substitute (verified live 2026-05-29). |
USE THIS TOOL WHEN you have a member_id and want contributions where THAT member used a specific topic phrase verbatim (text-body search). CALL parliament_find_member(name) FIRST to obtain the integer member_id. This is a name-based text-body search — it matches contributions whose TEXT contains the topic phrase. A member who spoke in a debate but didn't use your phrase verbatim is filtered out. For verbatim retrieval of every contribution by a member in a known debate (regardless of vocabulary), use parliament_get_debate_contributions(debate_ext_id, member_id=...) instead. Each contribution's text field is capped at 3000 characters.
| Argument | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| limit | integer | Maximum contributions to return. Default 20. |
| topic | any | Optional phrase to find in THIS member's contribution text bodies. Hansard searches the words the member actually said, NOT the topic or title of the debate. Pass tokens this member would have spoken — distinctive arguments ('disproportionate sanction'), statutory references ('section 21'), or motion numbers ('Motion C1') — not the bill's name (members rarely say e.g. 'Renters\' Rights Bill' verbatim in their speeches). If you want 'every contribution this member made in a specific debate' regardless of words used, find the debate_ext_id then use parliament_get_debate_contributions(debate_ext_id, member_id=...). |
| offset | integer | Number of contributions to skip before this page. Default 0. Re-call with offset=offset+returned while has_more is true. |
| member_id* | integer | Parliament Members API integer ID. Obtain from parliament_find_member. |
USE THIS TOOL WHEN you have a member_id and need their registered financial interests (donations, directorships, land, gifts). CALL parliament_find_member(name) FIRST to obtain the integer member_id. Returns ONE PAGE of interests (default 20, caller controls via limit). For prolific members (big donors, many directorships, extensive land holdings), re-call with offset=offset+returned while has_more is true to paginate. Description text is capped per max_description_chars; raise it for forensic provenance work that needs the full narrative. This is the authoritative source for UK MP and peer financial-interest declarations (via the Members API). Web search returns stale snapshots.
| Argument | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| limit | integer | Max interests per call. Hard-capped at 20 by the upstream interests-api.parliament.uk (verified live 2026-05-29: Take=100 still returns 20). For prolific members, paginate via offset; total size is in totalResults on the response. |
| offset | integer | Number of interests to skip before this page. Default 0 for the first page. To paginate prolific members (100+ interests), re-call with offset=offset+returned while the previous response had has_more=true. |
| category | any | Filter by interest category. Common categories: 'donations' (donations and support), 'gifts_uk' (gifts/hospitality from UK), 'employment' (employment and earnings), 'land' (land and property), 'shareholdings', 'overseas_visits'. Omit for all categories. |
| member_id* | integer | Parliament Members API integer ID. Get from parliament_find_member. |
USE THIS TOOL WHEN you want debate-level corpus signals on a topic — by_house, by_year, by_section breakdowns — without reading every contribution. Aggregates Hansard debate-level signals on a topic. Pure counts — no LLM, no editorial labels. Sweeps /search/Debates.json with pagination (up to max_debates_scanned), then aggregates by_house, by_section, by_year, by_month, and top_debates from debate metadata. Also captures the corpus-wide envelope counts (total_contributions, total_written_statements, total_divisions, etc.) from /search.json for cross-section scope. AFTER calling, pick a debate from top_debates and pass its debate_ext_id into parliament_get_debate_contributions to drill into who said what. Note on member-level facets: Hansard's search API exposes debate metadata, not per-contribution member identifiers, at the corpus level. by_party and top_contributors are therefore omitted from this deterministic summary. To see who spoke in a specific debate, read hansard://debate/{debate_ext_id}/header for an ordered contribution index, or call parliament_member_debates for one named member. This is the authoritative source for UK Hansard corpus-level signals.
| Argument | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| house | string | Restrict to one House. Default 'both'. |
| topic* | string | Phrase to find in Hansard contribution text bodies for the facet aggregation. Same semantics as parliament_search_hansard.query: tokens that appear in members' actual speeches, not bill titles or topic metadata. The aggregator sweeps top_debates[] returned by /search/Debates.json — those debates are matched on the phrase appearing in titles or contribution text, so passing a Bill title (e.g. 'Renters\' Rights Bill') usually works for THIS tool even though it wouldn't for member-level text search, because debate-level matching uses metadata in addition to body text. |
USE THIS TOOL WHEN searching Hansard by topic, bill title, or text phrase. Returns source-backed contributions with citation-grade metadata: member_id, attributed_to, column_ref, debate_id, debate_ext_id, contribution_ext_id, and public URL. The independent corpus envelope is optional enrichment: if it cannot be retrieved after one bounded retry, contributions still return with enrichment_status="degraded" and an explicit warning; omitted corpus totals and previews must not be inferred. AFTER calling, drill into full content via read_resource(uri="hansard://debate/{debate_ext_id}/header") — or call parliament_get_debate_contributions(debate_ext_id) for the same content as a structured tool response. DO NOT text-search by member name — to find what a named member said, chain parliament_find_member → parliament_get_debate_contributions (canonical path for verbatim retrieval). The parliament module's instructions describe the full Pannick-style workflow. Pagination: limit + offset honour the upstream paginated endpoint. For breadth across a topic, see parliament_policy_position_summary. Source: UK Parliament Hansard API. Contributions remain the authoritative retrieval result; envelope fields are source-backed only when complete.
| Argument | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| house | string | Restrict to one House. Default 'both' returns Commons + Lords contributions. |
| limit | integer | Max contributions per call (1–100). Default 20. Paginate further with offset; total corpus size is in total_corpus on the response. |
| query* | string | Phrase to find in Hansard contribution text bodies. Hansard searches the words members actually said in their speeches — NOT debate titles, topic metadata, or written headlines. Pass tokens that would appear in someone's speech: distinctive arguments ('disproportionate sanction'), statutory references ('section 21'), or specific phrases. Bill titles (e.g. 'Renters\'s Rights Bill') often DON'T match because members refer to 'the Bill' or 'this legislation' in their speeches. Tokenised matching: 'housing benefit fraud' will match contributions saying 'fraud in housing benefit claims'. For 'all contributions in a specific debate' regardless of words used, drill via top_debates[].debate_ext_id into parliament_get_debate_contributions. |
USE THIS TOOL WHEN searching UK Parliament petitions by keyword or topic. Returns petition title, state, signature count, and dates for government response or parliamentary debate if applicable. Filter by state (open, closed, debated, etc.) to narrow to live or historical petitions. This is the authoritative source for UK Parliament petitions (petition.parliament.uk).
| Argument | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| limit | integer | Maximum petitions to return. Default 20. |
| query* | string | Search term for petition titles, e.g. 'ban trophy hunting' or 'NHS funding'. |
| state | string | Filter by petition state. |
| offset | integer | Number of petitions to skip before this page. Default 0. Re-call with offset=offset+returned while has_more is true. |
{
"type": "object",
"required": [
"query"
],
"properties": {
"limit": {
"type": "integer",
"default": 20,
"maximum": 100,
"minimum": 1,
"description": "Maximum petitions to return. Default 20."
},
"query": {
"type": "string",
"maxLength": 300,
"minLength": 2,
"description": "Search term for petition titles, e.g. 'ban trophy hunting' or 'NHS funding'."
},
"state": {
"enum": [
"open",
"closed",
"all"
],
"type": "string",
"default": "all",
"description": "Filter by petition state."
},
"offset": {
"type": "integer",
"default": 0,
"maximum": 2000,
"minimum": 0,
"description": "Number of petitions to skip before this page. Default 0. Re-call with offset=offset+returned while has_more is true."
}
},
"additionalProperties": false
}Read a registered server resource URI, not an ordinary web URL. USE WHEN you have a judgment://, legislation://, hansard://, or server:// URI returned by this server. Do not use for https:// URLs; use the source-specific tool instead (for a canonical GOV.UK HMRC internal-manual URL, call hmrc_get_manual_page). Returns the resource content as a string. Binary content is base64-encoded. AFTER calling, use the returned primary-source content and URI in citations; if the URI is rejected, follow the named source-specific tool rather than treating the URL as retrieved evidence. Source: registered UK Legal MCP resource providers.
| Argument | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| uri* | string | A server resource URI such as judgment://..., legislation://..., hansard://..., or server://about |
{
"type": "object",
"required": [
"uri"
],
"properties": {
"uri": {
"type": "string",
"description": "A server resource URI such as judgment://..., legislation://..., hansard://..., or server://about"
}
},
"additionalProperties": false
}USE THIS TOOL WHEN you have a division_id + house and want the full member-by-member voting record. Voter lists are truncated to 100 per side to fit response limits; total voter counts are always accurate regardless of truncation. Chain from votes_search_divisions or parliament_get_debate_divisions (which cross-resolves Hansard division refs into votes-API division_ids).
| Argument | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| house | string | Which house this division belongs to. |
| division_id* | integer | Division ID from votes_search_divisions results. |
{
"type": "object",
"required": [
"division_id"
],
"properties": {
"house": {
"enum": [
"Commons",
"Lords"
],
"type": "string",
"default": "Commons",
"description": "Which house this division belongs to."
},
"division_id": {
"type": "integer",
"minimum": 1,
"description": "Division ID from votes_search_divisions results."
}
},
"additionalProperties": false
}USE THIS TOOL WHEN searching Commons or Lords formal votes by topic, date, or member. Returns one page of division summaries (title, date, vote counts, pass/fail) plus `total`, the source's count of all matching divisions. While `has_more` is true, re-call with offset=offset+returned. AFTER calling, pass division_id + house into votes_get_division for the full member-by-member voter lists. Authoritative source for UK parliamentary vote records.
| Argument | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| house | string | Which house to search. |
| limit | integer | Maximum divisions to return. Default 25. The Lords API honours up to 100; the Commons API returns at most 25 per call, so page by `returned`, not `limit`. |
| query | any | Search term for division titles, e.g. 'Rwanda' or 'Online Safety Bill'. Omit to browse recent divisions. |
| offset | integer | Number of divisions to skip before this page. Default 0. Re-call with offset=offset+returned while has_more is true. |
| to_date | any | End date (YYYY-MM-DD). |
| from_date | any | Start date (YYYY-MM-DD). |
| member_id | any | Filter to divisions where this member voted. Get the member ID from parliament_find_member. |
{
"type": "object",
"required": [
"query"
],
"properties": {
"house": {
"anyOf": [
{
"enum": [
"Commons",
"Lords",
"All"
],
"type": "string"
},
{
"type": "null"
}
],
"default": null,
"description": "Filter by originating house: the House the bill was introduced in, wherever it sits now. Omit (or 'All') for all houses."
},
"limit": {
"type": "integer",
"default": 20,
"maximum": 100,
"minimum": 1,
"description": "Maximum bills to return in this call. Default 20 keeps responses focused; raise up to 100 for bulk exports."
},
"query": {
"type": "string",
"maxLength": 500,
"minLength": 1,
"description": "Search term for bill titles and descriptions, e.g. 'online safety' or 'financial services'."
},
"stage": {
"anyOf": [
{
"enum": [
"firstreading",
"secondreading",
"committee",
"report",
"thirdreading",
"royalassent"
],
"type": "string"
},
{
"type": "null"
}
],
"default": null,
"description": "Filter by current legislative stage."
},
"offset": {
"type": "integer",
"default": 0,
"maximum": 2147483647,
"minimum": 0,
"description": "Number of results to skip before this page. Default 0 for the first page. Re-call with offset=offset+returned while has_more is true to paginate."
},
"session": {
"anyOf": [
{
"type": "integer",
"minimum": 1
},
{
"type": "null"
}
],
"default": null,
"description": "Numeric parliamentary session ID (e.g. 40 = 2024-25, 39 = 2023-24). NOT a year string like '2025'. If you only know the year, omit this and filter the results instead. Omit to search all sessions."
}
},
"additionalProperties": false
}| limit |
| integer |
| Maximum results to return (1–50). TNA returns up to 50 per request; this slices client-side. Default 10 for a tight shortlist. Set higher for breadth (e.g. 50 to scan the full result set). |
| party | any | Filter by party name |
| query* | string | Full-text search query, e.g. 'negligence duty of care' |
| to_date | any | Latest judgment date (YYYY-MM-DD). Same caveat as `from_date` — currently silently ignored by upstream. Filtering happens client-side at best. |
| from_date | any | Earliest judgment date (YYYY-MM-DD). NOTE: the TNA atom.xml endpoint currently appears to ignore this filter — the same results come back regardless. Do not rely on it to narrow output; sort+slice client-side or refine `query` instead. |
{
"type": "object",
"required": [
"query"
],
"properties": {
"page": {
"type": "integer",
"default": 1,
"maximum": 50,
"minimum": 1,
"description": "Result page number (1-indexed)"
},
"court": {
"anyOf": [
{
"type": "string"
},
{
"type": "null"
}
],
"default": null,
"description": "Filter by court slug. Values: 'uksc', 'ukpc', 'ewca/civ', 'ewca/crim', 'ewhc/kb', 'ewhc/ch', 'ewhc/comm', 'ewhc/fam', 'ewhc/pat', 'ewhc/ipec', 'ewhc/admin', 'ewhc/tcc', 'ewhc/costs', 'ewfc', 'ewcop', 'eat', 'ukut/iac', 'ukut/aac', 'ukut/tcc', 'ukut/lc', 'ukftt/tc', 'ukftt/grc', 'nica', 'niqb'."
},
"judge": {
"anyOf": [
{
"type": "string"
},
{
"type": "null"
}
],
"default": null,
"description": "Filter by judge surname. Case-insensitive substring match against the indexed form. Use the surname alone ('Reed', 'Sumption') or with the bare title ('Lord Reed'). Honorific suffixes silently zero the result set — do not append 'JSC', 'of Allermuir', 'KC' etc. Speculating a fuller form than what TNA indexed will return 0 hits with no error."
},
"limit": {
"type": "integer",
"default": 10,
"maximum": 50,
"minimum": 1,
"description": "Maximum results to return (1–50). TNA returns up to 50 per request; this slices client-side. Default 10 for a tight shortlist. Set higher for breadth (e.g. 50 to scan the full result set)."
},
"party": {
"anyOf": [
{
"type": "string"
},
{
"type": "null"
}
],
"default": null,
"description": "Filter by party name"
},
"query": {
"type": "string",
"maxLength": 500,
"minLength": 1,
"description": "Full-text search query, e.g. 'negligence duty of care'"
},
"to_date": {
"anyOf": [
{
"type": "string",
"format": "date"
},
{
"type": "null"
}
],
"default": null,
"description": "Latest judgment date (YYYY-MM-DD). Same caveat as `from_date` — currently silently ignored by upstream. Filtering happens client-side at best."
},
"from_date": {
"anyOf": [
{
"type": "string",
"format": "date"
},
{
"type": "null"
}
],
"default": null,
"description": "Earliest judgment date (YYYY-MM-DD). NOTE: the TNA atom.xml endpoint currently appears to ignore this filter — the same results come back regardless. Do not rely on it to narrow output; sort+slice client-side or refine `query` instead."
}
},
"additionalProperties": false
}| any |
| 'volume' from citations_resolve (law report volume, if any). |
| section | any | 'section' from citations_resolve, e.g. '47', '12', '20A'. |
| si_year | any | 'si_year' from citations_resolve. |
| si_number | any | 'si_number' from citations_resolve. |
| confidence* | number | 'confidence' from citations_resolve. Refuses to format if 0.0 — that means TNA confirmed the document does not exist. Pass only the value citations_resolve returned; do not guess. |
| resolved_url | any | 'resolved_url' from citations_resolve. Must be non-null for neutral citations. |
| citation_type* | string | 'type' field from citations_resolve result. |
| report_series | any | 'report_series' from citations_resolve, e.g. 'WLR', 'AC', 'QB'. |
| legislation_title | any | 'legislation_title' from citations_resolve, e.g. 'Companies Act 2006'. |
{
"type": "object",
"required": [
"citation_type",
"confidence"
],
"properties": {
"raw": {
"anyOf": [
{
"type": "string"
},
{
"type": "null"
}
],
"default": null,
"description": "'raw' from citations_resolve. Used as-is for EU retained law — the original text preserves the Regulation/Directive distinction."
},
"page": {
"anyOf": [
{
"type": "integer"
},
{
"type": "null"
}
],
"default": null,
"description": "'page' from citations_resolve (starting page in the law report)."
},
"year": {
"anyOf": [
{
"type": "integer"
},
{
"type": "null"
}
],
"default": null,
"description": "'year' from citations_resolve."
},
"court": {
"anyOf": [
{
"type": "string"
},
{
"type": "null"
}
],
"default": null,
"description": "'court' from citations_resolve, e.g. 'UKSC', 'EWCA CIV', 'EWHC (KB)'."
},
"number": {
"anyOf": [
{
"type": "integer"
},
{
"type": "null"
}
],
"default": null,
"description": "'number' from citations_resolve (judgment number within the year)."
},
"volume": {
"anyOf": [
{
"type": "integer"
},
{
"type": "null"
}
],
"default": null,
"description": "'volume' from citations_resolve (law report volume, if any)."
},
"section": {
"anyOf": [
{
"type": "string"
},
{
"type": "null"
}
],
"default": null,
"description": "'section' from citations_resolve, e.g. '47', '12', '20A'."
},
"si_year": {
"anyOf": [
{
"type": "integer"
},
{
"type": "null"
}
],
"default": null,
"description": "'si_year' from citations_resolve."
},
"si_number": {
"anyOf": [
{
"type": "integer"
},
{
"type": "null"
}
],
"default": null,
"description": "'si_number' from citations_resolve."
},
"confidence": {
"type": "number",
"maximum": 1,
"minimum": 0,
"description": "'confidence' from citations_resolve. Refuses to format if 0.0 — that means TNA confirmed the document does not exist. Pass only the value citations_resolve returned; do not guess."
},
"resolved_url": {
"anyOf": [
{
"type": "string"
},
{
"type": "null"
}
],
"default": null,
"description": "'resolved_url' from citations_resolve. Must be non-null for neutral citations."
},
"citation_type": {
"enum": [
"neutral",
"law_report",
"legislation",
"si",
"eu_retained"
],
"type": "string",
"description": "'type' field from citations_resolve result."
},
"report_series": {
"anyOf": [
{
"type": "string"
},
{
"type": "null"
}
],
"default": null,
"description": "'report_series' from citations_resolve, e.g. 'WLR', 'AC', 'QB'."
},
"legislation_title": {
"anyOf": [
{
"type": "string"
},
{
"type": "null"
}
],
"default": null,
"description": "'legislation_title' from citations_resolve, e.g. 'Companies Act 2006'."
}
},
"additionalProperties": false
}| evidence_type | string | Type of evidence to search. |
| published_from | any | Optional inclusive source publication-date lower bound (YYYY-MM-DD). Applied upstream before pagination. |
| max_title_chars | integer | Per-item cap on the free-text title field. Default 300 prevents context blow-up from verbose inquiry titles. Raise to 1000+ only when you need the full title text. |
| committee_business_id | any | Exact official inquiry/business ID from committees_search_businesses. Applies the source filter before pagination; do not infer this from a title. |
{
"type": "object",
"required": [
"committee_id"
],
"properties": {
"limit": {
"type": "integer",
"default": 20,
"maximum": 100,
"minimum": 1,
"description": "Maximum evidence items to return. Default 20. For evidence_type='both' a page may hold only oral, only written, or the last oral items followed by the first written items."
},
"offset": {
"type": "integer",
"default": 0,
"maximum": 2147483647,
"minimum": 0,
"description": "Number of evidence items to skip before this page. Default 0. Re-call with offset=offset+returned while has_more is true. For evidence_type='both' this is a position in the combined sequence (all oral evidence, then all written evidence)."
},
"committee_id": {
"type": "integer",
"minimum": 1,
"description": "Committee ID from committees_search_committees results."
},
"published_to": {
"anyOf": [
{
"type": "string",
"format": "date"
},
{
"type": "null"
}
],
"default": null,
"description": "Optional inclusive source publication-date upper bound (YYYY-MM-DD). Applied upstream before pagination."
},
"evidence_type": {
"enum": [
"oral",
"written",
"both"
],
"type": "string",
"default": "both",
"description": "Type of evidence to search."
},
"published_from": {
"anyOf": [
{
"type": "string",
"format": "date"
},
{
"type": "null"
}
],
"default": null,
"description": "Optional inclusive source publication-date lower bound (YYYY-MM-DD). Applied upstream before pagination."
},
"max_title_chars": {
"type": "integer",
"default": 300,
"maximum": 2000,
"minimum": 50,
"description": "Per-item cap on the free-text title field. Default 300 prevents context blow-up from verbose inquiry titles. Raise to 1000+ only when you need the full title text."
},
"committee_business_id": {
"anyOf": [
{
"type": "integer",
"minimum": 1
},
{
"type": "null"
}
],
"default": null,
"description": "Exact official inquiry/business ID from committees_search_businesses. Applies the source filter before pagination; do not infer this from a title."
}
},
"additionalProperties": false
}| integer |
| Maximum characters of section content to return. Default 10,000 (~2,500 tokens) covers almost every section. Raise to 50,000+ only for unusually long Finance Act definition sections. Check content_truncated in the response to see if it was cut. |
{
"type": "object",
"required": [
"type",
"year",
"number",
"section"
],
"properties": {
"type": {
"type": "string",
"maxLength": 10,
"minLength": 2,
"description": "Legislation type code: 'ukpga' (Acts), 'uksi' (SIs), 'asp' (Scottish Acts), 'nia' (NI Acts). Use the value from legislation_search results."
},
"year": {
"type": "integer",
"maximum": 2100,
"minimum": 1800,
"description": "Year of enactment"
},
"number": {
"type": "integer",
"minimum": 1,
"description": "Chapter or SI number"
},
"section": {
"type": "string",
"maxLength": 50,
"minLength": 1,
"description": "Provision number, e.g. '47' or '12A' — works for Act sections, SI regulations, and SI articles alike. Use the numeric part only — not 'section-47'/'regulation-47'/'article-47'. Schedules are not currently supported."
},
"max_chars": {
"type": "integer",
"default": 10000,
"maximum": 200000,
"minimum": 500,
"description": "Maximum characters of section content to return. Default 10,000 (~2,500 tokens) covers almost every section. Raise to 50,000+ only for unusually long Finance Act definition sections. Check content_truncated in the response to see if it was cut."
}
},
"additionalProperties": false
}{
"type": "object",
"required": [
"type",
"year",
"number"
],
"properties": {
"type": {
"type": "string",
"maxLength": 10,
"minLength": 2,
"description": "Legislation type code: 'ukpga' (Acts), 'uksi' (SIs), 'asp' (Scottish Acts), 'nia' (NI Acts). Use the value from legislation_search results."
},
"year": {
"type": "integer",
"maximum": 2100,
"minimum": 1800,
"description": "Year of enactment"
},
"limit": {
"type": "integer",
"default": 200,
"maximum": 1000,
"minimum": 1,
"description": "Maximum items to return in this call (default 200, max 1000). Raise only when you need a larger slice in one response. Check has_more and total_items to know if further pages exist."
},
"number": {
"type": "integer",
"minimum": 1,
"description": "Chapter or SI number"
},
"offset": {
"type": "integer",
"default": 0,
"minimum": 0,
"description": "Number of items to skip from the flattened TOC. Use with limit to page through very large statutes like the Companies Act 2006 (1300+ items)."
}
},
"additionalProperties": false
}| query* |
| string |
| Search query, e.g. 'Housing Act 1988' or 'data protection personal data' |
| fulltext | boolean | Default false → searches Act/SI titles only (best for finding a named Act, e.g. 'Housing Act 1988' returns ukpga/1988/50 first). Set true to search the full text of every Act/SI for the query (returns SIs and regulations that cite the term — e.g. 'rental deposits' would return many implementing instruments). |
{
"type": "object",
"required": [
"query"
],
"properties": {
"type": {
"anyOf": [
{
"type": "string"
},
{
"type": "null"
}
],
"default": null,
"description": "Filter by type: 'ukpga' (Acts), 'uksi' (SIs), 'asp' (Scottish Acts), 'nia' (NI Acts). Exact-match — omit if you don't already know whether you're looking for an Act vs an SI."
},
"year": {
"anyOf": [
{
"type": "integer",
"maximum": 2100,
"minimum": 1800
},
{
"type": "null"
}
],
"default": null,
"description": "Filter by year of enactment (exact-match — a single integer, not a range). Omit unless you already know the Act's year. Speculating a year (e.g. 'this is recent so it must be 2026') and getting it wrong will zero out the result set. Better workflow: query without `year`, then read the year from the returned results."
},
"limit": {
"type": "integer",
"default": 20,
"maximum": 50,
"minimum": 1,
"description": "Maximum results to return (1–50). Passed to the upstream results-count param."
},
"query": {
"type": "string",
"maxLength": 500,
"minLength": 1,
"description": "Search query, e.g. 'Housing Act 1988' or 'data protection personal data'"
},
"fulltext": {
"type": "boolean",
"default": false,
"description": "Default false → searches Act/SI titles only (best for finding a named Act, e.g. 'Housing Act 1988' returns ukpga/1988/50 first). Set true to search the full text of every Act/SI for the query (returns SIs and regulations that cite the term — e.g. 'rental deposits' would return many implementing instruments)."
}
},
"additionalProperties": false
}{
"type": "object",
"required": [
"column_number",
"volume_number"
],
"properties": {
"house": {
"enum": [
"Commons",
"Lords",
"both"
],
"type": "string",
"default": "both",
"description": "Restrict to one House. Default 'both' searches across both Houses."
},
"column_number": {
"type": "string",
"maxLength": 20,
"minLength": 1,
"description": "Hansard column number from an OSCOLA footnote, e.g. '200' for 'HL Deb 14 Oct 2025, vol 849, col 200'. String (not integer) to accommodate column suffixes like '1162W' for written answers."
},
"volume_number": {
"type": "integer",
"description": "Hansard volume number (the 'vol 849' part of an OSCOLA citation). Required — the endpoint only resolves citations when given the volume; sitting date is NOT a substitute (verified live 2026-05-29).",
"exclusiveMinimum": 0
}
},
"additionalProperties": false
}{
"type": "object",
"required": [
"member_id"
],
"properties": {
"limit": {
"type": "integer",
"default": 20,
"maximum": 100,
"minimum": 1,
"description": "Maximum contributions to return. Default 20."
},
"topic": {
"anyOf": [
{
"type": "string"
},
{
"type": "null"
}
],
"default": null,
"description": "Optional phrase to find in THIS member's contribution text bodies. Hansard searches the words the member actually said, NOT the topic or title of the debate. Pass tokens this member would have spoken — distinctive arguments ('disproportionate sanction'), statutory references ('section 21'), or motion numbers ('Motion C1') — not the bill's name (members rarely say e.g. 'Renters\\' Rights Bill' verbatim in their speeches). If you want 'every contribution this member made in a specific debate' regardless of words used, find the debate_ext_id then use parliament_get_debate_contributions(debate_ext_id, member_id=...)."
},
"offset": {
"type": "integer",
"default": 0,
"maximum": 2000,
"minimum": 0,
"description": "Number of contributions to skip before this page. Default 0. Re-call with offset=offset+returned while has_more is true."
},
"member_id": {
"type": "integer",
"minimum": 1,
"description": "Parliament Members API integer ID. Obtain from parliament_find_member."
}
},
"additionalProperties": false
}| max_description_chars | integer | Per-entry cap on the free-text description field. Default 500 prevents context blow-up on members with lengthy donation or directorship narratives. Raise to 2000+ only for forensic provenance work. |
{
"type": "object",
"required": [
"member_id"
],
"properties": {
"limit": {
"type": "integer",
"default": 20,
"maximum": 20,
"minimum": 1,
"description": "Max interests per call. Hard-capped at 20 by the upstream interests-api.parliament.uk (verified live 2026-05-29: Take=100 still returns 20). For prolific members, paginate via offset; total size is in totalResults on the response."
},
"offset": {
"type": "integer",
"default": 0,
"maximum": 500,
"minimum": 0,
"description": "Number of interests to skip before this page. Default 0 for the first page. To paginate prolific members (100+ interests), re-call with offset=offset+returned while the previous response had has_more=true."
},
"category": {
"anyOf": [
{
"enum": [
"employment",
"employment_adhoc",
"employment_ongoing",
"donations",
"gifts_uk",
"overseas_visits",
"gifts_overseas",
"land",
"shareholdings",
"miscellaneous",
"family_employed",
"family_lobbying"
],
"type": "string"
},
{
"type": "null"
}
],
"default": null,
"description": "Filter by interest category. Common categories: 'donations' (donations and support), 'gifts_uk' (gifts/hospitality from UK), 'employment' (employment and earnings), 'land' (land and property), 'shareholdings', 'overseas_visits'. Omit for all categories."
},
"member_id": {
"type": "integer",
"minimum": 1,
"description": "Parliament Members API integer ID. Get from parliament_find_member."
},
"max_description_chars": {
"type": "integer",
"default": 500,
"maximum": 5000,
"minimum": 50,
"description": "Per-entry cap on the free-text description field. Default 500 prevents context blow-up on members with lengthy donation or directorship narratives. Raise to 2000+ only for forensic provenance work."
}
},
"additionalProperties": false
}| to_date | any | End date (YYYY-MM-DD) |
| from_date | any | Start date (YYYY-MM-DD) |
| max_debates_scanned | integer | Hard cap on debates sampled from /search/Debates.json to compute facets. Default 200 issues ≤4 upstream calls (take=50 each). Raise to 2000 (≤40 calls) for an exhaustive sweep on a heavily-debated topic. Hansard rate limit: 1000 req/5min. |
{
"type": "object",
"required": [
"topic"
],
"properties": {
"house": {
"enum": [
"Commons",
"Lords",
"both"
],
"type": "string",
"default": "both",
"description": "Restrict to one House. Default 'both'."
},
"topic": {
"type": "string",
"maxLength": 200,
"minLength": 2,
"description": "Phrase to find in Hansard contribution text bodies for the facet aggregation. Same semantics as parliament_search_hansard.query: tokens that appear in members' actual speeches, not bill titles or topic metadata. The aggregator sweeps top_debates[] returned by /search/Debates.json — those debates are matched on the phrase appearing in titles or contribution text, so passing a Bill title (e.g. 'Renters\\' Rights Bill') usually works for THIS tool even though it wouldn't for member-level text search, because debate-level matching uses metadata in addition to body text."
},
"to_date": {
"anyOf": [
{
"type": "string",
"format": "date"
},
{
"type": "null"
}
],
"default": null,
"description": "End date (YYYY-MM-DD)"
},
"from_date": {
"anyOf": [
{
"type": "string",
"format": "date"
},
{
"type": "null"
}
],
"default": null,
"description": "Start date (YYYY-MM-DD)"
},
"max_debates_scanned": {
"type": "integer",
"default": 200,
"maximum": 2000,
"minimum": 50,
"description": "Hard cap on debates sampled from /search/Debates.json to compute facets. Default 200 issues ≤4 upstream calls (take=50 each). Raise to 2000 (≤40 calls) for an exhaustive sweep on a heavily-debated topic. Hansard rate limit: 1000 req/5min."
}
},
"additionalProperties": false
}| offset | integer | Skip this many contributions before the page. Default 0. Re-call with offset=offset+returned to paginate; has_more flags whether more remain. |
| to_date | any | End date (YYYY-MM-DD) |
| from_date | any | Start date (YYYY-MM-DD) |
| member_id | any | Filter to contributions by a single member. Pass the integer Members API ID (resolve a name via parliament_find_member). The prior `member` field accepted a name string but Hansard's /search.json silently ignored it — the spec requires `memberId`. |
| text_mode | string | 'preview' returns the upstream ~250-char snippet (fast, low context cost). 'full' returns ContributionTextFull (still capped at 3000 chars). For full contribution text without the cap, read the resource hansard://debate/{debate_ext_id}/contribution/{contribution_ext_id}. |
| contribution_type | string | Which Hansard section to paginate. 'Spoken' = chamber + Westminster Hall debates (the default; what a lawyer usually means). 'Written' = written answers and statements. 'Corrections' = published corrections to the record. The corpus envelope (total_debates, total_divisions, etc.) is independent of this and always populated. |
{
"type": "object",
"required": [
"query"
],
"properties": {
"house": {
"enum": [
"Commons",
"Lords",
"both"
],
"type": "string",
"default": "both",
"description": "Restrict to one House. Default 'both' returns Commons + Lords contributions."
},
"limit": {
"type": "integer",
"default": 20,
"maximum": 100,
"minimum": 1,
"description": "Max contributions per call (1–100). Default 20. Paginate further with offset; total corpus size is in total_corpus on the response."
},
"query": {
"type": "string",
"maxLength": 500,
"minLength": 1,
"description": "Phrase to find in Hansard contribution text bodies. Hansard searches the words members actually said in their speeches — NOT debate titles, topic metadata, or written headlines. Pass tokens that would appear in someone's speech: distinctive arguments ('disproportionate sanction'), statutory references ('section 21'), or specific phrases. Bill titles (e.g. 'Renters\\'s Rights Bill') often DON'T match because members refer to 'the Bill' or 'this legislation' in their speeches. Tokenised matching: 'housing benefit fraud' will match contributions saying 'fraud in housing benefit claims'. For 'all contributions in a specific debate' regardless of words used, drill via top_debates[].debate_ext_id into parliament_get_debate_contributions."
},
"offset": {
"type": "integer",
"default": 0,
"maximum": 5000,
"minimum": 0,
"description": "Skip this many contributions before the page. Default 0. Re-call with offset=offset+returned to paginate; has_more flags whether more remain."
},
"to_date": {
"anyOf": [
{
"type": "string",
"format": "date"
},
{
"type": "null"
}
],
"default": null,
"description": "End date (YYYY-MM-DD)"
},
"from_date": {
"anyOf": [
{
"type": "string",
"format": "date"
},
{
"type": "null"
}
],
"default": null,
"description": "Start date (YYYY-MM-DD)"
},
"member_id": {
"anyOf": [
{
"type": "integer",
"minimum": 1
},
{
"type": "null"
}
],
"default": null,
"description": "Filter to contributions by a single member. Pass the integer Members API ID (resolve a name via parliament_find_member). The prior `member` field accepted a name string but Hansard's /search.json silently ignored it — the spec requires `memberId`."
},
"text_mode": {
"enum": [
"preview",
"full"
],
"type": "string",
"default": "preview",
"description": "'preview' returns the upstream ~250-char snippet (fast, low context cost). 'full' returns ContributionTextFull (still capped at 3000 chars). For full contribution text without the cap, read the resource hansard://debate/{debate_ext_id}/contribution/{contribution_ext_id}."
},
"contribution_type": {
"enum": [
"Spoken",
"Written",
"Corrections"
],
"type": "string",
"default": "Spoken",
"description": "Which Hansard section to paginate. 'Spoken' = chamber + Westminster Hall debates (the default; what a lawyer usually means). 'Written' = written answers and statements. 'Corrections' = published corrections to the record. The corpus envelope (total_debates, total_divisions, etc.) is independent of this and always populated."
}
},
"additionalProperties": false
}{
"type": "object",
"properties": {
"house": {
"enum": [
"Commons",
"Lords"
],
"type": "string",
"default": "Commons",
"description": "Which house to search."
},
"limit": {
"type": "integer",
"default": 25,
"maximum": 100,
"minimum": 1,
"description": "Maximum divisions to return. Default 25. The Lords API honours up to 100; the Commons API returns at most 25 per call, so page by `returned`, not `limit`."
},
"query": {
"anyOf": [
{
"type": "string",
"maxLength": 500
},
{
"type": "null"
}
],
"default": null,
"description": "Search term for division titles, e.g. 'Rwanda' or 'Online Safety Bill'. Omit to browse recent divisions."
},
"offset": {
"type": "integer",
"default": 0,
"maximum": 2147483647,
"minimum": 0,
"description": "Number of divisions to skip before this page. Default 0. Re-call with offset=offset+returned while has_more is true."
},
"to_date": {
"anyOf": [
{
"type": "string",
"format": "date"
},
{
"type": "null"
}
],
"default": null,
"description": "End date (YYYY-MM-DD)."
},
"from_date": {
"anyOf": [
{
"type": "string",
"format": "date"
},
{
"type": "null"
}
],
"default": null,
"description": "Start date (YYYY-MM-DD)."
},
"member_id": {
"anyOf": [
{
"type": "integer",
"minimum": 1
},
{
"type": "null"
}
],
"default": null,
"description": "Filter to divisions where this member voted. Get the member ID from parliament_find_member."
}
},
"additionalProperties": false
}