Standards Finder

Standards Finder is a Python MCP server that lets you fetch RFCs, Internet Drafts, and related IETF documents through MCP-compatible clients. It provides fast access, section-based parsing, and output tailored for metadata, full documents, or specific sections, all while offering robust transport options and progress notifications.

How to use

You connect with an MCP client to the Standards Finder server to retrieve RFCs, Internet Drafts, and Working Group documents. You can run the server locally for development or expose it over HTTP for integration with other MCP clients. You can fetch by RFC number, search by keyword, retrieve specific sections, and obtain documents from IETF Working Groups with filtering and version-aware handling for Internet Drafts.

How to install

Prerequisites: Python 3.x is installed on your system.

Run the server in standard stdio mode (default):

python3 standard_finder.py

Run the server in HTTP mode (port 3000 by default):

python3 standard_finder.py --http

Run the HTTP server on a custom port (e.g., 8080):

python3 standard_finder.py --http --port 8080

Configuration

To expose the server over HTTP for MCP clients, you can point clients to the HTTP endpoint and keep using the standard MCP transport. The HTTP URL is the address of the running server with the /mcp path.

For local development or integration with a broader MCP workflow, you can also run the server in stdio mode, where a client process communicates with the server via standard input/output.

Transport modes and logging

Standards Finder supports two transport modes: stdio (local process communication) and HTTP (network-based API). The stdio mode is convenient for development and automated testing, while HTTP mode enables integration with web apps and MCP clients across services.

The server includes comprehensive logging with initialization tracking, request/response traces, and error diagnostics. Logs are useful to understand performance, cache behavior, and transport issues.

Testing HTTP mode

Start the HTTP server on port 3000 and verify the endpoint is reachable. Use an MCP client to initialize the session and perform tool calls as needed.

Quick start workflow

1. Start HTTP mode on port 3000 or run in stdio mode for local testing.

2. Connect your MCP client to the server using the appropriate transport.

3. Use the provided tools to fetch RFCs, search drafts, retrieve OpenID specs, and gather working group documents.

Notes on data sources and scope

The server supports RFCs, Internet Drafts, OpenID Foundation specifications, and IETF Working Group documents. It offers search, section extraction, and version-aware drafting utilities to help you build tooling around IETF standards.

Available tools

get_rfc

Fetch an RFC document by its number with options to output full content, metadata, or sections.

search_rfcs

Search RFCs by keyword or phrase with an optional result limit.

get_rfc_section

Retrieve a specific RFC section by number or title.

get_internet_draft

Fetch an Internet Draft by name, automatically selecting the latest version if unspecified.

search_internet_drafts

Search Internet Drafts by keyword with an optional limit.

get_internet_draft_section

Get a specific section from an Internet Draft.

get_working_group_documents

Obtain all RFCs and Internet Drafts for a given IETF working group with filtering options.

get_openid_spec

Fetch an OpenID Foundation specification by name in full, metadata, or sections.

search_openid_specs

Search for OpenID specifications by keyword.

get_openid_spec_section

Retrieve a specific section from an OpenID specification.