Onlinekommentar

You run an MCP server that exposes Swiss legal commentaries from onlinekommentar.ch. This server lets MCP clients search across commentaries, retrieve detailed entries by ID, and filter results by language, act, and date, using a local Node-based process that you start and connect to from your MCP client tools.

How to use

You interact with the Online Kommentar MCP Server through an MCP client. The server provides two core capabilities: searching for commentaries and retrieving the full content of a specific commentary by its ID. You can search across English, German, French, and Italian commentaries and apply filters such as the legislative act, sort order by title or date, and pagination for large results. Retrieve a single commentary using its unique ID to get the full title, authors, linked legislative act, publication details, and the complete commentary text.

How to install

# Prerequisites
# Install Node.js (version 14 or higher) and npm/yarn

# 1) Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/self-tech-labs/onlinekommentar-mcp.git
cd onlinekommentar-mcp

# 2) Install dependencies
npm install

# 3) Build the project
npm run build

Configuration and runtime startup

Configure your MCP client to point to the local MCP server process. The server is started as a local JavaScript process via Node and its built index file. Use the following configuration snippet in your MCP client settings to register the server under the name online-kommentar.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "online-kommentar": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/path/to/onlinekommentar-mcp/build/index.js"]
    }
  }
}

Restarting and verification

After creating or updating the MCP server entry, restart your MCP client application to load the new server configuration. Then verify that the server appears in the MCP client’s server list and that you can perform a search or fetch a commentary by ID. If you encounter problems, check that the build output exists at the path you provided and that Node.js is available on your system.

Usage notes

• You can search commentaries with a text query and optional filters for language (en, de, fr, it), legislative_act, sort order (title, -title, date, -date), and page number for pagination.

• To retrieve a specific commentary, provide its unique ID to the client to obtain the full content, including title, authors, act information, and the complete commentary text.

Development notes

The server follows the Model Context Protocol, exposing search and retrieval endpoints and validating parameters against a JSON schema. It integrates with the onlinekommentar.ch API to fetch commentary data and returns structured results suitable for MCP clients.

Troubleshooting

• Server not appearing in the MCP client: ensure the configuration path and syntax are correct, confirm the compiled build exists at the specified location, and restart the MCP client after changes.

• Build errors: verify Node.js version (14+), run npm install to install dependencies, and check for TypeScript compilation errors.

• API connection issues: verify internet connectivity and that onlinekommentar.ch is reachable from your environment. Review client logs for error messages.

Notes on API and data

Commentaries include multilingual titles and content, authorship information, legislative act associations, publication dates, and direct links to online versions. The MCP server exposes search and retrieval functions that map to these data structures for client consumption.

Available tools

Search Commentaries

Full-text search across commentaries with language and filter options such as legislative_act, sort order, and pagination.

Get Commentary by ID

Retrieve detailed information for a specific commentary using its unique ID, including full content and metadata.