FamilySearch MCP server

familysearch-mcp

<!-- mcp-name: io.github.ianderso/familysearch-mcp -->

An MCP server for genealogical research on FamilySearch: a historical place gazetteer, indexed record search, the page images behind the records, and reads of the shared family tree.

Nothing here writes to FamilySearch. The shared tree is community-edited and conflations of same-named people are common, so a tree result is a hint: follow it to the underlying record and cite that.

This is an independent project. It is not made, endorsed or supported by FamilySearch.

Credentials

This package ships no client id and never handles a FamilySearch password. Records, images and the tree need an access token from your own registered FamilySearch application; docs/AUTH.md explains why, and how to get one.

The gazetteer, the collection catalogue and the film browser answer without a token, so they work on a fresh install with no setup at all.

Install

uvx familysearch-mcp

That runs the server over stdio, which is how an MCP client starts it. You normally put it in the client's configuration rather than running it yourself.

Claude Desktop

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "familysearch": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["familysearch-mcp"],
      "env": { "FS_ENV_FILE": "/path/to/familysearch.env" }
    }
  }
}

Point at an env file rather than pasting the token into env. A token that lives in the client's config can only be replaced by editing it and restarting; a token in the file is picked up mid-session. With no token at all, leave env out and the anonymous tools still work.

Claude Code

claude mcp add familysearch -e FS_ENV_FILE=/path/to/familysearch.env -- uvx familysearch-mcp

Configuration

.env.example lists them with comments.

Tools

Twenty-five tools. All of them read; download_image also writes the page it fetches to a local file.

Places

FamilySearch's Places API answers anonymously.

Records and collections

Shortened. The full README is on GitHub.