Guardian Mcp Server

Name: Guardian Mcp Server
Author: cyanheads

by cyanheadscommunityv0.1.2

An MCP server that searches, browses, and retrieves full article text and metadata from The Guardian’s journalism archive (1999–present). It supports STDIO and Streamable HTTP transports and requires a Guardian Open Platform API key.

From the registry: Guardian Open Platform — search and retrieve full article text from The Guardian archive.

GitHub Repository

Install & configure

Prerequisites

required
Install Node.js or Bun
A JavaScript runtime is required to run the server. Prefer Node.js for the npx install path; Bun is also supported.
https://nodejs.org/
required
Get a Guardian Open Platform API key
Register for a free Guardian Open Platform API key. The server will not start without setting GUARDIAN_API_KEY.
https://open-platform.theguardian.com/access

Install in your client

Paste into the AI you're chatting with — it will figure out the rest

Please install the `guardian-mcp-server` MCP server into my current AI client (that's you).

Required prerequisites (do these first if not already done):
- **Install Node.js or Bun** — A JavaScript runtime is required to run the server. Prefer Node.js for the npx install path; Bun is also supported. (https://nodejs.org/)
- **Get a Guardian Open Platform API key** — Register for a free Guardian Open Platform API key. The server will not start without setting GUARDIAN_API_KEY. (https://open-platform.theguardian.com/access)

Canonical MCP server config (stdio transport):
- command: `npx`
- args: ["-y","@cyanheads/guardian-mcp-server@latest"]
- required environment variables:
  - `MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE`: Transport type for the server. For stdio configuration, set this to stdio. (example: `stdio`)
  - `GUARDIAN_API_KEY`: Guardian Open Platform API key. (example: `<your-api-key>`)
- optional environment variables:
  - `MCP_LOG_LEVEL`: Log level in RFC 5424 format. (example: `info`)
  - `MCP_AUTH_MODE`: Authentication mode: none, jwt, or oauth. (example: `none`)
  - `LOGS_DIR`: Directory for log files (Node.js only). (example: `<your-logs-directory>`)
  - `STORAGE_PROVIDER_TYPE`: Storage backend provider. (example: `in-memory`)
  - `OTEL_ENABLED`: Enable OpenTelemetry instrumentation. (example: `false`)

Note: The README also documents Streamable HTTP support, but the simplest portable client config is stdio via npx. For HTTP mode, the README shows starting the server locally with MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE=http, MCP_HTTP_PORT, and GUARDIAN_API_KEY, with the server listening at /mcp.

Add this MCP server to my current client's config in the correct format for you. If you need secrets or credentials I haven't provided, ASK me — do not invent values or leave raw placeholders. After adding it, tell me how to verify the server is connected.

Note: The README also documents Streamable HTTP support, but the simplest portable client config is stdio via npx. For HTTP mode, the README shows starting the server locally with MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE=http, MCP_HTTP_PORT, and GUARDIAN_API_KEY, with the server listening at /mcp.

Tools (3)

guardian_search

Full-text search across The Guardian's archive with optional section, tag, contributor, and date filters; returns articles with truncated full body text.

guardian_get_article

Fetch a single Guardian article by its path-slug ID and return the complete body text plus metadata.

guardian_browse

Browse Guardian content by section or tag, or list available sections and tags using modes like section_latest, tag_latest, list_sections, and list_tags.