# Gospel Library Mcp

> A MCP server for Gospel Library

- **Type:** MCP server
- **Install:** `agentstack add mcp-jasonbellz-gospel-library-mcp`
- **Verified:** Yes — security-reviewed for prompt injection and unsafe behavior
- **Seller:** [jasonbellz](https://agentstack.voostack.com/s/jasonbellz)
- **Installs:** 0
- **Category:** [Integrations](https://agentstack.voostack.com/c/integrations)
- **Latest version:** 0.1.0
- **License:** MIT
- **Upstream author:** [jasonbellz](https://github.com/jasonbellz)
- **Source:** https://github.com/jasonbellz/gospel-library-mcp

## Install

```sh
agentstack add mcp-jasonbellz-gospel-library-mcp
```

Requires the [AgentStack CLI](https://agentstack.voostack.com/docs/cli). Works with Claude Code, Cursor, and any MCP-compatible agent.

## About

# Gospel Library MCP Server

> **Unofficial tool. Not affiliated with or endorsed by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.**
> See [DISCLAIMER.md](./DISCLAIMER.md) for full details.

An [MCP (Model Context Protocol)](https://modelcontextprotocol.io) server that gives AI agents direct, structured access to the [Church of Jesus Christ Gospel Library](https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/) — scriptures, General Conference talks, handbooks, manuals, and magazines.

**Compatible with any MCP-enabled AI agent**, including GitHub Copilot CLI, Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, Windsurf, and others.

**No API key required. No external service. Everything runs locally.**

Search is powered by a local semantic vector index using the `all-MiniLM-L6-v2` model. When the index is built, the agent finds articles by *meaning* — not just URL keywords. Content is served in your OS locale language automatically, with per-request language override support.

---

## Requirements

- **Node.js ≥ 18**
- Any **MCP-compatible AI agent** (see setup below)

---

## Quick Setup

The MCP server configuration format is the same across all agents. Pick your agent below.

### GitHub Copilot CLI

Add to `~/.copilot/mcp-config.json` (create if it doesn't exist):

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "gospel-library": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@jasonbellz/gospel-library-mcp"]
    }
  }
}
```

Restart Copilot CLI and run `/mcp` — you should see `gospel-library` listed with 4 tools.

### Claude Desktop

Add to your Claude Desktop config file:
- **macOS:** `~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json`
- **Windows:** `%APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json`

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "gospel-library": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@jasonbellz/gospel-library-mcp"]
    }
  }
}
```

Restart Claude Desktop. The tools will be available automatically.

### Claude Code (CLI)

```bash
claude mcp add gospel-library -- npx -y @jasonbellz/gospel-library-mcp
```

### Cursor

Add to `~/.cursor/mcp.json` (global) or `.cursor/mcp.json` (project-level):

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "gospel-library": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@jasonbellz/gospel-library-mcp"]
    }
  }
}
```

### Windsurf

Add to `~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json`:

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "gospel-library": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@jasonbellz/gospel-library-mcp"]
    }
  }
}
```

### Other MCP-Compatible Agents

Any agent that supports the MCP `stdio` transport uses the same `mcpServers` JSON block. Consult your agent's documentation for the config file location.

### (Optional) Add Agent Instructions for Proactive Use

Tell your agent to use the Gospel Library tools automatically when answering Church-related questions. Add the following to your agent's system prompt or instructions file:

```markdown
## Gospel Library MCP

You have access to an MCP server (`gospel-library`) that provides structured access to the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Gospel Library at churchofjesuschrist.org.

Use the Gospel Library MCP tools whenever the user asks about:
- Church doctrine, teachings, or gospel principles
- Scriptures (Bible, Book of Mormon, Doctrine & Covenants, Pearl of Great Price)
- General Conference talks (1971–present)
- Church policies, handbooks, or guidelines
- Church history or historical documents
- Magazines (Liahona, Ensign, Friend, New Era)
- Church manuals or curriculum

When a question is clearly about Church topics, call the relevant tool FIRST before answering.
```

- **GitHub Copilot CLI:** add to `~/.copilot/copilot-instructions.md`
- **Claude Desktop / Claude Code:** add to your project's `CLAUDE.md` or system prompt
- **Cursor:** add to `.cursorrules` or project instructions

---

## Building the Semantic Search Index

Without the index, search falls back to URL slug matching (still useful, just less precise).
For semantic search — which finds articles by *meaning* rather than exact keywords — you need a local index.

Three options are available, from fastest to most thorough:

| Option | Command | Size | Time | Quality |
|--------|---------|------|------|---------|
| **Download** (pre-built) | `download-index` | ~12.5 MB | ~30 sec | Good |
| **Standard build** (truncated) | `build-index` | ~12–13 MB | ~45–90 min | Good |
| **Full build** (chunked) | `build-index --full` | ~35–40 MB | ~2–4 hrs | Best |
| **Download full** (pre-built chunked) | `download-index --full` | ~35–40 MB | ~1–2 min | Best |

### Option 1: Download the Pre-Built Index (Recommended, ~30 seconds)

Download a pre-built `index.db` from the latest GitHub Release:

```bash
npx @jasonbellz/gospel-library-mcp download-index
```

Saves to `~/.gospel-library-mcp/index.db`. Shows live download progress.

### Option 2: Download the Pre-Built Full Index (~1–2 minutes)

Download the pre-built chunked index for best semantic coverage:

```bash
npx @jasonbellz/gospel-library-mcp download-index --full
```

Saves to `~/.gospel-library-mcp/index.db` (replaces any existing index).

### Option 3: Build the Standard Index Locally (~45–90 minutes)

Build from scratch by crawling the live sitemap. Each article is indexed using its full content, truncated to ~350 words (one embedding per article).

```bash
npx @jasonbellz/gospel-library-mcp build-index
```

**What it does:**
- Downloads the English sitemaps (~50k URLs)
- Filters to indexed categories: General Conference talks, General Handbook, Gospel Topics essays (~10,000+ pages)
- Fetches and parses each page, using the first ~350 words as the embed text
- Generates 384-dimension embeddings using `Xenova/all-MiniLM-L6-v2` (runs locally, ~25 MB download on first run)
- Stores everything in `~/.gospel-library-mcp/index.db`

### Option 4: Build the Full Chunked Index Locally (~2–4 hours)

Build a deeper index where each article is split into overlapping ~350-word chunks. Produces multiple embeddings per article for full semantic coverage of long talks and handbook sections.

```bash
npx @jasonbellz/gospel-library-mcp build-index --full
```

**When to use:** When you want the best possible search quality and are willing to wait for the longer build. Especially useful for finding specific passages within long articles.

### Refreshing After New Content

New General Conference talks are published in April and October. Run an incremental refresh — only new articles are fetched and embedded. The refresh automatically detects whether your current index is standard or full and uses the same mode:

```bash
npx @jasonbellz/gospel-library-mcp refresh
```

**Expected time:** 1–5 minutes (a few hundred new articles per conference)

> The MCP server automatically reminds you to refresh when the index is more than **30 days** old.

---

## Tools

### `search_gospel_library`

Search the Gospel Library for articles, talks, scriptures, manuals, and policies.

**When the index is built:** uses cosine similarity over the local vector index for semantic search — finds articles by *meaning*.
**Before the index is built:** falls back to URL slug keyword matching.

| Parameter | Type | Required | Description |
|-----------|------|----------|-------------|
| `query` | string | ✅ | The search query (e.g. `'faith hope charity'`, `'word of wisdom'`) |
| `category` | string | ❌ | Restrict results to a category. See [Category Aliases](#category-aliases) below |
| `maxResults` | number | ❌ | Max results to return (1–10, default 5) |

**Category aliases** (pass these as the `category` parameter):

| Alias | Resolves to |
|-------|-------------|
| `general-conference` | All General Conference talks |
| `scriptures` | All scripture content |
| `manual` | All manuals and handbooks |
| `handbooks` | General Handbook only |
| `liahona` | Liahona magazine |
| `ensign` | Ensign magazine |
| `friend` | Friend magazine |

You can also pass any path relative to `/study/` (e.g. `general-conference/2024/10`).

---

### `get_article`

Fetch the full content of a specific article, talk, manual chapter, or policy page. Returns clean markdown.

| Parameter | Type | Required | Description |
|-----------|------|----------|-------------|
| `url` | string | ✅ | Full `https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/...` URL |
| `lang` | string | ❌ | Language code (e.g. `'spa'`, `'por'`, `'fra'`). Defaults to OS locale |

**Example URL:** `https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2024/10/12andersen?lang=eng`

---

### `browse_category`

List all articles and talks in a category or collection. Returns titles and URLs. Useful for browsing a specific conference session, scripture book, or magazine issue.

| Parameter | Type | Required | Description |
|-----------|------|----------|-------------|
| `category` | string | ✅ | Path relative to `/study/` — see table below |
| `lang` | string | ❌ | Language code (e.g. `'spa'`, `'por'`, `'fra'`). Defaults to OS locale |

**Common category paths:**

| Content | Path |
|---------|------|
| All General Conferences | `general-conference` |
| October 2024 Conference | `general-conference/2024/10` |
| April 2025 Conference | `general-conference/2025/04` |
| Book of Mormon | `scriptures/bofm` |
| New Testament | `scriptures/nt` |
| Old Testament | `scriptures/ot` |
| Doctrine & Covenants | `scriptures/dc-testament` |
| Pearl of Great Price | `scriptures/pgp` |
| General Handbook | `manual/general-handbook` |
| Gospel Topics | `manual/gospel-topics` |
| Liahona (current) | `liahona` |

---

### `get_scripture`

Fetch a specific scripture passage by reference. Parses the reference, constructs the Gospel Library URL, and returns the chapter content as markdown.

| Parameter | Type | Required | Description |
|-----------|------|----------|-------------|
| `reference` | string | ✅ | Scripture reference (e.g. `'John 3:16'`, `'2 Nephi 2:25'`, `'D&C 76:22'`) |
| `lang` | string | ❌ | Language code (e.g. `'spa'`, `'por'`, `'fra'`). Defaults to OS locale |

**Supported reference formats:**
- Full chapter: `Genesis 1`, `Alma 32`
- Single verse: `John 3:16`, `Moroni 10:4`
- Verse range: `Moroni 10:4-5`, `D&C 76:22-24`

**Supported books and abbreviations:**

Old Testament

| Book | Abbreviations |
|------|--------------|
| Genesis | `Gen` |
| Exodus | `Ex` |
| Leviticus | `Lev` |
| Numbers | `Num` |
| Deuteronomy | `Deut` |
| Joshua | `Josh` |
| Judges | `Judg` |
| Ruth | — |
| 1 Samuel | `1 Sam` |
| 2 Samuel | `2 Sam` |
| 1 Kings | `1 Kgs` |
| 2 Kings | `2 Kgs` |
| 1 Chronicles | `1 Chr` |
| 2 Chronicles | `2 Chr` |
| Ezra | — |
| Nehemiah | `Neh` |
| Esther | — |
| Job | — |
| Psalms | `Psalm`, `Ps` |
| Proverbs | `Prov` |
| Ecclesiastes | `Eccl` |
| Song of Solomon | — |
| Isaiah | `Isa` |
| Jeremiah | `Jer` |
| Lamentations | — |
| Ezekiel | `Ezek` |
| Daniel | `Dan` |
| Hosea | — |
| Joel | — |
| Amos | — |
| Obadiah | — |
| Jonah | — |
| Micah | — |
| Nahum | — |
| Habakkuk | — |
| Zephaniah | — |
| Haggai | — |
| Zechariah | `Zech` |
| Malachi | — |

New Testament

| Book | Abbreviations |
|------|--------------|
| Matthew | `Matt` |
| Mark | — |
| Luke | — |
| John | — |
| Acts | — |
| Romans | `Rom` |
| 1 Corinthians | `1 Cor` |
| 2 Corinthians | `2 Cor` |
| Galatians | `Gal` |
| Ephesians | `Eph` |
| Philippians | `Philip` |
| Colossians | `Col` |
| 1 Thessalonians | `1 Thes` |
| 2 Thessalonians | `2 Thes` |
| 1 Timothy | `1 Tim` |
| 2 Timothy | `2 Tim` |
| Titus | — |
| Philemon | — |
| Hebrews | `Heb` |
| James | — |
| 1 Peter | `1 Pet` |
| 2 Peter | `2 Pet` |
| 1 John | `1 Jn` |
| 2 John | `2 Jn` |
| 3 John | `3 Jn` |
| Jude | — |
| Revelation | `Rev` |

Book of Mormon

| Book | Abbreviations |
|------|--------------|
| 1 Nephi | `1 Ne` |
| 2 Nephi | `2 Ne` |
| Jacob | — |
| Enos | — |
| Jarom | — |
| Omni | — |
| Words of Mormon | — |
| Mosiah | — |
| Alma | — |
| Helaman | `Hel` |
| 3 Nephi | `3 Ne` |
| 4 Nephi | `4 Ne` |
| Mormon | `Morm` |
| Ether | — |
| Moroni | `Moro` |

Doctrine & Covenants / Pearl of Great Price

| Book | Abbreviations |
|------|--------------|
| Doctrine and Covenants | `D&C`, `DC` |
| Moses | — |
| Abraham | `Abr` |
| Joseph Smith History | `JS-H` |
| Joseph Smith Matthew | `JS-M` |
| Articles of Faith | `A of F` |

---

## Multilingual Support

The MCP server automatically detects your OS locale at startup and serves content in that language. No configuration required.

**How it works:**
- **Search** always uses the English index (cross-lingual retrieval — the embedding model is multilingual)
- **Content** (`get_article`, `browse_category`, `get_scripture`) is served in your OS locale language by default
- Every tool accepts an optional `lang` parameter to override per-request

**Override language per-request:**
> "Read Alma 32 in Spanish"
→ `get_scripture(reference: "Alma 32", lang: "spa")`

> "Get that talk in Portuguese"
→ `get_article(url: "...", lang: "por")`

**Supported language codes:**

| Code | Language | Code | Language |
|------|----------|------|----------|
| `eng` | English | `spa` | Spanish |
| `por` | Portuguese | `fra` | French |
| `deu` | German | `ita` | Italian |
| `jpn` | Japanese | `kor` | Korean |
| `zhs` | Chinese (Simplified) | `zht` | Chinese (Traditional) |
| `rus` | Russian | `tgl` | Filipino / Tagalog |
| `nld` | Dutch | `swe` | Swedish |
| `nor` | Norwegian | `dan` | Danish |
| `fin` | Finnish | `pol` | Polish |
| `ukr` | Ukrainian | `hun` | Hungarian |
| `ces` | Czech | `ron` | Romanian |
| `bul` | Bulgarian | `ell` | Greek |
| `tur` | Turkish | `ara` | Arabic |
| `heb` | Hebrew | `tha` | Thai |
| `ind` | Indonesian | `msa` | Malay |
| `vie` | Vietnamese | `khm` | Khmer |
| `mya` | Burmese | `mon` | Mongolian |
| `smo` | Samoan | `ton` | Tongan |
| `haw` | Hawaiian | `mao` | Māori |

> **Note:** Not all content is available in every language. English content is the most complete.

---

## Files Created on Your System

| Path | Purpose |
|------|---------|
| `~/.gospel-library-mcp/index.db` | SQLite vector index — standard (~12–13 MB) or full chunked (~35–40 MB) |
| `~/.cache/huggingface/` | Cached embedding model (~25 MB, downloaded once on first `build-index`) |

**Agent config files** (you create these — see [Quick Setup](#quick-setup) above):

| Agent | Config file |
|-------|-------------|
| GitHub Copilot CLI | `~/.copilot/mcp-config.json` |
| Claude Desktop (macOS) | `~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json` |
| Claude Desktop (Windows) | `%APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json` |
| Cursor | `~/.cursor/mcp.json` |
| Windsurf | `~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json` |

---

## Usage Examples

**Semantic search:**
> "What does the Church teach about the Word of Wisdom?"

Finds articles about dietary law, health, and the Word of Wisdom — even articles where those words don't appear in the URL.

**Scripture lookup:**
> "What does Moroni 10:4-5 say?"

Uses `get_scripture` to fetch the passage directly.

**Browse a conference:**
> "List the talks from October 2024 General Conference"

Uses `browse_category` with `general-conference/2024/10`.

**Read Church policy:**
> "What is the Church's policy on fast offerings?"

Uses `search_gospel_library` to find the relevant General Handbook section, then `get_article` to read it.

---

## Local Development

```bash
git clone https://github.com/jasonbellz/gospel-library-mcp
cd gospel-library-mcp
npm install
npm run build
```

Then add `dist/index.js` as the command in your agent's MCP config:

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "gospel-library": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/path/to/gospel-library-mcp/dist/index.js"]
    }
  }
}
```

Or use `node setup.js` to auto-register with GitHub Copilot CLI, or `node setup.js --npx` to register using the published npm package.

## Publishing a New Version

```bash
# 1. Bump version in package.json (e.g. 2.0.1)
npm version patch   # or minor / major

# 2. Publish (build runs automatically via prepublishOnly)
npm publish --access public

# 3. Commit a

…

## Source & license

This open-source MCP server is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

- **Author:** [jasonbellz](https://github.com/jasonbellz)
- **Source:** [jasonbellz/gospel-library-mcp](https://github.com/jasonbellz/gospel-library-mcp)
- **License:** MIT

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.

## Pricing

- **Free** — Free

## Security capabilities

Automated source analysis of v0.1.0 — what this tool can access:

- **Network access:** no
- **Filesystem access:** no
- **Shell / process execution:** no
- **Environment & secrets:** no
- **Dynamic code execution:** no

*"Yes" means the capability is present in the source — more access means more to trust, not that it is unsafe.*


## Versions

- **0.1.0** — security scan: passed — Imported from the upstream source.

## Links

- Listing page: https://agentstack.voostack.com/l/mcp-jasonbellz-gospel-library-mcp
- Seller: https://agentstack.voostack.com/s/jasonbellz
- Browse the marketplace: https://agentstack.voostack.com/browse

---
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