FOIA Gras MCP Server

Connect your AI assistant to the FOIA Gras public records database. Search documents, explore meeting minutes, and dig into investigative reporting — right from your conversation.

What is MCP?

The Model Context Protocol (MCP) is an open standard that lets AI assistants connect to external data sources and tools. With the FOIA Gras MCP server, your AI can search thousands of public records documents, meeting minutes, and investigative articles on your behalf.

Instead of copying and pasting from the website, you can ask: “What contracts did the school board approve in 2024?” and the AI will search the actual documents for you.

Connect your AI assistant

Choose your AI client for setup instructions.

No API key needed. ChatGPT uses OAuth to sign you in automatically — just provide the server URL below and follow the prompts.
1

Open ChatGPT and go to settings

In ChatGPT, open Settings → Connectors (or search for “MCP” in settings). Click Add server or Connect a tool.
2

Enter the MCP server URL

Paste this URL into the server field:

https://ig.foiagras.com/api/public/mcp

Leave the Client ID and Client Secret fields blank — ChatGPT registers itself automatically.

3

Sign in to FOIA Gras

ChatGPT will open a sign-in window. Enter your FOIA Gras email address, click the link we send you, then click Authorize on the consent screen.
4

Start asking questions

The FOIA Gras tools will now appear in ChatGPT. Ask anything about public records, meeting minutes, or local government documents.

Available Tools

These tools are available to the AI when connected. They mirror the same capabilities used by the Inspector General chat.

list_entities

List all available organizations with indexed public records.

search_documents

Full-text search within an organization's documents. Returns excerpts with highlighted matches.

entity_slugrequiredOrganization identifier (from list_entities)
queryrequiredSearch query. Supports "quoted phrases", +required, -excluded, after:YYYY-MM-DD, before:YYYY-MM-DD
document_typeoptionalFilter by type: minutes, agenda, contract, budget, report, resolution, ordinance
limitoptionalMax results (default: 10, max: 50)
search_documents_by_name

Find documents by title or filename. Use when looking for a specific document by name.

entity_slugrequiredOrganization identifier
name_queryrequiredDocument name or title to search for
limitoptionalMax results (default: 10, max: 50)
get_document_details

Get the full text of a specific document by ID.

document_idrequiredDocument ID from search results
get_raw_text

Read a long document in chunks by specifying an offset.

document_idrequiredDocument ID
offsetoptionalCharacter offset to start from (default: 0)
limitoptionalMax characters to return (default: 50,000, max: 100,000)
search_document_text

Search within a specific document for a term and return matches with surrounding context.

document_idrequiredDocument ID
search_termrequiredTerm to search for (case-insensitive)
context_chars_beforeoptionalCharacters of context before each match (default: 200)
context_chars_afteroptionalCharacters of context after each match (default: 200)
max_matchesoptionalMax matches to return (default: 10, max: 50)
list_meetings

List meetings for an organization, sorted by most recent first.

entity_slugrequiredOrganization identifier
afteroptionalOnly meetings on or after this date (YYYY-MM-DD)
beforeoptionalOnly meetings on or before this date (YYYY-MM-DD)
meeting_typeoptionalFilter by type (e.g. Regular Board, Committee, Special)
limitoptionalMax meetings (default: 20, max: 100)
get_meeting_details

Get full details for a meeting: AI summary, key topics, oversight questions, and complete agenda.

meeting_idrequiredMeeting ID from list_meetings results
search_newsletters

Search published FOIA Gras newsletter articles for investigative reporting on a topic.

queryrequiredSearch query
limitoptionalMax results (default: 5, max: 20)

Example Queries

“What contracts did the school board approve in the last year?”
“Find all meetings where the budget was discussed in 2024”
“Search for any documents mentioning the superintendent's contract”
“What were the key decisions at the most recent regular board meeting?”
“Has FOIA Gras reported on any financial irregularities?”
“List all special meetings from the past six months”

Need an account to get started?

Sign in or create an account