Oorlogsbronnen MCP Server

MCP server for accessing Dutch World War II archives through the Oorlogsbronnen API. Provides structured access to historical records, photographs

Local serverstdioTypeScript

What is the Oorlogsbronnen MCP server?

MCP server for accessing Dutch World War II archives through the Oorlogsbronnen API. Provides structured access to historical records, photographs, and documents from 1940-1945 Netherlands. Exposed over MCP by the oorlogsbronnen mcp server, that capability becomes something an assistant can invoke while it works, not something you go and do afterwards.

What it actually does

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that provides AI-powered access to the Oorlogsbronnen (War Sources) database. This server enables natural language interactions with historical World War II archives from the Netherlands.

  • 🔍 Natural language search across the Oorlogsbronnen database
  • 🏷️ Filter results by content type (person, photo, article, etc.)
  • 📊 Control the number of results returned
  • 🤖 AI-friendly JSON responses for further processing

Its toolset

Everything the assistant can do here goes through one of these:

  • search_ww2_nl_archives — A powerful search tool designed to query the Oorlogsbronnen (War Sources) database for World War II related content in the Netherlands. This tool can

Adding it to your client

Installation goes through your MCP client rather than a global install: point it at Package on npm and it is fetched when the client starts. The copy-paste blocks for Claude Desktop, Claude Code and Cursor are further down this page.

When to reach for it

Among the database access options, the useful question is rarely "what can it do" but "what does it cost you to run" — permissions, credentials, and how much of your context its toolset consumes. Oorlogsbronnen's toolset — search_ww2_nl_archives — is a fair guide to whether it matches your workflow. It is maintained by r-huijts; worth a glance at recent repository activity before you build anything load-bearing on it.

This entry was verified against Oorlogsbronnen's own documentation before publication; SyncDev keeps the directory reviewed rather than auto-generated.

Caveats

  • It runs with your machine's permissions. That is convenient and also the reason to think about what you point it at before you approve a tool call.
  • MCP clients confirm each tool call by default. Leave that on until you have watched what the oorlogsbronnen mcp server does with a few real requests.

Available tools

ToolWhat it does
search_ww2_nl_archivesA powerful search tool designed to query the Oorlogsbronnen (War Sources) database for World War II related content in the Netherlands. This tool can be used to find historical documents, photographs, personal accounts,

How to install the Oorlogsbronnen MCP server

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "oorlogsbronnen-server": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "oorlogsbronnen-mcp"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Configuration as documented by the project. Restart the client after saving.

Example prompts to try

  • Use Oorlogsbronnen to search ww2 nl archives.

Frequently asked questions

It queries the Oorlogsbronnen database for WWII-related content in the Netherlands, returning historical documents, photographs, personal accounts, and other archival materials from 1940–1945.