Whatdotheyknow MCP Server

If you already use Whatdotheyknow MCP, the whatdotheyknow mcp mcp server is the piece that lets your assistant work with it directly. A Model Context Protocol server for UK Freedom of Information research. Connects AI assistants to WhatDoTheyKnow — the UK's largest FOI request platform — to search requests, read responses, look up.

Available tools

The toolset is worth reading before you wire it up, because it tells you what the integration is really for:

• search_request_events — Full-text search of FOI requests and responses via WhatDoTheyKnow's Atom feed. Supports structured expressions (status:successful, body:"Liverpool
• search_authorities — Search UK public authorities by name. Returns slug for use with other tools
• get_request_feed_items — Fetch the event timeline (sent, response, clarification) for a specific FOI request
• get_request_detail — Fetch full public request JSON, including status, authority, requester, correspondence events, and attachment metadata where exposed
• get_user_requests — List a user's visible requests with title, slug, status, authority, dates, and snippets
• get_user_feed_items — Fetch a user's activity Atom feed as structured entries with readable content text
• get_authority_detail — Fetch full public authority JSON, including contact/profile fields and request statistics
• build_request_url — Build a prefilled WhatDoTheyKnow request URL for a given authority and topic
• create_request_record — Create a request via the write API (requires WDTK_API_KEY)
• update_request_state — Update user-assessed state of a request (requires WDTK_API_KEY)
• Source — API
• WhatDoTheyKnow — www.whatdotheyknow.com

Installation

Because this one is hosted, setup is mostly authentication — you point your client at the endpoint and approve access. Nothing runs on your machine, so there is no runtime to keep patched.

Credentials and setup notes

Configuration is passed through the environment: WDTK_API_KEY. Treat anything key-shaped as a real credential — scope it to the minimum the server needs, and rotate it if it ever lands in a shared config.

Where it fits

Among the developer tooling 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. Whatdotheyknow MCP's toolset — search_request_events, search_authorities, get_request_feed_items and 9 more — is a fair guide to whether it matches your workflow. It is maintained by paulieb89; worth a glance at recent repository activity before you build anything load-bearing on it.

SyncDev reviews every entry in this directory against the project's own documentation before publishing, and revisits them as servers change.

Worth knowing first

• Your data travels to the provider's service, so the usual questions apply about what you send and what they retain.
• With 12 tools registered it takes up a noticeable share of the context window; turn it off in projects that never touch Whatdotheyknow MCP.
• Missing credentials fail quietly in some clients — if no tools show up, check the environment block first.
• Keep per-call confirmation enabled while you learn its behaviour; it is the cheapest safeguard you have.