MCP server · Research

BnF catalogue MCP server

Look up French national library records for authors, their works and editions, right in your chat.

Research For science and research Research

This is a small helper that connects your AI chat to data.bnf.fr, the open catalogue of the French national library. It lets you search for an author or a work, read the full record, and see which editions and digitised copies the library holds. It is handy if you research French literature, history or culture, or if you just want to check a fact about a writer.

What is an MCP server? The 30-second version

On its own, your AI can only chat with you. An MCP server is a small helper program that gives your AI a new skill or a connection to an app or service. This one connects your AI to the BnF open catalogue, so it can look up authors, works and editions for you when you ask. You do not need to install anything complicated, and there is no account or password.

What this MCP server does

You ask your AI a question in plain words, like who Colette was or what Marguerite Duras wrote. Your AI passes that question to this helper. The helper talks to data.bnf.fr, the library's public catalogue, and brings back the matching records. Then your AI shows you the answer in the chat, with names, dates, works and links. If you want more detail on one person or one work, the AI can read that full record too.

Flow diagram: you ask your AI “What does the BnF say about Colette?”, the BnF catalogue MCP server connects it to BnF library catalogue, and you get back names, works and editions.

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What you can do with it

Search for an author by name in the BnF catalogue
Read a person's full record, with dates, places and occupations
List all the works credited to one author
Search for a work by its title
List the editions of a work the library holds
Find digitised copies in Gallica for a person or a work
Check whether a record is established or still provisional

Try asking your AI

“What does the BnF say about Colette?”
“List everything Marguerite Duras wrote.”
“Which editions of that work does the library hold?”
“Are any of them digitised in Gallica?”

What it gives back to you

You get back lists and records in the chat: names with dates, places and occupations, works with their years and creators, editions with publishers and ISBNs, and links to digitised copies in Gallica. Each answer also names the source and the date it was retrieved, as the library asks. If a record is still provisional, the answer says so. You can keep asking follow-up questions on the same person or work.

Before you start

What you need

A chat client that supports MCP, like Claude Desktop or Cursor
Node.js 24 or newer, if you use the npx install
Docker, only if you prefer the Docker install

Good to know

The BnF asks that you always name the source and the date of retrieval when you show what you got, and that you mention when a record is still provisional.

Install it with your AI

Add BnF catalogue MCP server to your AI, no technical skills needed

You don't install anything by hand. You copy one prompt, paste it into an AI that can work on your computer, and it checks, installs and connects the server for you, asking you when it needs something.

Sign in to get the install prompt

Members get a ready-made prompt that lets the Claude desktop app check BnF catalogue MCP server, install it and connect it for them, step by step. You don't need any technical skills: you copy, paste and answer a few questions. Your connected AI can also find and install any of the 4,066 MCP servers here for you.