MCP server setup

Endpoint

https://mcp.billcommons.org/mcp

Streamable HTTP, stateless, no authentication required for public read access.

Using ChatGPT? Follow the developer-mode setup and plugin availability notes. The public endpoint is available now; the packaged Bill Commons plugin is still in preparation.

Claude Desktop / Claude.ai

Open Customize → Connectors, choose + → Add custom connector, name it Bill Commons, and paste this remote server URL. Then enable the connector for your conversation:

https://mcp.billcommons.org/mcp

On a Team or Enterprise account, an organization owner first adds the custom web connector in Organization settings → Connectors. See Claude's remote MCP setup guide.

Claude Code

Add the same remote server from your terminal:

claude mcp add bill-commons --transport http https://mcp.billcommons.org/mcp

Other MCP clients

Clients that support remote Streamable HTTP can be configured with the endpoint above. Exact setup and tool routing depend on the client.

With Python 3.10 or newer installed, save the code below as billcommons_example.py. Use a virtual environment to install the tested SDK version without changing your system Python.

python3 -m venv .venv
.venv/bin/python -m pip install "mcp==1.28.1"
.venv/bin/python billcommons_example.py

py -3 -m venv .venv
.venv\Scripts\python.exe -m pip install "mcp==1.28.1"
.venv\Scripts\python.exe billcommons_example.py

import asyncio

from mcp.client.streamable_http import streamablehttp_client
from mcp import ClientSession


async def main():
    async with streamablehttp_client("https://mcp.billcommons.org/mcp") as (read, write, _):
        async with ClientSession(read, write) as session:
            await session.initialize()
            result = await session.call_tool(
                "search_legislation", {"q": "paid family leave"}
            )
            if result.isError:
                raise RuntimeError(result.content)
            for item in result.content:
                if item.type == "text":
                    print(item.text)


if __name__ == "__main__":
    asyncio.run(main())

A successful call prints the search result, including any coverage limitations. For a known number, call get_bill_recordwith jurisdiction="NC" and identifier="HB 920", or pass the canonical UUID returned by search as bill_id. A number alone can match more than one session, so the tool asks you to disambiguate rather than choosing a bill silently. An empty search result does not prove that no matching legislation exists; checkget_jurisdiction_coverage with state="NC" for the state you are researching. Its argument is state, while get_bill_record uses jurisdiction.

Tools

All 10 advertised tools declare readOnlyHint: true, destructiveHint: false, idempotentHint: true, and openWorldHint: false. They retrieve stored records; they do not enroll alerts, modify data, or schedule work.

Hearing and committee-calendar data is not collected for any jurisdiction. The legacy get_upcoming_hearings call remains compatible for existing clients but is omitted from tool discovery. Its data_status: "not_collected" result means the data is unavailable, never that no hearings are scheduled. Consult the legislature's official calendar for a schedule.