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Tools

12 tools for working with GBIF species taxonomy, occurrence records, datasets, and publishers:

gbif_match_species

Match a scientific or common name against the GBIF backbone taxonomy.

• Fuzzy matching handles minor typos and vernacular names; set strict: true for exact-only matching
• Returns taxonKey — the backbone key required by gbif_search_occurrences, gbif_count_occurrences, and gbif_occurrence_facets
• Confidence score 0–100; below 80 warrants review
• Full classification hierarchy with keys at each rank: kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species
• matchType NONE indicates no usable match — try removing strict mode or broadening the name
• Resolves synonyms: always returns the accepted backbone key regardless of which name form was queried

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gbif_get_species

Fetch a complete taxon record by GBIF backbone key.

• Full classification, authorship string, and vernacular (English) name when available
• taxonomicStatus: ACCEPTED, SYNONYM, DOUBTFUL — when SYNONYM, acceptedKey and accepted identify the current name
• numDescendants and numOccurrences for scope at a glance
• extinct field present only when explicitly flagged — not false on unlabeled taxa
• publishedIn carries the original description citation when available

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gbif_search_species

Search or browse the GBIF backbone taxonomy.

• Accepts name fragments matching scientific and vernacular names
• Filter by rank, kingdom, family, or genus to scope browsing
• isExtinct filter for extinct vs. extant taxa
• Scope to a specific checklist dataset with datasetKey (omit for the GBIF backbone)
• Paginated — limit up to 1000, use offset to walk through large groups

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gbif_get_species_classification

Return the full parent chain for a taxon as an ordered array.

• Root-first (kingdom → phylum → class → order → family → genus → species → up to parent of queried taxon)
• Each entry: rank, canonical name, scientific name, taxon key
• Useful for building taxonomic trees or placing an unfamiliar taxon in context without manual backbone navigation

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gbif_get_species_children

List direct children of a backbone taxon.

• Genera within a family, species within a genus, subspecies within a species
• Each child: key, name, rank, taxonomic status, common name, occurrence count, descendant count
• Paginated — limit up to 1000, iterate with offset for large groups like Coleoptera

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gbif_search_occurrences

Search 2.4B+ GBIF occurrence records with full Darwin Core filtering.

• Use taxonKey from gbif_match_species for reliable results — resolves synonyms automatically; scientificName filter does not
• Geographic filters: country (ISO 3166-1 alpha-2), bounding box (decimalLatitude/decimalLongitude ranges as "min,max"), or WKT polygon (geometry)
• Temporal filters: year as single year or range, month (1–12) for seasonal queries
• basisOfRecord enum: HUMAN_OBSERVATION, PRESERVED_SPECIMEN, MACHINE_OBSERVATION, and more
• hasCoordinate to require or exclude georeferenced records
• Pagination capped at offset+limit ≈ 100,000 — use gbif_occurrence_facets for aggregate analysis beyond this

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gbif_count_occurrences

Count occurrences matching a filter without fetching any records.

• Backed by the lightweight /occurrence/count endpoint — fast single-number response
• Supported filters: taxonKey, country, isGeoreferenced, datasetKey, year
• Use to assess result set size before deciding whether to paginate a full search

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gbif_get_occurrence

Fetch a single occurrence record by GBIF occurrence key.

• Complete Darwin Core record — all coordinate fields, GADM administrative geography (continent, country, state/province, locality), dates
• Collections metadata: institution code, collection code, catalog number
• Collector and identifier names, individual count, sex, life stage
• Associated media (images, audio, video) with URLs and license
• GBIF data quality issue flags for provenance assessment

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gbif_occurrence_facets

Aggregate occurrence counts across a dimension.

• Facets: COUNTRY, YEAR, BASIS_OF_RECORD, DATASET_KEY, KINGDOM_KEY, PHYLUM_KEY, CLASS_KEY, ORDER_KEY, FAMILY_KEY, GENUS_KEY, SPECIES_KEY, PUBLISHING_COUNTRY, MONTH
• Scope with taxonKey, country, year, geometry, or basisOfRecord filters
• Returns top-N values (up to 100) ranked by count — no record payloads
• Core tool for distribution analysis ("which countries have the most records?") and trend queries ("how has observation volume changed since 2010?")

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gbif_search_datasets

Search GBIF datasets by keyword, type, country, or publishing organization.

• Filters: free-text query, dataset type (OCCURRENCE, CHECKLIST, METADATA, SAMPLING_EVENT), publishing country, hosting organization UUID
• Returns title, type, description, license, DOI, and record count
• Use hostingOrg from gbif_search_publishers to scope to datasets from one organization
• Paginated — limit up to 1000

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gbif_get_dataset

Fetch full dataset metadata by UUID.

• Full description, citation text (for academic reference), license, DOI
• Contacts with role, name, organization, and email
• numConstituents for aggregate datasets (e.g. iNaturalist, eBird)
• Use after gbif_search_datasets or when an occurrence record's datasetKey needs provenance detail

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gbif_search_publishers

Search organizations registered with GBIF.

• Filter by name fragment or country
• Returns organization key, title, and country — sufficient to chain into gbif_search_datasets with hostingOrg
• Paginated — limit up to 1000

Resources

Features

Built on @cyanheads/mcp-ts-core:

• Declarative tool definitions — single file per tool, framework handles registration and validation
• Unified error handling across all tools
• Pluggable auth (none, jwt, oauth)
• Swappable storage backends: in-memory, filesystem, Supabase, Cloudflare KV/R2/D1
• Structured logging with optional OpenTelemetry tracing
• Runs locally (stdio/HTTP) or on Cloudflare Workers from the same codebase

GBIF-specific:

• Full GBIF REST API v1 coverage: species taxonomy, occurrences, datasets, and publishers
• gbif_match_species as the entry point — resolves synonyms to backbone taxon keys used throughout
• Occurrence pagination cap detection with paginationNote — redirects to facet aggregation before hitting the ~100,000 row limit
• WKT polygon geometry support for geographic occurrence queries
• Darwin Core field mapping with explicit provenance on sparse upstream fields

Agent-friendly output:

• gbif_match_species is the mandatory first step — all downstream tools document which key they expect
• Graceful sparse-field handling — optional fields absent from the API response are omitted rather than null-filled
• Discriminated error contracts with typed reasons, structured recovery hints, and when documentation per tool

Getting started

Self-Hosted / Local

Add the following to your MCP client configuration file.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "gbif-biodiversity-mcp-server": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "bunx",
      "args": ["@cyanheads/gbif-biodiversity-mcp-server@latest"],
      "env": {
        "MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE": "stdio",
        "MCP_LOG_LEVEL": "info"
      }
    }
  }
}

Or with npx (no Bun required):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "gbif-biodiversity-mcp-server": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@cyanheads/gbif-biodiversity-mcp-server@latest"],
      "env": {
        "MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE": "stdio",
        "MCP_LOG_LEVEL": "info"
      }
    }
  }
}

Or with Docker:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "gbif-biodiversity-mcp-server": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "docker",
      "args": ["run", "-i", "--rm", "-e", "MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE=stdio", "ghcr.io/cyanheads/gbif-biodiversity-mcp-server:latest"]
    }
  }
}

For Streamable HTTP, set the transport and start the server:

MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE=http MCP_HTTP_PORT=3010 bun run start:http
# Server listens at http://localhost:3010/mcp

Prerequisites

• Bun v1.3.2 or higher.
• Optional: GBIF API key for higher rate limits.

Installation

1. Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/cyanheads/gbif-biodiversity-mcp-server.git

2. Navigate into the directory:

cd gbif-biodiversity-mcp-server

3. Install dependencies:

bun install

Configuration

All configuration is validated at startup via Zod schemas in src/config/server-config.ts. Key environment variables:

Running the server

Local development

• Build and run the production version:

  # One-time build
  bun run rebuild
  
  # Run the built server
  bun run start:http
  # or
  bun run start:stdio
  

• Run checks and tests:

  bun run devcheck  # Lints, formats, type-checks, and more
  bun run test      # Runs the test suite
  

Project structure

Development guide

See CLAUDE.md for development guidelines and architectural rules. The short version:

• Handlers throw, framework catches — no try/catch in tool logic
• Use ctx.log for logging, ctx.state for storage
• Register new tools and resources in the createApp() arrays

Contributing

Issues and pull requests are welcome. Run checks and tests before submitting:

bun run devcheck
bun run test

License

This project is licensed under the Apache 2.0 License. See the LICENSE file for details.