Tripitaka MCP

Keyword Search

Keyword search across the Pāli Tipiṭaka (trigram word-similarity). Searches the configured enabled language(s) on the server. Filterable by pitaka and translation edition. 💡 **Hints for the AI client:** The system's canonical reference is Romanised Pāli (from SuttaCentral). If the user asks in a disabled or unsupported language, translate the keyword to **Romanised Pāli (preferred) or English** before calling this tool — e.g. "suffering" → "dukkha", "mindfulness of breathing" → "ānāpānassati".

Survey Corpus (exhaustive)

Exhaustively survey the WHOLE Tipiṭaka for a term — guaranteed complete. Use this (not `search_by_keyword`) when the question is about **coverage or counting** rather than "show me the best passages": - "How many times does Kusinārā appear in the canon?" - "Every place ānāpānassati is mentioned — don't miss any" - "Which pitakas/how many suttas mention this term?" Unlike `search_by_keyword` (ranked, capped at 50, no total), this returns an **exact count**, a **per-pitaka breakdown**, the **dis

Get Sutta

Fetch a sutta's content — OR its table of contents (`mode="outline"`). ⚡ **Decide which mode BEFORE calling — don't fetch the whole sutta and parse it yourself:** - The user wants the **structure / outline / table of contents**, or asks **"how many sections/parts"** / "what's in it" → call `get_sutta(sutta_id, mode="outline")`. It returns the section list (titles + segment counts + ids), NOT the full text — cheap and exact. - The user wants the **context around a search hit** → `around="<

Semantic Search

Semantic search — match by meaning, not exact words. Uses vector similarity (cosine distance) over `text_pali` embedded with a multilingual MiniLM model. 🤔 **In most cases you should use `search_hybrid` instead** — it combines this semantic search with keyword search and ranks better. Use this tool only when you need: - Pure semantic results (no keyword influence) - Fine-grained `threshold` tuning (hybrid uses RRF which is harder to tune) - To debug what semantic alone picks up vs keyword ⚠

Hybrid Search

Hybrid search — combines keyword + semantic search via RRF. Uses Reciprocal Rank Fusion (RRF) to merge exact-word results with meaning-based results. **This is the recommended tool for "discourses about X" / concept queries**, because the semantic side catches suttas that discuss a concept using different vocabulary (e.g. some mindfulness-of-breathing suttas use `assasati/passasati/dīghaṁ` instead of `ānāpānassati`). 💡 **Hints for the AI client:** - English queries usually work best (e.g. `min

List Tipiṭaka Structure

Show the structure of all three pitakas with coverage statistics. 💡 **Use this tool when:** - The user asks for an overview of the Tipiṭaka (what's in it / which collections). - You need to check coverage before promising a search will find something — `segment_count > 0` is the active-loaded signal. - Verifying scope when compiling an artifact. 📊 **Current state (v1.1+, at parity with SuttaCentral bilara-data):** - **Sutta Piṭaka** complete: DN 37, MN 155, SN 1,829, AN 1,419, KN 2,351 s

Get Citation

Build a proper citation string for a sutta. 💡 **Use this tool when:** - The user wants a citation for academic work, an article, or a reference. - You need to know the canonical location of a sutta (pitaka / nikāya). - You want a ready-to-use formatted citation string. 🔗 vs `get_sutta`: this tool returns metadata + citation only, no segments. Pair it with `get_sutta` when you want both the content and the citation.

List Translation Editions

List the translation editions available, with coverage stats. 💡 **Use this tool when:** - Before calling `compare_translations` or `get_sutta(edition=...)`, so you know which edition values are valid and worth comparing. - The user asks which editions are loaded in the DB. 🔍 **Filtering:** Filtered by the server's `TRIPITAKA_ENABLED_LANGUAGES` — when Thai is disabled the list is empty. Only enabled languages are returned. ⚠️ **Current state:** the DB mostly holds Pāli (default from SuttaCen

Compare Translations

Compare every available translation for a single segment. 💡 **Use this tool when:** - The user asks about the meaning/translation of a single Pāli line and wants to see multiple translators side-by-side. - Checking how different translators interpret the same line — technical terms like `dukkha`, `anattā`, `nibbāna` carry nuance that varies across translations. - Academic work that needs to quote multiple translations. 🔍 **vs `get_sutta`:** this tool targets a **single segment** (line le

Get Word Definition

Look up the dictionary meaning of a Pāli word, with sutta context. Serves as a Pāli Dictionary Bridge — pairs the "definition" with the "context where the Buddha actually used the word". 📖 **About the dictionary sources:** This tool draws from multiple primary dictionaries, including "พจนานุกรมพุทธศาสน์ ฉบับประมวลศัพท์" (Buddhist Dictionary — Concept-Glossary edition) by Somdet Phra Buddhaghosacariya (P. A. Payutto). The Thai-language entries are **original scholarly works** (not translations)

Verify Quote

Verify, check, or confirm a Buddha quote — does the canon really say it? Fact-check a quotation attributed to the Buddha. Catches fake, misquoted, misattributed and misremembered passages, and finds the true reading. Paste a line that has been quoted or half-remembered — Pāli or English — and this says whether the canon really contains it, cites where, and if not, shows the closest thing that is actually there. 🧭 **When to use this:** - A quote is attributed to the Buddha and you are not cert

Define From Suttas

Find how the **suttas and Vinaya define a Pāli term in their own words**. The canon defines its own terms with fixed formulas — "Katamañca … dukkhaṁ?" (what is X?) … "ayaṁ vuccati … dukkhaṁ" (this is called X), "X adhivacana" (X is a designation for …), or the Vinaya "X nāma". This tool locates those definitional passages and returns them **cited**, so the assistant can present the doctrinal essence straight from the source. 🧭 **This tool vs `get_word_definition`:** - **`define_from_suttas`**

Parse Pāli Word

Strip Pāli inflectional suffixes to find the root form (basic stem). 💡 **Use this tool when:** - You find an inflected Pāli word (e.g. `dukkhassa`, `bhikkhūnaṁ`) and `get_word_definition` doesn't find it directly — Pāli inflects nouns across 7 cases × 2 numbers, ~16 forms per root. - You want to split a compound (`sammāsambuddhassa` → `sammā` + `sambuddha` + `-ssa` genitive). - You want to see possible stems before another `get_word_definition` lookup. 🔄 **Recommended workflow:** `pars

Open Sutta Viewer

Open an interactive sutta viewer inside the chat — Pāli + English, plus an optional third row in the user's own language translated BY YOU. Renders each segment as: Pāli on top (canonical), the Bhikkhu Sujato English below it (verification anchor), and — when you supply `translations` — your translation in the user's language, clearly badged as AI-generated. Prefer this over dumping raw segments when the user wants to *read* a sutta. - `sutta_id` — standard SuttaCentral id, e.g. `sn56.11`, `mn