folio-mcp 0.2.5

MCP server for FOLIO, the Federated Open Legal Information Ontology

folio-mcp

MCP server for FOLIO, the Federated Open Legal Information Ontology.

FOLIO is an open-source legal ontology with 18,000+ concepts covering areas of law, document types, legal entities, governmental bodies, and more. This MCP server makes the full ontology available to AI agents as searchable, browsable tools.

A public REST API is already available at https://folio.openlegalstandard.org/ with interactive Swagger documentation at /docs. This MCP server wraps the same ontology for native use in AI coding assistants and agent frameworks.

License: MIT (server code) / CC-BY 4.0 (ontology data)

Backends

folio-mcp supports two interchangeable backends:

Mode	Startup	Dependencies	Use case
API (default)	Instant	httpx only	Normal usage — calls the public FOLIO REST API
Local (--local)	~10s	folio-python[search]	Offline use or when mounting inside folio-api

API mode (default)

The server starts instantly and delegates all queries to the public API at https://folio.openlegalstandard.org/. No local ontology loading required.

Local mode

Loads the full FOLIO ontology in-process (~18k classes). Useful for offline work or when embedded in folio-api.

# Install with local dependencies
pip install folio-mcp[local]

# Run in local mode
folio-mcp --local

# Or via environment variable
FOLIO_MCP_LOCAL=1 folio-mcp

Custom API URL

Point to a different FOLIO API instance:

folio-mcp --api-url https://my-folio-instance.example.com

Installation

Claude Code

claude mcp add folio -- uvx folio-mcp

Claude Desktop

Add to your claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "folio": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["folio-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Cursor

Add to .cursor/mcp.json in your project:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "folio": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["folio-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

VS Code

Add to your User Settings (JSON):

{
  "mcp": {
    "servers": {
      "folio": {
        "command": "uvx",
        "args": ["folio-mcp"]
      }
    }
  }
}

Remote (Streamable HTTP)

Connect to the hosted endpoint:

https://folio.openlegalstandard.org/mcp

Manual (pip)

pip install folio-mcp
folio-mcp

Tools (12)

Tool	Description
search_concepts(query, limit=10)	Search concepts by label/name using fuzzy matching
search_definitions(query, limit=10)	Search concepts by definition text
query_concepts(...)	Advanced query with composable text and structural filters
query_properties(...)	Query OWL object properties by label, domain, range
get_concept(iri)	Get full details for a concept by IRI
export_concept(iri, format)	Export a concept as markdown, JSON-LD, or OWL XML
list_branches()	List all 24 taxonomy branches with concept counts
get_taxonomy_branch(branch_name, max_depth)	Get concepts in a taxonomy branch
get_children(iri, max_depth)	Get child concepts
get_parents(iri, max_depth)	Get parent concepts
get_properties()	Get all OWL object properties (relationships)
find_connections(subject_iri, property_name, object_iri)	Find semantic triples

All responses include full concept data when available: translations (31% of concepts, 10+ languages), preferred labels, external identifiers, alternative labels, examples, cross-references, and more.

Resources (3)

Resource URI	Description
folio://branches	Branch names with concept counts (564 bytes)
folio://stats	Ontology statistics — version, class/property counts, license
folio://branch/{name}	Top-level concepts in a specific branch (on-demand, 1-288KB)

Taxonomy Branches

The FOLIO ontology is organized into 24 top-level branches:

Branch	Description
actors_players	Parties, roles, and participants in legal matters
areas_of_law	Legal practice areas and specializations
asset_types	Types of assets (real property, intellectual property, etc.)
communication_modalities	Communication channels and methods
currencies	Monetary currencies
data_formats	Data and file formats
document_artifacts	Legal documents, contracts, filings
engagement_terms	Terms of engagement and fee arrangements
events	Legal events and milestones
forum_venues	Courts, tribunals, and dispute resolution venues
governmental_bodies	Government agencies and departments
industries	Industry sectors and classifications
languages	Natural languages
folio_types	FOLIO internal type classifications
legal_authorities	Statutes, regulations, case law
legal_entities	Entity types (corporations, LLCs, trusts, etc.)
locations	Geographic locations and jurisdictions
matter_narratives	Matter descriptions and narratives
matter_narrative_formats	Formats for matter narratives
objectives	Legal objectives and goals
services	Legal services and service types
standards_compatibilities	Standards and compatibility mappings
statuses	Status values for matters, documents, etc.
system_identifiers	System and external identifiers

Development

# Clone and install
git clone https://github.com/alea-institute/folio-mcp.git
cd folio-mcp
uv sync

# Run tests (requires folio-python for local backend tests)
uv sync --extra local
uv run pytest tests/

# Run with MCP Inspector
uv run mcp dev folio_mcp/server.py

# Run locally for Claude Code
claude mcp add folio-dev -- uv run --directory /path/to/folio-mcp folio-mcp

Links

• FOLIO Website
• FOLIO REST API — public API for direct HTTP access
• FOLIO API Docs (Swagger) — interactive API documentation
• folio-python — Python client library
• folio-api — REST API server
• ALEA Institute