philrox/ris-mcp-ts

An MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that gives AI assistants access to Austria's official legal database — the **Rechtsinformationssystem (RIS)**.
Ask your AI assistant about Austrian law, and it will search and retrieve legal documents directly from the official government API. No API key required.
What You Can Do
Once connected, you can ask your AI assistant things like:
> "What does Austrian law say about tenancy rights?"
> "Find Constitutional Court decisions on freedom of expression."
> "Show me §1295 of the ABGB (Austrian Civil Code)."
> "What laws about climate protection were published in 2024?"
> "Look up the building code for the province of Salzburg."
> "Get the full text of document NOR40052761."
The server translates these natural language requests into structured API calls against the RIS Open Government Data API.
Features
- **13 specialized tools** covering all major RIS collections
- **Federal law** (ABGB, StGB, UGB, ...) and **state law** for all 9 provinces
- **Court decisions** from 16 court types (Supreme Court, Constitutional Court, Administrative Court, ...)
- **Law gazettes** — Federal (BGBl) and state (LGBl)
- **Government bills**, ministerial decrees, cabinet protocols
- **Full document retrieval** with smart prefix-based routing
- **Change history tracking** across 36 application types
- **Interactive result list** (MCP Apps) in hosts that support it — with a full text answer everywhere else
- **Markdown and JSON** output formats
- **Free and open** — uses Austria's Open Government Data API, no API key needed
Quick Start
Run directly without installation:
Or install globally:
Configuration
Claude Desktop
Add to your Claude Desktop config (Settings > Developer > Edit Config):
- **macOS:** ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
- **Windows:** %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
> **Note:** The "Add custom connector" UI in Claude Desktop only supports remote MCP servers (HTTP/SSE). Local stdio servers like this one must be configured via the JSON file.
>
> **Tip:** You can also use pnpm dlx instead of npx in all configuration examples if you prefer pnpm.
Claude Code
Add to your project or user settings:
VS Code (GitHub Copilot)
Add to .vscode/mcp.json in your project:
Cursor
Add to .cursor/mcp.json in your project (or ~/.cursor/mcp.json for global access):
Windsurf
Add to your Windsurf MCP config at ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json:
Other MCP Clients
Any MCP-compatible client can connect via stdio transport:
Available Tools
| Tool | Description |
|------|-------------|
| ris_bundesrecht | Search federal laws (ABGB, StGB, UGB, etc.) |
| ris_landesrecht | Search state/provincial laws (all 9 provinces) |
| ris_judikatur | Search court decisions (16 court types) |
| ris_bundesgesetzblatt | Search Federal Law Gazettes (BGBl I/II/III) |
| ris_landesgesetzblatt | Search State Law Gazettes (LGBl) |
| ris_regierungsvorlagen | Search government bills |
| ris_dokument | Retrieve full document text by ID or URL |
| ris_dokument_abschnitt | Return one section of an open document by character offset (feeds the document viewer widget) |
| ris_bezirke | Search district authority announcements |
| ris_gemeinden | Search municipal law and regulations |
| ris_sonstige | Search miscellaneous collections (8 sub-apps) |
| ris_history | Track document change history (36 app types) |
| ris_verordnungen | Search state ordinance gazettes |
Interactive Result List
**One widget, all eleven search tools.** There is a single interactive result list, and every search tool renders into it: federal law, state law, case law, the federal and state law gazettes, government bills, district authority announcements, municipal law, the miscellaneous collections, change history and the ordinance gazettes. The screenshots below are the same widget in two different hosts, not two different features.
**ris_dokument opens a reader instead.** A single document can run to a quarter of a million characters, far past what one answer may carry, so the viewer loads it section by section as you scroll, offers an outline to jump by where the document has one, and links back into RIS. The full text still reaches the chat either way — the widget is never the only copy.
Hosts that support the MCP Apps extension render the hits as an interactive list — page through results without retyping the search, open a document in the browser, or request its full text with one click. The widget follows the host's light or dark theme; the shots below show both.