What Do They Know?

Search UK FOI requests, public authorities, and responses.

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What it can do

  • Build Request Url: Build a prefilled WhatDoTheyKnow request URL.
  • Get Request Feed Items: Return parsed Atom feed entries for a specific FOI request as structured objects. Use this instead of reading the raw wdtk://requests/{slug}/feed resource when you want structu
  • Search Request Events: Search WhatDoTheyKnow's feed-based event index and return structured results. Call this to find FOI requests matching a query expression. Returns up to `limit` AtomEntry objects

What data it sees

Do you need an account

No: the server works without sign-in

Search UK FOI requests, public authorities, and responses. Draft and submit Freedom of Information requests.

How to connect

How to connect What Do They Know? to Claude

The server address to paste into Claude settings:

https://whatdotheyknow--bouch.run.tools

  1. Open Claude (claude.ai or the desktop app).
  2. Go to Settings → Connectors.
  3. Click Add custom connector.
  4. Paste the server address copied below into Remote MCP server URL and click Add.
  5. In a chat, click + → Connectors and switch the new connector on.

Custom connectors are available on Free, Pro, Max, Team and Enterprise plans (Free is limited to one). On Team and Enterprise an organization Owner adds the connector first under Organization settings → Connectors.

Authorization

After you click Add, a sign-in window for the service opens. Sign in with your own account and approve access. Claude never sees your password.

How to connect What Do They Know? to ChatGPT

The server address to paste into ChatGPT settings:

https://whatdotheyknow--bouch.run.tools

  1. Open ChatGPT in a browser (chatgpt.com). A Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise or Edu plan is required.
  2. Turn on developer mode once: Settings → Apps → Advanced settings → Developer mode.
  3. Open Settings → Connectors and click Create.
  4. Fill in the form: Name (anything), Description (one line about what the service does), MCP server URL (copy it below).
  5. Under Authentication choose OAuth if the service requires sign-in, otherwise None. Click Create.
  6. In a new chat open + → Apps/Connectors and enable the connector.

OpenAI has renamed this section before (Connectors → Apps/Plugins). If the label differs, search settings for "developer mode". On Business/Enterprise workspaces an admin must allow custom connectors first.

Authorization

On first use ChatGPT opens the service's sign-in window. Sign in and approve access.

How to connect What Do They Know? to Cursor

The server address to paste into Cursor settings:

https://whatdotheyknow--bouch.run.tools

Fastest: click Open in Cursor below and confirm the prompt.

Manually:

  1. In Cursor open Settings → Cursor Settings → MCP and click Add new global MCP server.
  2. Paste the JSON copied below into ~/.cursor/mcp.json (per project: .cursor/mcp.json in the repo root).
  3. Save the file. The server appears in the MCP list; authorize it there if asked.

Authorization

If the service needs sign-in, an authorize button appears next to the server in the MCP list.

Server tool list (8)

Raw names from tools/list. Only developers need these.

build_request_urlBuild a prefilled WhatDoTheyKnow request URL.
get_request_feed_itemsReturn parsed Atom feed entries for a specific FOI request as structured objects. Use this instead of reading the raw wdtk://requests/{slug}/feed resource when you want structured AtomEntry objects rather than raw XML. Each entry's `link` field contains the request URL; use the slug from that URL with request_json or authority_json for full detail.
search_request_eventsSearch WhatDoTheyKnow's feed-based event index and return structured results. Call this to find FOI requests matching a query expression. Returns up to `limit` AtomEntry objects. Use the `link` field of each result as the next navigation step — extract the request slug and call the wdtk://requests/{slug} resource or get_request_feed_items for full detail. Example expressions: status:successful body:"Liverpool City Council" (variety:sent OR variety:response) status:successful
search_authoritiesSearch WhatDoTheyKnow public authorities by name. Returns up to `limit` authorities whose name or short_name contains `query` (case-insensitive). Use the `slug` field with authority_json or build_request_url as the next step. Example: search_authorities("Liverpool") → slug "liverpool_city_council" Then: authority_json with that slug, or build_request_url with it.
create_request_recordCreate a request through the experimental write API. Requires WDTK_API_KEY in the server environment.
update_request_stateUpdate the user-assessed state of a request through the experimental write API. Requires WDTK_API_KEY in the server environment.
list_promptsList all available prompts. Returns JSON with prompt metadata including name, description, and optional arguments.
get_promptGet a prompt by name with optional arguments. Returns the rendered prompt as JSON with a messages array. Arguments should be provided as a dict mapping argument names to values.