Wikipedia
Provides Claude with real-time access to Wikipedia through four essential tools: search articles, get full content, retrieve summaries, and find related articles. Enables comprehensive Wikipedia research workflows with structured data access and no A
What is Wikipedia?
Wikipedia is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that allows AI assistants like Claude, Cursor, and VS Code to provides claude with real-time access to wikipedia through four essential tools: search articles, get full content, retrieve summaries, and find related articles. enables comprehensive wikipedia resea...
Provides Claude with real-time access to Wikipedia through four essential tools: search articles, get full content, retrieve summaries, and find related articles. Enables comprehensive Wikipedia research workflows with structured data access and no A
This server falls under the Search & Data Extraction category on MCPgee, the world's largest MCP server directory with 33,000+ servers.
Features
- Provides Claude with real-time access to Wikipedia through f
Use Cases
Maintainer
Works with
Installation
Manual Installation
npx wikipedia-mcp-serverConfiguration
Configuration Details
claude_desktop_config.json
Performance
Response Metrics
Resource Usage
How to Set Up and Use Wikipedia
The Wikipedia MCP server provides Claude with real-time, structured access to Wikipedia through ten dedicated tools including full article retrieval, section extraction, summary generation, geographic coordinate lookup, related topic discovery, and query-focused summarization. It requires no API key for basic use, supports multiple languages and regional Wikipedia variants via language and country flags, and can optionally cache responses for faster repeated queries. Researchers, writers, and developers who need Claude to ground its answers in verifiable Wikipedia content rather than training data alone will find this server immediately useful.
Prerequisites
- Python 3.8 or higher installed
- pipx or pip available for installation
- Claude Desktop, Claude Code, or another MCP-compatible client
- Optional: WIKIPEDIA_ACCESS_TOKEN to avoid rate limiting on high-volume usage
Install the wikipedia-mcp package
Install using pipx for an isolated global installation, which ensures the `wikipedia-mcp` command is always available on your PATH.
pipx install wikipedia-mcpVerify the installation
Confirm the command is available and check its options.
wikipedia-mcp --helpAdd the server to your Claude Desktop configuration
Edit your Claude Desktop config file to register the Wikipedia MCP server. On macOS the file is at ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json.
{
"mcpServers": {
"wikipedia": {
"command": "wikipedia-mcp"
}
}
}Enable optional features (caching, language, auth)
Add flags or environment variables to the config for caching, a non-English Wikipedia, or an access token to avoid rate limits.
{
"mcpServers": {
"wikipedia": {
"command": "wikipedia-mcp",
"args": ["--language", "en", "--enable-cache"],
"env": {
"WIKIPEDIA_ACCESS_TOKEN": "your-token-here"
}
}
}
}Restart Claude Desktop and verify tools are loaded
Restart Claude Desktop after editing the config. Ask Claude to search Wikipedia to confirm the MCP server is connected and all ten tools are available.
Wikipedia Examples
Client configuration
Claude Desktop configuration for the Wikipedia MCP server with caching enabled and English Wikipedia set explicitly.
{
"mcpServers": {
"wikipedia": {
"command": "wikipedia-mcp",
"args": ["--language", "en", "--enable-cache"],
"env": {
"WIKIPEDIA_ACCESS_TOKEN": "your-optional-token"
}
}
}
}Prompts to try
Example prompts demonstrating the ten Wikipedia tools exposed by this MCP server.
- "Search Wikipedia for 'quantum entanglement' and give me a summary of the top result."
- "Get the full Wikipedia article on the Treaty of Westphalia and extract the key facts."
- "What are the geographic coordinates of Mount Kilimanjaro according to Wikipedia?"
- "Find Wikipedia articles related to 'CRISPR gene editing' and list their titles."
- "Summarize the 'History' section of the Wikipedia article on the Roman Empire."Troubleshooting Wikipedia
'wikipedia-mcp: command not found' when Claude Desktop tries to start the server.
Find the full path with `which wikipedia-mcp` or `pipx list` and use the absolute path in the command field, e.g. `/home/user/.local/bin/wikipedia-mcp`.
Requests are being rate-limited or failing intermittently.
Add `--enable-cache` to the args array to cache responses, and set the WIKIPEDIA_ACCESS_TOKEN environment variable with a Wikimedia API token obtained from https://api.wikimedia.org/.
Articles are returned in the wrong language.
Add `--language <code>` to the args array with the appropriate Wikipedia language code (e.g. `de` for German, `ja` for Japanese). Use `--list-countries` to see all supported country/locale codes.
Frequently Asked Questions about Wikipedia
What is Wikipedia?
Wikipedia is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that provides claude with real-time access to wikipedia through four essential tools: search articles, get full content, retrieve summaries, and find related articles. enables comprehensive wikipedia research workflows with structured data access and no a It connects AI assistants to external tools and data sources through a standardized interface.
How do I install Wikipedia?
Follow the installation instructions on the Wikipedia GitHub repository. Clone the repo, install dependencies, and add the server config to your AI client.
Which AI clients work with Wikipedia?
Wikipedia works with all major MCP-compatible AI clients including Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code (GitHub Copilot), Windsurf, and Cline.
Is Wikipedia free to use?
Yes, Wikipedia is open source and available under the MIT License license. You can use it freely in both personal and commercial projects.
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