JW MCP Server

An MCP server for working with JW.org content — Bible scripture lookup with study notes, workbook materials, Watchtower articles, and video captions.

Quick Start

Claude Code (Recommended)

claude mcp add jw-mcp -- npx -y jw-mcp

Claude Desktop

Download the latest jw-mcp.mcpb from Releases and open it — Claude Desktop will install it automatically.

Or add manually to your config (~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json on macOS, %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json on Windows):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "jw-mcp": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "jw-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Other MCP Clients (Cursor, Windsurf, etc.)

npx -y jw-mcp

Docker (self-hosted)

Run this server on a machine with a public HTTPS URL, then paste that URL into Grok, Claude.ai, or ChatGPT as a custom connector.

Compose binds the container to loopback only (127.0.0.1:8080). Do not publish port 8080 on the public internet. Put a reverse proxy on the host, terminate TLS there, and proxy to 127.0.0.1:8080.

1. Copy .env.example to .env.
2. Set MCP_BASE_URL to your public origin, with no path. Example: https://jw-mcp.example.com.
3. Set MCP_AUTH_SECRET to a long access key (at least 16 characters).
4. Keep MCP_AUTH=true. HTTP mode with auth off is loopback-only. Do not disable auth in Docker.
5. Set MCP_TRUST_PROXY=true only when the reverse proxy overwrites X-Forwarded-For. Leave it unset otherwise.
6. Start it:

docker compose up --build -d

The connector URL is:

https://your-host/mcp

When you add the connector, the AI site opens a login page. Type the same access key you put in MCP_AUTH_SECRET.

| Client | Where to add it | |---|---| | Grok | grok.com/connectors → New Connector → Custom | | Claude.ai | Customize → Connectors → Add custom connector | | ChatGPT | Settings → enable Developer mode → add the server URL |

Local HTTP (http://localhost:8080) is fine for testing because compose binds loopback. Claude, ChatGPT, and Grok must reach a public HTTPS URL. A tunnel such as ngrok or Cloudflare Tunnel can expose that loopback port for a live click-test. Do not publish 8080 on 0.0.0.0.

Auth codes, clients, and tokens are stored in the jw-mcp-auth Docker volume so a container restart does not drop every connection.

Tools

All tools support multiple languages via the langwritten parameter (E = English, S = Spanish, F = French, etc.).

Bible Scripture Tools

search_bible_books

Search for Bible books by name, abbreviation, or number.

{ "query": "matthew" }

get_bible_verse

Get plain verse text from wol.jw.org. Books are numbered 1-66 (1-39 OT, 40-66 NT).

{ "book": 43, "chapter": 3, "verse": 16 }

get_verse_with_study

Get verses with study notes, cross-references, and research articles. Supports ranges.

{
  "book": 40, "chapter": 5, "verse": "3-5",
  "fields": ["verses", "study_notes", "study_articles"]
}

Available fields: verses, study_notes, study_articles, cross_references, chapter_level, combined_text

get_bible_verse_url

Generate JW.org URLs for verses, ranges, or chapters — useful for adding clickable links to documents.

{ "book": 19, "chapter": 83, "verse": "18" }
{ "book": 23, "chapter": 46, "verse": "9-11" }
{ "book": 40, "chapter": 5 }

Workbook Tools

getWorkbookLinks

Get available Christian Life and Ministry workbook weeks for the current or a specific issue.

{ "issue": "20250500", "langwritten": "E" }

getWorkbookContent

Download and parse a workbook week's RTF content to clean plain text (70% token reduction).

{ "url": "https://cfp2.jw-cdn.org/a/clm_E_202505_01.rtf" }

Watchtower Tools

getWatchtowerLinks

Get available Watchtower study articles. Automatically uses the correct issue (published 2 months ahead of study period).

{ "issue": "20250300", "langwritten": "E" }

getWatchtowerContent

Download and parse a Watchtower article's RTF content to clean plain text (70% token reduction).

{ "url": "https://cfp2.jw-cdn.org/a/w_E_202509_01.rtf" }

Video Caption Tools

get_jw_captions

Fetch video captions and metadata by video ID or any JW.org URL.

{ "video_id": "pub-jwbvod25_17_VIDEO" }

Also accepts full JW.org URLs — the video ID is extracted automatically.

Troubleshooting

1. "Could not read package.json" — Use absolute path in Claude Desktop config
2. Server disconnects — Ensure Node.js is installed (npm install)
3. Permission denied — chmod +x start-server.sh

Development

npm start          # stdio mode (local)
npm run start:http # HTTP mode (testing)
npm test           # OAuth + HTTP connector tests

Built with Node.js, MCP SDK, node-fetch, and cheerio.

License

MIT