Ask Lao Tzu MCP

Ask Lao Tzu MCP

Ask Lao Tzu MCP is a small, source-aware Model Context Protocol server for the 81 chapters of the Tao Te Ching. It gives an AI client structured access to the classical Chinese text, James Legge's 1891 public-domain translation, chapter search, practical reading paths, and gentle reflection prompts.

The project is deliberately modest: it is a reading companion, not an oracle. Tools return source material and invitations to think; they do not claim to settle translation disputes, diagnose a person, or make high-stakes decisions on a user's behalf.

What it provides

• get_chapter: Chinese text, Legge translation, line pairs, a stable chapter URL, and the original chapter title.
• search_chapters: local full-text search across the title and both source languages.
• get_reflection: a topic- or chapter-aware prompt with source chapter references.
• list_topics: useful reading paths such as leadership, uncertainty, simplicity, and relationships.

Run locally

npm install
npm run build
node dist/index.js

For development, use npm run dev. The server speaks MCP over stdio, so it can be added to any compatible desktop client. An example client configuration is in docs/CLIENT_CONFIG.md.

Add to an MCP client

Point the client at the absolute path to dist/index.js and use node as the command. Keep the server local unless you have deliberately added authentication and transport controls.

Source and attribution

The Chinese received text and James Legge translation are included for reading and research. James Legge's 1891 translation is public domain. See docs/SOURCES.md for provenance and the limits of the dataset. The software is MIT licensed; the text dataset carries its own public-domain attribution.

The companion website is asklaotzu.com/tao. It offers a browsable bilingual reading experience, but the MCP server remains useful offline.

For reproducible data work, pair this server with the companion Tao Te Ching Open Data repository.