FHL Bible MCP Server — Research Notes

Investigated 2026-03-12. Not integrated yet.

What It Is

ytssamuel/FHL-MCP-Server — a local Python MCP wrapper around the same bible.fhl.net HTTP API we already use directly.

Architecture

Claude Code ──(stdio/MCP)──> fhl_bible_mcp (local Python process)
                                    │
                                    ▼
                           https://bible.fhl.net/api/  (FHL's existing HTTP API)

Not a remote service. It's a local subprocess that translates MCP tool calls into HTTP requests to bible.fhl.net/json/qb.php, qp.php, sd.php, etc.

27 MCP Tools

Category	Tools	FHL API
Scripture	get_bible_verse, get_bible_chapter, search_bible, query_verse_citation	qb.php, qsb.php
Original Language	get_word_analysis, lookup_strongs, search_by_strongs	qp.php, sd.php
Commentary	get_commentary, search_commentary, list_commentaries	commentary endpoints
Topic Study	get_topic_study	topic endpoints
Apocrypha	get_apocrypha_verse, search_apocrypha, list_apocrypha_books	apocrypha endpoints
Apostolic Fathers	get_apostolic_fathers_verse, search_apostolic_fathers, list_apostolic_fathers_books	patristic endpoints
Reference	list_bible_versions, get_book_list, get_audio_bible, get_footnote	various
Articles	search_fhl_articles, list_fhl_article_columns	www.fhl.net/api/json.php

Our Current FHL API Usage

Component	Endpoint	Purpose
llm_direct_sn_unv2notyet.py	qb.php	Fetch UNV+SN and LCC verse text
fetch_text.sh	qb.php + qp.php	Verse text + word-by-word analysis
viewer_v2	local JSON (from FHL SQLite)	Strong's dictionary tooltips

What The MCP Server Adds

• Caching: 7-day TTL for verses, permanent for Strong's dictionary
• Book name normalization: Chinese/English/ID auto-conversion
• Interactive access: Claude Code could query FHL during conversations
• 160 unit tests, 83% coverage: Well-tested

What It Does NOT Add

• No new data — same bible.fhl.net behind the scenes
• No server to host — stdio subprocess spawned by Claude Code
• No batch optimization — still one-request-at-a-time

Installation (If Needed Later)

git clone https://github.com/ytssamuel/FHL-MCP-Server.git
cd FHL-MCP-Server
./scripts/install.sh          # creates venv, installs deps
python scripts/generate_config.py  # generates Claude Code MCP config

Requires Python 3.10+. Config goes into .claude/settings.json under mcpServers.

Decision

Not integrating now. Our direct HTTP calls work fine for batch processing. May revisit if we need interactive FHL lookups during Claude Code sessions.