RNA Dataset Search - MCP Server

[![Tests][badge-tests]][tests] [![Documentation][badge-docs]][documentation]

[badge-tests]: https://img.shields.io/github/actions/workflow/status/biocontext-ai/nucleotide_archive_mcp/test.yaml?branch=main [badge-docs]: https://img.shields.io/readthedocs/nucleotide_archive_mcp

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for searching and accessing RNA sequencing datasets from the European Nucleotide Archive (ENA). Find publicly available bulk RNA-seq and single-cell RNA-seq datasets to validate research hypotheses or reproduce published analyses.

Optimized for: Human and mouse disease-related RNA-seq studies with support for bulk, single-cell, and spatial transcriptomics.

Features

• Disease-Focused Search: Find datasets by disease, organism, and tissue type
• Advanced Technology Filtering:
• Simple presets: bulk, single-cell, small-rna, ribo-seq, rna-all
• Granular control: Filter by 50+ library strategies (RNA-Seq, miRNA-Seq, ChIP-Seq, ATAC-seq, etc.)
• Source filtering: TRANSCRIPTOMIC, GENOMIC, METAGENOMIC, etc.
• Common Organism Names: Use "human", "mouse", "rat" instead of scientific names
• Download Support: Generate wget/curl scripts for downloading FASTQ files
• Study Metadata: Retrieve comprehensive metadata including PubMed IDs
• Publication Links: Discover datasets associated with PubMed publications
• Flexible Queries: Build custom queries with multiple field conditions
• Field Discovery: Explore available search and return fields
• Environment Configuration: Customize API endpoints, timeouts, and logging via environment variables

Available Tools

The MCP server provides 10 specialized tools:

Search & Discovery

1. search_rna_studies - Unified search with preset filters or advanced library strategy/source filtering
2. list_library_types - List all 50+ available library strategies and sources
3. get_study_details - Get comprehensive metadata for a specific study (includes PubMed IDs)
4. find_studies_by_publication - Find studies associated with a PubMed ID
5. search_studies_by_keywords - Flexible keyword search across study titles

Download & Access

1. get_download_urls - Get FTP download URLs for all data files in a study
2. generate_download_script - Generate bash scripts (wget/curl) for downloading data

Advanced

1. get_available_fields - Discover searchable and returnable fields for different data types
2. get_result_types - List all available data types in ENA
3. build_custom_query - Construct advanced queries with multiple field conditions

Example Use Cases

Simple Searches (Preset Filters)

• Find human cancer bulk RNA-seq datasets: disease="cancer"
• Search for single-cell RNA-seq in mouse brain: organism="mouse", tissue="brain", technology="single-cell"
• Find small RNA sequencing studies: technology="small-rna"
• Ribosome profiling experiments: technology="ribo-seq"

Advanced Searches (Specific Library Types)

• ChIP-Seq chromatin studies: library_strategies=["ChIP-Seq"]
• ATAC-seq accessibility data: library_strategies=["ATAC-seq"]
• Combined small RNA types: library_strategies=["miRNA-Seq", "ncRNA-Seq"]
• Any single-cell data: library_sources=["TRANSCRIPTOMIC SINGLE CELL"]
• Metagenomic RNA: library_sources=["METATRANSCRIPTOMIC"]

Workflow Examples

• Download FASTQ files from a specific study
• Discover datasets from a specific publication
• Generate download scripts with MD5 verification
• List all available sequencing technologies: list_library_types()

Getting started

Please refer to the [documentation][], in particular, the [API documentation][].

You can also find the project on BioContextAI, the community-hub for biomedical MCP servers: nucleotide_archive_mcp on BioContextAI.

Installation

You need to have Python 3.11 or newer installed on your system. If you don't have Python installed, we recommend installing [uv][].

There are several alternative options to install nucleotide_archive_mcp:

1. Use uvx to run it immediately

After publication to PyPI:

uvx nucleotide_archive_mcp

Or from a Git repository:

uvx git+https://github.com/biocontext-ai/nucleotide_archive_mcp.git@main

2. Include it in one of various clients that supports the mcp.json standard

If your MCP server is published to PyPI, use the following configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "nucleotide_archive_mcp": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["nucleotide_archive_mcp"]
    }
  }
}

In case the MCP server is not yet published to PyPI, use this configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "nucleotide_archive_mcp": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["git+https://github.com/biocontext-ai/nucleotide_archive_mcp.git@main"]
    }
  }
}

For purely local development (e.g., in Cursor or VS Code), use the following configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "nucleotide_archive_mcp": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "--refresh",
        "--from",
        "path/to/repository",
        "nucleotide_archive_mcp"
      ]
    }
  }
}

If you want to reuse and existing environment for local development, use the following configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "nucleotide_archive_mcp": {
      "command": "uv",
      "args": ["run", "--directory", "path/to/repository", "nucleotide_archive_mcp"]
    }
  }
}

3. Install it through pip:

pip install --user nucleotide_archive_mcp

4. Install the latest development version:

pip install git+https://github.com/biocontext-ai/nucleotide_archive_mcp.git@main

Configuration

The server can be configured via environment variables. Copy .env.example to .env and customize:

# ENA API Configuration
ENA_PORTAL_API_BASE=https://www.ebi.ac.uk/ena/portal/api  # Override API base URL
ENA_BROWSER_API_BASE=https://www.ebi.ac.uk/ena/browser/api
ENA_TIMEOUT=30.0                # Request timeout in seconds
ENA_SEARCH_LIMIT=20            # Default search result limit
ENA_MAX_RPS=10.0               # Rate limiting (requests per second)

# Logging
LOG_LEVEL=INFO                 # DEBUG, INFO, WARNING, ERROR, CRITICAL

These settings allow you to:

• Use custom or mirror ENA API endpoints
• Adjust timeouts for slow connections
• Control default result limits
• Configure rate limiting for large batch operations
• Set logging verbosity for debugging

Data Citation and Attribution

When using data from ENA in publications, please cite the data appropriately:

How to Cite ENA Data

The top-level Project accession should be cited along with a link to the data in the ENA browser:

"The data for this study have been deposited in the European Nucleotide Archive (ENA) at EMBL-EBI under accession number PRJEBxxxx (https://www.ebi.ac.uk/ena/browser/view/PRJEBxxxx)."

Replace PRJEBxxxx with the actual study accession number from your search results.

Accessing Data in ENA Browser

All accessions can be viewed in the ENA browser:

• Direct URL: https://www.ebi.ac.uk/ena/browser/view/<accession>
• Example: https://www.ebi.ac.uk/ena/browser/view/PRJDB2345

ORCID Data Claiming

ENA studies can be claimed against your ORCID ID through the EBI Search interface. Search for your projects and click "Claim to ORCID" to link them to your ORCID profile.

Data Policy and Usage

ENA/INSDC Data Policy

This tool accesses data from the European Nucleotide Archive (ENA), which is part of the International Nucleotide Sequence Database Collaboration (INSDC) with DDBJ and GenBank.

Key Points:

• Open Access: All data in ENA/INSDC databases are freely and publicly accessible
• No Restrictions: Data have no use restrictions or licensing requirements
• Redistribution: Free redistribution and use of data is permitted
• Permanence: All submitted records remain permanently accessible
• Attribution: Proper citation of original submissions is expected (see above)

Data Availability

Data in ENA can be:

• Public: Freely accessible through this tool and ENA browser
• Confidential: Pre-publication data not yet publicly available (not searchable through this tool)

Released data should be cited appropriately in publications and claimed via ORCID where applicable.

Data Standards

ENA promotes data harmonization through:

• Sample Checklists: Minimum information standards for different data types
• MIxS Standards: Genomic Standards Consortium (GSC) minimum information standards
• Community Standards: Research community-developed reporting standards

For more information, see the ENA Data Standards documentation.

Disclaimer

This tool provides access to data from the European Nucleotide Archive (ENA) at EMBL-EBI. The tool is:

• Independent: Not officially affiliated with or endorsed by ENA, EMBL-EBI, or INSDC
• Quality: Data quality and accuracy are the responsibility of the original submitters
• Updates: ENA data and APIs may change; this tool is maintained to reflect current ENA services
• Support: For issues with ENA data or services, contact ENA Support

The European Nucleotide Archive is developed and maintained at EMBL-EBI under the guidance of the INSDC International Advisory Committee.

Contact

If you found a bug with this MCP server, please use the [issue tracker][].

For questions about ENA data or services, contact ENA Support.

Acknowledgments

This tool accesses data from:

• European Nucleotide Archive (ENA) at EMBL-EBI
• International Nucleotide Sequence Database Collaboration (INSDC)

Special thanks to the ENA team for maintaining the public API and comprehensive documentation.

[uv]: https://github.com/astral-sh/uv [issue tracker]: https://github.com/biocontext-ai/nucleotide_archive_mcp/issues [tests]: https://github.com/biocontext-ai/nucleotide_archive_mcp/actions/workflows/test.yaml [documentation]: https://nucleotide_archive_mcp.readthedocs.io [changelog]: https://nucleotide_archive_mcp.readthedocs.io/en/latest/changelog.html [api documentation]: https://nucleotide_archive_mcp.readthedocs.io/en/latest/api.html [pypi]: https://pypi.org/project/nucleotide_archive_mcp