brapi-mcp-server

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  <h1>@cyanheads/brapi-mcp-server</h1>
  <p><b>A collaborative BrAPI v2.1 workspace for multi-agent research via MCP. Search studies, germplasm, genotypes, & more - across Breedbase, T3, Sweetpotatobase, & any BrAPI v2-compliant server.</b>
  <div>25 Tools • 6 Resources • 2 Prompts • Multi-agent collaboration</div>
  </p>
</div>

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---

## Tools

25 tools grouped by shape — connection tools bootstrap a session, `find_*` tools return a summarized page plus distributions and spill overflow rows into a canvas dataframe that agents on the same session can query or hand off by ID, `get_*` tools fetch a single record with companion counts, plus pedigree walking, an embedded SQL workspace over spilled rows (DuckDB-backed), file export for human handoff, an additive write surface for observations, and raw passthrough escape hatches.

### Orient

| Tool | Description |
|:-----|:------------|
| `brapi_connect` | Authenticate, register the connection under an alias, cache the capability profile, and return the orientation envelope inline. One call fully orients the agent. |
| `brapi_server_info` | Re-fetch the orientation envelope for a registered alias — identity, auth, capabilities, content counts, attribution, notes. |
| `brapi_describe_filters` | Static BrAPI v2.1 filter catalog for any endpoint — powers `extraFilters` discovery on every `find_*` tool. |

### Retrieve

| Tool | Description |
|:-----|:------------|
| `brapi_find_studies` | Find studies by crop / trial type / season / location / program. Distributions + dataframe spillover. |
| `brapi_get_study` | Fetch a study with program / trial / location FKs resolved and companion counts (observations, units, variables). |
| `brapi_find_germplasm` | Find germplasm by name, synonym, accession, PUI, crop, or free-text. Distributions + dataframe spillover. |
| `brapi_get_germplasm` | Fetch a germplasm with attributes, direct parents, and companion counts (studies, parents, descendants). |
| `brapi_walk_pedigree` | BFS-walk ancestry / descendancy as a deduplicated DAG with cycle detection, depth limits, and traversal stats. |
| `brapi_find_variables` | Find observation variables by name / class / ontology / free-text; ranked client-side via `OntologyResolver` when `text` is supplied. |
| `brapi_find_observations` | Pull observation records by study / germplasm / variable / season / unit / timestamp. Dataframe spillover. |
| `brapi_find_images` | Filter image metadata by unit / study / ontology / MIME type. Bytes via `brapi_get_image`. |
| `brapi_get_image` | Fetch image bytes for up to 5 imageDbIds inline as `type: image` blocks. Prefers `/imagecontent`, falls back to `imageURL`. |
| `brapi_find_locations` | Find research stations by country (ISO alpha-3 code, or English country name resolved client-side) / type / abbreviation, with optional client-side bbox filter. |
| `brapi_find_variants` | Find variant records by variant set, reference, or genomic region (1-based inclusive / exclusive). |
| `brapi_find_genotype_calls` | Pull genotype calls via async-search polling. Upstream pull bounded by `BRAPI_GENOTYPE_CALLS_MAX_PULL` (default 100k, max 500k). |

### Analyze

| Tool | Description |
|:-----|:------------|
| `brapi_dataframe_describe` | Start here after a spillover. Lists dataframes (or describes one) with column schema, row counts, and originating-source provenance. |
| `brapi_dataframe_query` | SELECT SQL across in-memory dataframes (DuckDB-backed). Spilled `find_*` rows auto-register as `df_<uuid>`. Read-only — multi-statement, non-SELECT, file-reads, and exports rejected. Returns typed columns (`{ name, type }[]`). |
| `brapi_dataframe_drop` | _Opt-in via `BRAPI_CANVAS_DROP_ENABLED=true`._ Drop a dataframe by name. Idempotent. Dataframes also expire via TTL when left unmanaged. |
| `brapi_dataframe_export` | _Opt-in via `BRAPI_EXPORT_DIR=<path>`, stdio-only._ Export a dataframe to disk (CSV / Parquet / JSON) under the configured directory and return the absolute path for the human to open. Optional `columns` projection or `sql` filter materializes a derived table for the export, dropped after. |
| `brapi_build_phenotype_matrix` | Build a germplasm × trait matrix from one or more studies and materialize it as a canvas dataframe. Supports wide (pivot) or long shape with configurable per-cell aggregation. |
| `brapi_germplasm_performance` | Per-variable performance aggregates (n, mean, median, sd, min, max, studyCount) for a single germplasm across all studies where it has observations. |
| `brapi_export_genotype_matrix` | Export genotype calls for a variant set as a germplasm × variant canvas dataframe; also serializes to VCF-lite or PLINK `.ped`/`.map` text. Distinct-variant columns bounded by `BRAPI_GENOTYPE_MATRIX_MAX_COLUMNS` (default 10k, max 500k). |

### Write (opt-in: `BRAPI_ENABLE_WRITES=true`)

| Tool | Description |
|:-----|:------------|
| `brapi_submit_observations` | Two-phase observation write — `mode: preview` validates; `mode: apply` asks the caller to confirm, then fans POST + PUT in parallel. Additive only — no destructive deletion. |

### Escape hatches

| Tool | Description |
|:-----|:------------|
| `brapi_raw_get` | Passthrough to any BrAPI `GET /{path}` not covered by curated tools. Emits a routing nudge when one applies. |
| `brapi_raw_search` | Passthrough to any `POST /search/{noun}` with async polling handled transparently. Same nudge pattern. |

> **Alias discovery.** Built-in and operator-configured aliases are appended to the `brapi_connect` description at server startup, so agents see the inventory on `tools/list`. Restart after env-var changes to refresh.

---

## Resources

URI-addressable mirrors of the curated tool surface for clients that prefer resources. All resources use the default connection — multi-server workflows route through tools.

| URI template | Mirrors |
|:-------------|:--------|
| `brapi://server/info` | `brapi_server_info` (default connection) |
| `brapi://calls` | Raw capability profile |
| `brapi://study/{studyDbId}` | `brapi_get_study` |
| `brapi://germplasm/{germplasmDbId}` | `brapi_get_germplasm` |
| `brapi://filters/{endpoint}` | `brapi_describe_filters` |
| `brapi://variable/{observationVariableDbId}` | Observation variable record (trait, scale, method, ontology) |

---

## Prompts

Multi-step BrAPI workflow templates — pure user-message generators, no side effects.

| Name | Args | Purpose |
|:-----|:-----|:--------|
| `brapi_eda_study` | `studyDbId`, `alias?` | EDA playbook for one study — orient, variables, coverage, missing data, outliers, pedigree, structured report. |
| `brapi_meta_analysis` | `germplasmDbIds` (CSV), `traitName`, `alias?` | Cross-study meta-analysis — trait resolution, study discovery, harmonization, per-germplasm × per-study and across-study summaries. |

---

## Multi-agent workflows

The server has two stateful layers and two scoping axes:

| Layer | Default scope | Why |
|:------|:--------------|:----|
| **Connection state** (aliases, exchanged tokens) | Tenant + session | Credentials and live tokens. Tenant gates by user (`jwt`/`oauth`) or collapses to `'default'` (`none`). Session sub-scope (`BRAPI_SESSION_ISOLATION=true`, default) prevents concurrent HTTP sessions in one tenant from sharing each other's tokens. |
| **Dataframes** (`df_<uuid>` tables) | Tenant + session | Within one (tenant, session), agents share by `df_<uuid>` name — possession grants full read/write/drop, auto-expires in 24h, provenance recorded. The underlying canvas is tenant-gated by the framework; the session sub-scope is enforced by the bridge's keying. |

Within one (tenant, session), dataframes act as a self-cleaning shared notebook: hand the `df_<uuid>` name between parallel agents on the same MCP session, persist it across a multi-step workflow, query / project / aggregate / join from any position. Address-by-name, time-bounded, scoped to that session.

**Default (isolated) shape.** Under `MCP_AUTH_MODE=none` + HTTP stateful (the default), each MCP session carves its own connection state and its own canvas. Two researchers connected to the same host don't see each other's