Show HN: MCP server for searching and downloading documents from Anna's Archive
14 comments
·July 9, 2025xmonkee
I'm an LLM noob, but how feasible it is to make a research agent that can not only download articles, but read and reference them in it's process?
toomuchtodo
Edit: Would you accept a PR to override the search and download endpoint hostnames with env vars? For someone who has their own copy and ES index, it might be helpful to support overriding the public endpoint hostnames (/internal/anna/anna.go#L22-L23).
iosifache
> local copy of this corpus
Are you referring to the JSON index (https://annas-archive.org/faq#api)?
null
neilv
> This software does not endorse unauthorized acquisition of copyrighted content and should be regarded solely as a utility. Users are urged to respect the intellectual property rights of authors and acknowledge the considerable effort invested in document creation.
How sincere is that statement?
iosifache
I just provide a hammer. Users decide whether they're hitting their own nail or the metal one.
The comparison might be loose, but the problem is similar to releasing a browser. Do you prevent users from accessing websites you think are malicious or illegal? Or do you delegate that responsibility?
I was hesitant about releasing the MCP server as open source software, but I hope (1) it proves useful for others and (2) people understand that the authors of the books they're reading need money to eat, live, and support their families.
ASalazarMX
I'd bet you won't find a single string containing "acquire copyrighted content arrr!", so pretty sincere. The software doesn't endorse it.
bigyabai
As sincere as the user takes it.
thorum
Interesting project! I’m a little surprised that Claude is willing to call these functions. The demo screenshot is downloading a public domain work, I wonder if it would also happily go along with requests for Harry Potter or other copyrighted material?
jddj
The ironic universe theory would dictate that LLMs should tell us that downloading and consuming copyrighted material from pirates books is wrong.
hotstickyballs
Just give the AI something worse that would happen if it doesn’t call these functions.
throwaway314155
Last I checked downloading isn't the issue. It's distributing. Not an expert though.
iosifache
> I wonder if it would also happily go along with requests for Harry Potter or other copyrighted material?
There's no way to protect against this. Anna's Archive doesn't include licence information in their data fields. It would be helpful to integrate with another data source that could warn MCP server users when they're attempting potentially risky actions. Please let me know if you have ideas on how to achieve this.
On a related note, please see this reply:
puppycodes
love this. god bless anna's archive
I was looking around for an MCP server that could connect Anna's Archive to Claude Desktop, as I wanted to be able to search and download books directly through the interface.
I couldn't find any public implementations, so ended up building one myself.
What it does?
- It searches Anna's Archive by keywords. - It downloads books from search results. - It works directly in Claude Desktop through MCP.
Check out the repository's README for detailed installation and configuration instructions.
The code is fully open source and builds run on GitHub Actions for transparency.
I figured I'd share, since I couldn't be the only one wanting this functionality!