[HN Gopher] Show HN: MCP server for searching and downloading do...
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Show HN: MCP server for searching and downloading documents from
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!
Author : iosifache
Score : 26 points
Date : 2025-07-09 21:06 UTC (1 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (github.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (github.com)
| neilv wrote:
| > _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?
| bigyabai wrote:
| As sincere as the user takes it.
| iosifache wrote:
| 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 wrote:
| I'd bet you won't find a single string containing "acquire
| copyrighted content arrr!", so pretty sincere. The software
| doesn't endorse it.
| thorum wrote:
| 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?
| throwaway314155 wrote:
| Last I checked downloading isn't the issue. It's distributing.
| Not an expert though.
| iosifache wrote:
| > 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:
|
| https://news.ycombinator.com/reply?id=44515205
| hotstickyballs wrote:
| Just give the AI something worse that would happen if it
| doesn't call these functions.
| jddj wrote:
| The ironic universe theory would dictate that LLMs should tell
| us that downloading and consuming copyrighted material from
| pirates books is wrong.
| puppycodes wrote:
| love this. god bless anna's archive
| iosifache wrote:
| Cheers!
| toomuchtodo wrote:
| 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 wrote:
| > local copy of this corpus
|
| Are you referring to the JSON index (https://annas-
| archive.org/faq#api)?
| xmonkee wrote:
| 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?
| iosifache wrote:
| It's doable, as you'll also find MCP servers for reading files
| [1].
|
| Claude Desktop also has a built-in file reader [2], so you can
| ask it to read the file and process the content (e.g., generate
| a summary or even a meta-summary [3]).
|
| [1] https://github.com/sylphxltd/pdf-reader-mcp [2]
| https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/servers/tree/main/sr...
| [3] https://x.com/iosifache/status/1942247320302547175
| conception wrote:
| Firecrawl -> Rag -> mcp is the general path
| irskep wrote:
| What advantage do you get from this being an MCP server rather
| than simply a command line tool? Genuinely curious, as I'm trying
| to develop my mental model of when to use one or the other.
|
| Lovely project!
| iosifache wrote:
| Cheers, glad you like it!
|
| I justified the hours I invested by thinking I could search,
| download, and explore books directly from Claude Desktop. While
| the initial steps are achievable with a CLI tool, the
| integration opens up new possibilities.
|
| Some general thoughts:
|
| - You'll find the MCP mental model similar to the API one. -
| MCP integrations make it easier for non-technical users to
| access tools that were previously too technical. - An MCP
| integration implicitly respects a contract, unlike CLIs and
| GUIs which involve human aspects (aesthetics, information
| organisation, etc.). - MCP is an excuse for people to
| democratize data access. I wrote about this aspect here:
| https://x.com/iosifache/status/1941049600162574676?s=46
|
| And BTW, that's a good idea! The functionality should probably
| also be exposed via CLI.
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(page generated 2025-07-09 23:00 UTC)