principleDB · connect your AI

The public search is the shallow face — a thought returns connected Quotes, no LLM. The depth — stacking Principles into a coherent argument in dialogue with you — stays in your own AI client. Point it at the endpoint below and it can search the Canon, open Quotes in context, and traverse related Principles.

https://principledb.mnfamilychurch.com/mcp

Anonymous · read-only · four tools: search_principles, get_quote_in_context, list_works, related_principles. Write tools stay off the public surface.

Core vs. supplementary sources

By default, searches cover the core Canon — the foundational scripture. Supplementary material (sermons, transcripts, later commentary) is marked extra and stays out of results unless you ask for it, so a plain question isn't answered from a one-off talk.

To pull the supplementary sources in, tell your AI client to include the extra sources — it sets includeExtras: true on search_principles (and related_principles), which searches the core Canon plus every extra source at once:

search_principles(query: "the meaning of special grace", includeExtras: true)

To narrow to one speaker or book instead, name it — e.g. “only look through Damien Dunkley” sets figures: ["damien-dunkley"]. Call list_works to see every Work and whether it's core or extra.

claude.ai (web) · Claude Desktop
  1. Open Settings → Connectors.
  2. Click Add custom connector.
  3. Paste the URL: https://principledb.mnfamilychurch.com/mcp
  4. Click Add. Leave OAuth fields blank — the endpoint is no-auth.

Available on Free, Pro, Max, Team, and Enterprise. Free is limited to one custom connector; the feature is labelled beta.

Claude Code

Add it once from the terminal:

claude mcp add --transport http --scope user principledb https://principledb.mnfamilychurch.com/mcp

--scope user makes it available in every project. Drop the flag to add it to the current project only. Inside Claude Code, /mcp lists connected servers.

ChatGPT (Developer mode)
  1. Open Settings and toggle Developer mode on (Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise, or Edu; web only).
  2. Add a new app pointing at: https://principledb.mnfamilychurch.com/mcp
  3. Set authentication to None.

Streamable HTTP is supported; the endpoint is anonymous.

Grok (grok.com)
  1. Open grok.com/connectors and click New Connector.
  2. Select Custom.
  3. Enter the server URL: https://principledb.mnfamilychurch.com/mcp
  4. Leave authentication blank — the endpoint is no-auth. Grok discovers the tools and offers them in conversations.

Grok 4.3 and later. Streamable HTTP transport (stdio is not accepted), so the endpoint must be reachable on the public internet. Team setups add it under console.x.ai → Grok Business → Connectors.

Gemini CLI

Add it once from the terminal:

gemini mcp add --transport http principledb https://principledb.mnfamilychurch.com/mcp

Or add the entry to ~/.gemini/settings.json by hand:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "principledb": {
      "httpUrl": "https://principledb.mnfamilychurch.com/mcp"
    }
  }
}

--transport http selects the streamable-HTTP transport (the endpoint is remote, not stdio). No auth headers — the endpoint is no-auth. Inside a session, /mcp lists connected servers and their tools.

Cursor

Add the entry to ~/.cursor/mcp.json (create the file if it doesn't exist):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "principledb": {
      "url": "https://principledb.mnfamilychurch.com/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Restart Cursor after saving. The tools show up in the MCP panel.