# govinfo_legislation_search

Search LiveDataLink's self-hosted official GovInfo Bill Status snapshot across bill number/title, all published titles, sponsor, policy area, legislative subjects, and committee names, with optional enacted and multi-version filters. Returns stable bill identifiers, sponsor/status facts, pagination, source XML hashes, and provenance. Use this for 'find 118th Congress bills about aviation safety', 'which border bills became law?', or 'bills assigned to the Finance Committee with multiple text versions'. Coverage is complete for HR and S in the 118th Congress only; resolutions and other Congresses are excluded. For Congress.gov's live/current API view, use the existing Congress tools instead.

Agent View of the PolicyLayer registry record for `govinfo_legislation_search`. HTML page: https://policylayer.com/tools/io-github-blackboxfoundry-livedatalink/govinfo-legislation-search

## Facts

- Tool: `govinfo_legislation_search`
- Server: Livedatalink (`https://livedatalink.ai/mcp`) — https://policylayer.com/tools/io-github-blackboxfoundry-livedatalink.md
- Homepage: https://github.com/blackboxfoundry/livedatalink
- Risk category: Read (Low risk)
- Registry record: grade F, identity unverified
- Server auth posture: open
- Server CORS policy: *
- Server rate-limited: no
- Parameters: 8 (1 required)
- Recommended policy verdict: Allowed

## Parameters

| Parameter | Type | Required | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `limit` | integer | no | Maximum bills. Default 20. |
| `query` | string | yes | Bill number/title phrase, sponsor name, policy area, subject, or committee phrase. |
| `offset` | integer | no | Bills to skip. Default 0. |
| `bill_type` | string | no | Hosted measure type: HR for a House bill or S for a Senate bill. Resolutions are outside this v1 snapshot. |
| `policy_area` | string | no | Optional exact policy-area label, case-insensitive. |
| `enacted_only` | boolean | no | When true, require at least one law citation in the captured Bill Status XML. |
| `response_format` | string | no | Human-readable markdown or machine-readable JSON. Default markdown. |
| `multiple_text_versions_only` | boolean | no | When true, require at least two published GovInfo text-version links. |

Parameters from the server's own tool schema.

## Example call (MCP tools/call, JSON-RPC 2.0)

```json
{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 1,
  "method": "tools/call",
  "params": {
    "name": "govinfo_legislation_search",
    "arguments": {
      "query": "<query>"
    }
  }
}
```

## Why govinfo_legislation_search is rated Low

Even though govinfo_legislation_search only reads data, uncontrolled read access leaks sensitive information and racks up API costs: an agent caught in a retry loop can make thousands of calls a minute without anyone noticing.

## Use case

AI agents call govinfo_legislation_search to retrieve information from Livedatalink without modifying anything. It is typically the context-gathering step in research, monitoring, and reporting workflows, before the agent takes action elsewhere.

## Recommended policy (PolicyLayer)

Verdict: **Allowed**. Enforced by the PolicyLayer MCP gateway (https://policylayer.com/mcp-gateway) before a call reaches Livedatalink:

```json
{
  "version": "1",
  "default": "deny",
  "tools": {
    "govinfo_legislation_search": {}
  }
}
```

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- `fed_board_h15_yield_curve` — Execute — https://policylayer.com/tools/io-github-blackboxfoundry-livedatalink/fed-board-h15-yield-curve.md
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- `govinfo_legislation_evidence_pack` — Execute — https://policylayer.com/tools/io-github-blackboxfoundry-livedatalink/govinfo-legislation-evidence-pack.md
- `patent_recent` — Execute — https://policylayer.com/tools/io-github-blackboxfoundry-livedatalink/patent-recent.md
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## For agents

This record is a snapshot. Live verdicts and the full registry:

- Check every server in your MCP config at once: `npx -y policylayer stack`
- Vet a server before you add it: install the mcp-precheck skill — `npx skills add https://policylayer.com` (skill text: https://policylayer.com/skill.md)
- Query the registry over MCP: endpoint `https://api.policylayer.com/mcp` — tools `check_mcp_server`, `check_mcp_stack`, `check_tool`, `search_registry`, `get_change_events`

---

Source: the PolicyLayer MCP registry — one continuously verified record per MCP server. Full record: https://policylayer.com/registry?q=io-github-blackboxfoundry-livedatalink · API: https://policylayer.com/registry/api · Policy library: https://policylayer.com/policies/io-github-blackboxfoundry-livedatalink