# bhl.literature.search

Search the Biodiversity Heritage Library catalog by keyword across title, author, subject, and publisher fields. BHL is the world's largest open-access library of biodiversity literature — 60M+ pages of digitized natural-history books, journals, and manuscripts from 1469 to the present, all public domain. Returns item and title IDs, full title, authors, publisher, publication date, genre, and direct URLs to the digitized item and bibliography page. Use bhl.literature.fulltext to search within the scanned text of publications.

Agent View of the PolicyLayer registry record for `bhl.literature.search`. HTML page: https://policylayer.com/tools/io-github-whiteknightonhorse-apibase/bhl.literature.search

## Facts

- Tool: `bhl.literature.search`
- Server: Apibase (`apibase-mcp-client`) — https://policylayer.com/tools/io-github-whiteknightonhorse-apibase.md
- Install: `npx -y apibase-mcp-client`
- Homepage: https://github.com/whiteknightonhorse/APIbase
- Risk category: Read (Low risk)
- Registry record: grade F, identity unverified
- Server auth posture: open
- Server rate-limited: no
- Parameters: 3 (1 required)
- Recommended policy verdict: Allowed

## Parameters

| Parameter | Type | Required | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `page` | integer | no | Page number for pagination (default 1) |
| `limit` | integer | no | Number of results per page (1–50, default 10) |
| `query` | string | yes | Keyword to search for — matches title, author, subject, and publisher fields (e.g. "Darwin birds Galapagos") |

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": "bhl.literature.search",
    "arguments": {
      "query": "<query>"
    }
  }
}
```

## Why bhl.literature.search is rated Low

Searches a public-access library catalog with no side effects or data modification capabilities.

From the tool's own definition: "Search the Biodiversity Heritage Library catalog by keyword, returns item IDs, titles, authors, URLs."

## Use case

AI agents call bhl.literature.search to retrieve information from Apibase 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 Apibase:

```json
{
  "version": "1",
  "default": "deny",
  "tools": {
    "bhl.literature.search": {}
  }
}
```

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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-whiteknightonhorse-apibase · API: https://policylayer.com/registry/api · Policy library: https://policylayer.com/policies/io-github-whiteknightonhorse-apibase