Scripture search, conference talks, and study-aid API — powered by PostgreSQL + pgvector.
The gospel-mcp binary is a stdio MCP server that bridges your local AI client (VS Code Copilot, Claude Desktop, etc.) to this API. Download the binary for your platform:
Download the binary, make it executable (chmod +x gospel-mcp-* on macOS/Linux), then add it to your MCP client. An API token is required: create one on your keys page (sign in with Google) or in ibeco.me settings.
{
"mcpServers": {
"gospel": {
"command": "/absolute/path/to/gospel-mcp-<os>-<arch>",
"env": {
"GOSPEL_ENGINE_URL": "https://engine.ibeco.me",
"GOSPEL_ENGINE_TOKEN": "stdy_..."
}
}
}
}The client auto-updates: on startup it checks /api/version and pulls a newer binary if available. Disable with GOSPEL_AUTO_UPDATE=false.
Clients that dial a remote MCP server over HTTP can use this engine directly, with no binary and no local setup. In claude.ai that is Customize > Connectors > Add custom connector; give it a name and this URL, with your own token in place of stdy_...:
https://engine.ibeco.me/mcp?key=stdy_...Tokens come from your keys page here (sign in with Google) or from ibeco.me settings, the same ones the binary uses. Each token is yours alone and can be revoked where it was made. The key travels in the URL because most remote connectors cannot send headers; a client that can send them may use Authorization: Bearer stdy_... against the same address instead. Same tools either way: gospel_search, gospel_get, gospel_related, gospel_citations, gospel_list, and Strong's: strongs_define, strongs_search, strongs_for_verse.
Bearer-token authenticated endpoints:
GET /api/search?q=faith&mode=hybrid&limit=20
GET /api/get?ref=1+Nephi+3:7
GET /api/related?reference=Ether+12:27&hops=2
GET /api/citations?reference=Ether+12:27
GET /api/strongs/define?number=G26
GET /api/strongs/search?word=love
GET /api/strongs/verse?reference=John+3:16
GET /api/list?type=scriptures/api/related returns the passages the library itself links to a passage: its chapter footnotes, the Topical Guide, Bible Dictionary and Guide to the Scriptures entries that list it, and the conference talks and manuals that cite it, one or two links out, each with how it was reached.
/api/citations answers who has cited a verse. Citation lookups are answered live by the BYU Scripture Citation Index, which indexes General Conference, the Journal of Discourses and more. The engine passes your reference to it, shows its results with links back, and keeps a copy for a day so repeated lookups don't load their site. The data is BYU's.
The Strong's endpoints, and /api/get?...&strongs=true on Old and New Testament verses, give the KJV's word-by-word Strong's numbers and the lexicon behind them. Strong's Concordance (James Strong, 1890; public domain) via OpenScriptures (CC BY 4.0 / CC BY-SA). Modern glosses: STEPBible TBESH/TBESG, Tyndale House (CC BY 4.0). KJV with Strong's numbers: CrossWire Bible Society's KJV module (GPL; OT Strong's from The Bible Foundation; NT from the KJV2003 Project). A gloss is a starting point for study: read the fuller definition and the verse in context.
Each key may make 600 requests a minute, shared by the API and the hosted MCP; keys issued earlier keep the limit they were given. Over it, the server answers 429 Too Many Requests with a Retry-After header giving the seconds to wait.