Summary
Connects Claude to the Catalogue of Life's 2.2 million accepted species names through eight focused tools. You get exact name matching, taxonomic search, full classification chains from kingdom down to species, vernacular names, synonyms, and child taxa lookups. Runs through Pipeworx's gateway, which means you can either call tools directly or use ask_pipeworx to query in plain English and let it route to the right endpoint. Useful when you need authoritative taxonomic data for species identification, building phylogenetic tools, or validating scientific names against a maintained global index.
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Install now →@pipeworx/catalogueoflife
Catalogue of Life MCP — the global taxonomic index of known species (~2.2 M accepted names). Wraps the ChecklistBank API that backs COL. Keyless.
Part of Pipeworx — an MCP gateway connecting AI agents to 1476+ live data sources.
The default dataset is 3LR (the latest COL release). Pass dataset to override (e.g. 3 for the editorial-state COL dataset, or any ChecklistBank dataset key).
Tools
search(query, dataset?, limit?, offset?, rank?, status?)— name-usage searchname_match(scientific_name, dataset?, authorship?)— exact-name match (returns 0/1 hit + suggestions)usage(id, dataset?)— single name-usage by idtaxon(id, dataset?)— taxon by idclassification(id, dataset?)— taxonomic classification chain (kingdom → species)vernacular(id, dataset?)— vernacular (common) names for a taxonsynonyms(id, dataset?)— synonyms of a taxonchildren(id, dataset?, limit?)— direct child taxa
Data source
https://api.checklistbank.org/dataset/{key}/...
Quick Start
Add to your MCP client (Claude Desktop, Cursor, Windsurf, etc.):
{
"mcpServers": {
"catalogueoflife": {
"url": "https://gateway.pipeworx.io/catalogueoflife/mcp"
}
}
}
What this endpoint actually serves
tools/list at https://gateway.pipeworx.io/catalogueoflife/mcp returns the tools in the table
above plus the shared Pipeworx meta-tools — ask_pipeworx,
discover_tools, search_within, remember/recall and the rest of the
gateway-wide set. So the tool count you see is larger than this table: a
single-pack endpoint currently lists roughly 30 shared tools alongside the
pack's own. The connection's initialize response states its exact scope, and
is the authoritative answer for a given day.
This is deliberate, not multiplexing by accident. The meta-tools are what let a
scoped connection answer a question this pack does not cover — via
ask_pipeworx, which routes across the whole catalog — without you adding a
second MCP server. There is currently no way to mount a pack endpoint without
them; if the extra schemas cost you more context than the routing is worth,
connect to the full gateway once rather than to several pack endpoints.
Or connect to the full Pipeworx gateway to get every pack's tools listed directly, instead of just this one's:
{
"mcpServers": {
"pipeworx": {
"url": "https://gateway.pipeworx.io/mcp"
}
}
}
Both URLs reach the same gateway and the same 1476+ data sources. The
only difference is which pack's tools are listed directly; ask_pipeworx
reaches all of them from either one.
Using with ask_pipeworx
Instead of calling tools directly, you can ask questions in plain English — this works on the pack endpoint above as well as on the full gateway:
ask_pipeworx({ question: "your question about Catalogueoflife data" })
The gateway picks the right tool and fills the arguments automatically.
More
License
MIT
Featured
On Capafy, your Skill runs online 24/7 as an agent product, and you get paid every time someone uses it.
Start earning →An agent that runs the SEO playbooks that move rankings and ships PRs you control.
Get founding access →Connect Claude to +800M contacts, +150M companies. Find & Enrich leads in chat.
Try For Free →Agent, run crypto. Access onchain data & trade routes via 1inch.
Install now →