German Law MCP Server

The gesetze-im-internet.de alternative for the AI age.

Query 6,870 German federal statutes -- from the BGB and StGB to the GG, BDSG, and more -- directly from Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-compatible client.

If you're building legal tech, compliance tools, or doing German legal research, this is your verified reference database.

Built by Ansvar Systems -- Stockholm, Sweden

Why This Exists

German legal research is scattered across gesetze-im-internet.de, dejure.org, rechtsprechung-im-internet.de, and DIP Bundestag. Whether you're:

• A Rechtsanwalt validating citations in a Schriftsatz or contract
• A compliance officer checking if a statute is still in force
• A legal tech developer building tools on German law
• A researcher tracing legislative history from Drucksache to statute

...you shouldn't need 47 browser tabs and manual PDF cross-referencing. Ask Claude. Get the exact provision. With context.

This MCP server makes German law searchable, cross-referenceable, and AI-readable.

Quick Start

Use Remotely (No Install Needed)

Connect directly to the hosted version -- zero dependencies, nothing to install.

Endpoint: https://german-law-mcp.vercel.app/mcp

Claude Desktop -- add to claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "german-law": {
      "type": "url",
      "url": "https://german-law-mcp.vercel.app/mcp"
    }
  }
}

GitHub Copilot -- add to VS Code settings.json:

{
  "github.copilot.chat.mcp.servers": {
    "german-law": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://german-law-mcp.vercel.app/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Use Locally (npm)

npx @ansvar/german-law-mcp

Claude Desktop -- add to claude_desktop_config.json:

macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "german-law": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@ansvar/german-law-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Cursor / VS Code:

{
  "mcp.servers": {
    "german-law": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@ansvar/german-law-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Example Queries

Once connected, just ask naturally:

• "Was sagt § 823 Abs. 1 BGB über Schadensersatz?"
• "Ist das BDSG 2018 noch in Kraft?"
• "Find provisions about Datenschutz in German law"
• "What EU directives does the BDSG implement?"
• "Which German laws implement the GDPR?"
• "Get the preparatory works for the IT-Sicherheitsgesetz"
• "Validate the citation § 433 BGB"
• "Search for Kündigungsschutz in case law"
• "Compare DSGVO implementation across German statutes"

What's Included

Verified data only -- every provision is ingested from official government sources. Zero LLM-generated content.

See It In Action

Why This Works

Verbatim Source Text (No LLM Processing):

• All statute text is ingested from gesetze-im-internet.de official XML exports
• Provisions are returned unchanged from SQLite FTS5 database rows
• Zero LLM summarization or paraphrasing -- the database contains regulation text, not AI interpretations

Smart Context Management:

• Search returns ranked provisions with BM25 scoring (safe for context)
• Three-tier search strategy: exact citation match → FTS5 full-text → LIKE fallback
• Cross-references help navigate without loading everything at once

Technical Architecture:

gesetze-im-internet.de → Parse XML → SQLite → FTS5 snippet() → MCP response
                  ↑                          ↑
           Provision parser           Verbatim database query

Traditional Research vs. This MCP

Traditional: Search gesetze-im-internet.de → Download XML → Ctrl+F → Cross-reference with Drucksache → Check EUR-Lex for EU basis → Repeat

This MCP: "What EU law is the basis for § 1 BDSG?" → Done.

Available Tools (19)

Core Legal Research Tools (8)

Citation Tools (2)

EU Law Integration Tools (5)

Discovery & Metadata Tools (2)

Data Sources & Freshness

All content is sourced from authoritative German legal databases:

• gesetze-im-internet.de -- Federal Ministry of Justice, all consolidated federal statutes
• rechtsprechung-im-internet.de -- Federal court decisions (BVerfG, BGH, BVerwG, BAG, BSG, BFH, BPatG)
• DIP Bundestag -- Legislative preparatory works (Drucksachen, Plenarprotokolle)
• EUR-Lex -- EU cross-reference metadata

Automated Freshness Checks (Daily)

A daily GitHub Actions workflow monitors all data sources:

Security

This project uses multiple layers of automated security scanning:

See SECURITY.md for the full policy and vulnerability reporting.

Important Disclaimers

Legal Advice

THIS TOOL IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE

Statute text is sourced from official gesetze-im-internet.de publications. However:

• This is a research tool, not a substitute for professional legal counsel
• Court case coverage is limited (5,000 decisions) -- do not rely solely on this for case law research
• Verify critical citations against primary sources for court filings
• EU cross-references are extracted from German statute text, not EUR-Lex full text

Before using professionally, read: DISCLAIMER.md | PRIVACY.md

Client Confidentiality

Queries go through the Claude API. For privileged or confidential matters, use on-premise deployment. Lawyers should consider Bundesrechtsanwaltskammer (BRAK) confidentiality obligations when using cloud-based AI tools. See PRIVACY.md for compliance guidance.

Documentation

• Architecture -- Multi-country adapter architecture
• Accuracy Plan -- Roadmap to production accuracy
• Auto Update -- Automated data freshness system
• Security Policy -- Vulnerability reporting and scanning details
• Disclaimer -- Legal disclaimers and professional use notices
• Privacy -- Client confidentiality and data handling

Development

Branching Strategy

This repository uses a dev integration branch. Do not push directly to main.

• main is production-ready. Only receives merges from dev via PR.
• dev is the integration branch. All changes land here first.
• Feature branches are created from dev.

Setup

git clone https://github.com/Ansvar-Systems/German-law-mcp
cd German-law-mcp
npm install
npm run build
npm test

Running Locally

npm run dev                                       # Start MCP server
npx @anthropic/mcp-inspector node dist/src/index.js   # Test with MCP Inspector

Data Management

npm run ingest                    # Ingest statutes from gesetze-im-internet.de
npm run ingest:cases              # Ingest case law from rechtsprechung-im-internet.de
npm run ingest:prep               # Ingest preparatory works from DIP Bundestag
npm run auto-update               # Run full update cycle
npm run auto-update:dry-run       # Preview what would be updated
npm run drift:detect              # Detect schema/data drift

Performance

• Search Speed: <100ms for most FTS5 queries
• Database Size: ~300 MB (runtime download, Strategy B)
• Ingestion Coverage: 6,870/6,870 statutes (100% TOC coverage)

Related Projects: Complete Compliance Suite

This server is part of Ansvar's Compliance Suite -- MCP servers that work together for end-to-end compliance coverage:

@ansvar/eu-regulations-mcp

Query 49 EU regulations directly from Claude -- GDPR, AI Act, DORA, NIS2, MiFID II, eIDAS, and more. Full regulatory text with article-level search. npx @ansvar/eu-regulations-mcp

@ansvar/german-law-mcp (This Project)

Query 6,870 German statutes directly from Claude -- BGB, StGB, GG, BDSG, and more. Full provision text with EU cross-references. npx @ansvar/german-law-mcp

@ansvar/dutch-law-mcp

Query 3,248 Dutch statutes directly from Claude -- BW, Sr, Awb, and more. Full provision text with EU cross-references. npx @ansvar/dutch-law-mcp

@ansvar/swedish-law-mcp

Query 717 Swedish statutes directly from Claude -- DSL, BrB, ABL, MB, and more. Full provision text with EU cross-references. npx @ansvar/swedish-law-mcp

@ansvar/us-regulations-mcp

Query US federal and state compliance laws -- HIPAA, CCPA, SOX, GLBA, FERPA, and more. npx @ansvar/us-regulations-mcp

@ansvar/automotive-cybersecurity-mcp

Query UNECE R155/R156 and ISO 21434 -- Automotive cybersecurity compliance. npx @ansvar/automotive-cybersecurity-mcp

Contributing

Contributions welcome! See CONTRIBUTING.md for guidelines.

Priority areas:

• Lower court decisions (Landesgerichte, Oberlandesgerichte)
• Historical statute versions and amendment tracking (Fassungsvergleich)
• Expanded case law coverage (currently 5,000 of ~50,000+ published decisions)
• State law (Landesrecht) for major Bundesländer

Roadmap

• Full statute coverage -- 6,870 federal statutes, 91,843 provisions
• Case law -- 5,000 federal court decisions
• Preparatory works -- 89,423 DIP records (WP 19 + 20)
• EU cross-references -- Extracted from statute text
• Citation parsing -- § 823 Abs. 1 BGB and Art. 1 Abs. 1 GG formats
• Free/Professional tier gating -- Honest messaging for tier limitations
• Expanded case law (full archive, ~50,000+ decisions)
• Lower court coverage (Landesgerichte)
• Historical statute versions (Fassungsvergleich)
• State law (Landesrecht)
• English translations for key statutes

Citation

If you use this MCP server in academic research:

@software{german_law_mcp_2025,
  author = {Ansvar Systems AB},
  title = {German Law MCP Server: Production-Grade Legal Research Tool},
  year = {2025},
  url = {https://github.com/Ansvar-Systems/German-law-mcp},
  note = {Comprehensive German legal database with 6,870 statutes, 91,843 provisions, and EU cross-references}
}

License

Apache License 2.0. See LICENSE for details.

Data Licenses

• Statutes & Regulations: gesetze-im-internet.de (public domain, German federal government)
• Case Law: rechtsprechung-im-internet.de (public domain)
• Preparatory Works: DIP Bundestag (public domain)
• EU Metadata: EUR-Lex (EU public domain)

About Ansvar Systems

We build AI-accelerated compliance and legal research tools for the European market. This MCP server started as our internal reference tool for German law -- turns out everyone building for the DACH market has the same research frustrations.

So we're open-sourcing it. Navigating 6,870 statutes shouldn't require a law degree.

ansvar.eu -- Stockholm, Sweden