Archive Records Search (UK National Archives Discovery Catalogue)

tnadiscovery/search-archive-records

Searches the UK National Archives Discovery catalogue by keyword. Returns a page of matching records (id, reference, title, description, covering dates and which archive holds each one) plus the total number of matches. Covers records held by The National Archives and by other UK archives. Pass a returned record id to the record details or record children tools. A query with no matches returns an empty list. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0; served by Eden Engine, not an official National Archives product.

activeper callv1

Price

$0.0026 per call

You pay the price shown. If a call turns out to cost more than its quote, you pay the actual price, capped at twice the quote. No monthly minimum. Top-ups start at $5.

Data source

The National Archives

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: The National Archives, Discovery catalogue. Served by Eden Engine; not an official The National Archives product.

Use it

Five steps: search, inspect, learn, run, settle. No per-tool setup; your agent reaches this tool through the meta-tools it already has.

Connect once and your AI can find and run this tool, and any other it needs.

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agent

// 1. search: find the tool
omnial_search({ query: "what you need" })

// 2. inspect: price and input schema
omnial_inspect({ tool: "tnadiscovery/search-archive-records" })

// 3. learn: read the usage guide at runtime
omnial_learn({ tool: "tnadiscovery/search-archive-records" })

// 4. run: price the exact call first, then run it
omnial_execute({ tool: "tnadiscovery/search-archive-records", input: { /* see input_schema */ }, dry_run: true })
omnial_execute({ tool: "tnadiscovery/search-archive-records", input: { /* ... */ } })

// 5. settle: the call is charged when it finishes, nothing to do

Not connected yet? Point your MCP client at https://mcp.eden-engine.com/mcp, then copy a config for your client.

Pricing

Every charge this tool can incur.

Charge	Price
Per call	$0.0026

Updated: Oct 20, 2026

Input and output schemas

Input schema

input_schema.json

{
  "type": "object",
  "required": [
    "query"
  ],
  "properties": {
    "query": {
      "type": "string",
      "maxLength": 200,
      "minLength": 1,
      "description": "What to search for, in plain words: a person, ship, place, organisation or event, for example titanic or Admiralty."
    },
    "page_size": {
      "type": "integer",
      "default": 10,
      "maximum": 50,
      "minimum": 1,
      "description": "How many records to return in this page, 1 to 50. The total number of matches is reported separately in count."
    }
  },
  "additionalProperties": false
}

Output schema

output_schema.json

{
  "type": "object",
  "required": [
    "records",
    "count"
  ],
  "properties": {
    "count": {
      "type": "integer",
      "description": "Total number of records matching the query, not just this page."
    },
    "records": {
      "type": "array",
      "items": {
        "type": "object",
        "properties": {
          "id": {
            "type": "string",
            "description": "Discovery record id, usable in the record details tool."
          },
          "score": {
            "type": "number",
            "description": "Relevance score of the match."
          },
          "title": {
            "type": "string",
            "description": "Record title."
          },
          "heldBy": {
            "type": "array",
            "items": {
              "type": "string"
            },
            "description": "Names of the archives holding the record."
          },
          "reference": {
            "type": "string",
            "description": "The archive's own reference for the record."
          },
          "description": {
            "type": "string",
            "description": "Short description of the record."
          },
          "coveringDates": {
            "type": "string",
            "description": "Dates the record covers, as text."
          }
        },
        "additionalProperties": true
      },
      "description": "The matching records on this page, best match first."
    },
    "sources": {
      "type": "array",
      "items": {
        "type": "object",
        "additionalProperties": true
      },
      "description": "Match counts by source collection code."
    },
    "heldByReps": {
      "type": "array",
      "items": {
        "type": "object",
        "additionalProperties": true
      },
      "description": "Match counts by holder code, TNA for The National Archives and OTH for others."
    },
    "timePeriods": {
      "type": "array",
      "items": {
        "type": "object",
        "additionalProperties": true
      },
      "description": "Match counts by period of record."
    },
    "nextBatchMark": {
      "type": "string",
      "description": "The API's continuation marker, often empty."
    }
  },
  "description": "The Discovery search response: one page of records, the total match count and facet counts.",
  "additionalProperties": true
}