search

Full-text keyword search over the records BC Data holds. Each hit has a ref, a passage, and the source page to cite. Use fetch_record with the ref for the stored record. Keywords only: no embeddings, no operators.

Cost: 1 unit of your allowance (see Rate limits).

ParametersCopy Anchor Link

• query (string, required): min length 1, max length 200
• domain (laws, policy, hiring, land, indigenous, elections, history, optional)
• election_id (string, optional): min length 3, max length 20
• limit (integer, optional): min 1, max 20, default 8

RESTCopy Anchor Link

curl -X POST https://api.bcmcp.ca/v1/tools/search \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $BCDATA_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"query":"..."}'

MCPCopy Anchor Link

Call the tool search with these arguments. Over raw JSON-RPC:

curl -X POST https://api.bcmcp.ca/mcp \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $BCDATA_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Accept: application/json, text/event-stream" \
  -d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"tools/call","params":{"name":"search","arguments":{"query":"..."}}}'

What comes backCopy Anchor Link

Every answer is the same envelope, over REST and over MCP: available, data, citations, freshness and notes. See Citations and freshness.