The failure mode with scripture and language models is a quotation that sounds right and is not in the text. Here each response carries a deep link to a reader that renders the source data verbatim with the cited segment highlighted, so verification is one click rather than an act of faith. The pairing of dictionary lookup with canonical self-definition is the other unusual bit — what a term means to a lexicographer and what the suttas say it means are different answers.
A free public server over the Pāli Tipiṭaka at parity with SuttaCentral — Sutta, Vinaya and Abhidhamma, in Pāli with English where an English translation exists upstream. Search combines keyword and semantic retrieval, and every response carries a deep link into a bilingual reader so the quoted line can be checked.
- search_hybrid — keyword and semantic results fused, the one to reach for on a concept
- search_by_keyword for an exact Pāli word with fuzzy matching, and search_semantic for pure similarity
- survey_corpus — an exhaustive count and per-basket breakdown, for 'how often and where does this appear' rather than best matches
- get_sutta by id, whole or as an outline, a segment range, or a window around a hit
- open_sutta_viewer, which renders the sutta inline as Pāli and English side by side with the cited segment highlighted
- get_reference for a properly formatted academic citation with its source URLs
- compare_translations across editions, aligned at the segment level
- get_word_definition against PTS, DPPN and the Payutto dictionary, and parse_pali_word to recover a root form when a lookup misses
- define_from_suttas — how the canon defines a term in its own words, rather than how a dictionary glosses it
- list_structure and list_editions for coverage and what is loaded
Nothing: the maintainers run a free public instance and offer it as Dhamma Dāna, non-commercial only. Streamable HTTP is the modern endpoint, with legacy SSE alongside it; older clients bridge through mcp-remote, which needs Node. Self-hosting is Python with PostgreSQL and pgvector, or a fully offline local build. Abhidhamma is Pāli only, because no English translation exists upstream.
One command — pipx install tripitaka-mcp