Agent Tools / MCP install guides / Rules Lookup in Pi

Rules Lookup in Pi

US federal regulations (CFR). The MCP server is https://rules.openkrill.app/mcp. No key. The steps below are only for Pi. A call to get_cfr_section was checked against that server on 2026-10-01.

What this server answers

Read the rule itself instead of a summary of it. Ask "what does 21 CFR 11.10 say?", "which regulations mention respirator fit testing?" or "what has the FDA proposed on food dyes this year?".

Rules Lookup reads two official United States sources directly: the Electronic Code of Federal Regulations (eCFR) for the current text of any section of the Code of Federal Regulations, and the Federal Register for the rules, proposed rules, notices and presidential documents the agencies publish each day.

A section lookup returns the citation, heading, full text, statutory authority and amendment history of the section, with the date the eCFR is up to date as of and a link to the section. A very long section is cut and says so. A search returns the matching sections or documents with the agency, the publication date, the comment deadline and effective date where there is one, and the CFR parts a document changes.

This is general information, not legal advice. The eCFR is an unofficial edition kept up to date by the Office of the Federal Register; the legal text is the Federal Register and the annual CFR. A rule applies differently to each situation, so check the current official text and ask a qualified lawyer before you rely on it.

It covers United States federal regulations only: not state or local law, court decisions, statutes, other countries' rules or guidance documents that are not in the Federal Register.

It stores nothing about you: answers are cached for up to six hours (sections) or an hour (searches), and the only lasting record is a daily count of calls per tool.

What it can do

Tools

Add Rules Lookup in Pi

Pi does not speak MCP on its own. The pi-mcp-adapter extension (these steps match version 2.34.0) loads remote servers and keeps their schemas out of the prompt until you ask. Install it once, then restart Pi:

pi install npm:pi-mcp-adapter

Add the server to a shared MCP file. Use .mcp.json in the project if only that project needs Rules Lookup, or ~/.config/mcp/mcp.json if you want it in every project. Pi also reads ~/.agents/mcp.json. A Pi-only override lives in ~/.pi/agent/mcp.json or .pi/mcp.json and wins over the shared file.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "rules": {
      "url": "https://rules.openkrill.app/mcp"
    }
  }
}

The url is enough. Do not set command: that field is for a local process. No API key header. After restart, run /mcp and confirm the server is listed. The first call connects lazily. Ask: What does 21 CFR 11.10 say about electronic records controls? The adapter should offer get_cfr_section, search_cfr, search_federal_register.

Leave directTools off unless you want those schemas in every turn. With a handful of tools the cost is small. The default proxy is the better fit: search for the tool, then call it. /mcp disable rules writes a project override in .pi/mcp.json without editing the shared file. Run /reload after that change.

Pi will not find this server by scanning Cursor or Claude config unless you run /mcp setup and import it. Putting the url in .mcp.json is the direct path and the one this page tests against. The server is the same public endpoint the other clients use, with the same limits and the same privacy rules.

A call checked on 2026-10-01

21 CFR 11.10 is the electronic-records section named in the plugin's starter prompts. The request below was posted to https://rules.openkrill.app/mcp as tools/call. HTTP 200. Source: the Rules Lookup server, read 2026-10-01.

{
  "method": "tools/call",
  "params": {
    "name": "get_cfr_section",
    "arguments": {
      "title": 21,
      "section": "11.10"
    }
  }
}

Repeat the call yourself if you need a newer reading. Cached answers expire. A rate limit is not a result: wait and try again. Nothing in the call is a ranking, a filing, or advice.

Same server, other clients

Roles that use Rules Lookup

Terms used on this page

Source: plugin listing for rules in this repository, and a live tools/call on 2026-10-01. As of 2026-10-01.