UK Legal Research

Parse OSCOLA Citations

citations_parse

Read-only

USE THIS TOOL WHEN you have free text (a memo, an email, a clause) and want every OSCOLA-style citation it contains extracted and classified.

Identifies: neutral citations ([2024] UKSC 12), law reports ([2024] 1 WLR 100), legislation sections (s.47 Companies Act 2006), SIs (SI 2018/1234), retained EU law (Regulation (EU) 2016/679).

Parsing is pure regex by default. Ambiguous citations (e.g. bare [2024] EWHC without division) can OPTIONALLY be disambiguated by setting disambiguate=True, which asks the CONNECTED CLIENT's own model (not this server) to resolve the division via MCP sampling — off by default. Citations resolve to TNA / legislation.gov.uk URLs when possible.

AFTER calling, pass each citation through citations_resolve to verify it points at a real document before quoting or formatting it — the parser recognises the SHAPE of a citation but does not confirm the document exists.

Input Schema

TableJSON Schema

Name	Required	Description	Default
`text`	Yes	Free text containing OSCOLA citations to extract. Supported: neutral citations ([2024] UKSC 12), law reports ([2024] 1 WLR 100), legislation sections (s.47 Companies Act 2006), SIs (SI 2018/1234), retained EU law (Regulation (EU) 2016/679). Max 50,000 chars.
`disambiguate`	No	Default False — pure-regex parsing, no model in the loop. If True, ambiguous citations (e.g. bare EWHC without a division) are sent to the connected client's own LLM, via MCP sampling, to resolve the division. Opt in only when you want best-effort division resolution and accept that a model shapes the result.

Output Schema

TableJSON Schema

Name	Required	Description
`ambiguous`	Yes	Citations with confidence < 0.7; may have been partially disambiguated via sampling
`citations`	Yes	All successfully parsed citations (confidence >= 0.7)
`text_length`	Yes	Character length of the input text
`parse_duration_ms`	Yes	Time taken to parse, in milliseconds

Schema Changelog

Changes observed during successful MCP inspections. Dates show when Glama detected each change.

Changed4 schema fields changedJun 14, 2026

addedInput schema / properties / disambiguate

Added value: +{
+  "default": false,
+  "description": "Default False — pure-regex parsing, no model in the loop. If True, ambiguous citations (e.g. bare EWHC without a division) are sent to the connected client's own LLM, via MCP sampling, to resolve the division. Opt in only when you want best-effort division resolution and accept that a model shapes the result.",
+  "type": "boolean"
+}

removedInput schema / properties / params

Removed value: -{
-  "additionalProperties": false,
-  "description": "CitationsParseInput.",
-  "properties": {
-    "disambiguate": {
-      "default": false,
-      "description": "Default False — pure-regex parsing, no model in the loop. If True, ambiguous citations (e.g. bare EWHC without a division) are sent to the connected client's own LLM, via MCP sampling, to resolve the division. Opt in only when you want best-effort division resolution and accept that a model shapes the result.",
-      "type": "boolean"
-    },
-    "text": {
-      "description": "Free text containing OSCOLA citations to extract. Supported: neutral citations ([2024] UKSC 12), law reports ([2024] 1 WLR 100), legislation sections (s.47 Companies Act 2006), SIs (SI 2018/1234), retained EU law (Regulation (EU) 2016/679). Max 50,000 chars.",
-      "maxLength": 50000,
-      "minLength": 1,
-      "type": "string"
-    }
-  },
-  "required": [
-    "text"
-  ],
-  "type": "object"
-}

addedInput schema / properties / text

Added value: +{
+  "description": "Free text containing OSCOLA citations to extract. Supported: neutral citations ([2024] UKSC 12), law reports ([2024] 1 WLR 100), legislation sections (s.47 Companies Act 2006), SIs (SI 2018/1234), retained EU law (Regulation (EU) 2016/679). Max 50,000 chars.",
+  "maxLength": 50000,
+  "minLength": 1,
+  "type": "string"
+}

changedInput schema / required

Previous value: -[
-  "params"
-]New value: +[
+  "text"
+]

Changed2 schema fields changedMay 30, 2026

changedInput schema / properties / params / properties / disambiguate / default
```
Previous value: -trueNew value: +false
```

changedInput schema / properties / params / properties / disambiguate / description

Previous value: -"If True, ambiguous citations (e.g. bare EWHC without division) are sent to the LLM for disambiguation via sampling."New value: +"Default False — pure-regex parsing, no model in the loop. If True, ambiguous citations (e.g. bare EWHC without a division) are sent to the connected client's own LLM, via MCP sampling, to resolve the division. Opt in only when you want best-effort division resolution and accept that a model shapes the result."

Changed1 schema field changedMay 30, 2026

changedInput schema / properties / params / description

Previous value: -"CitationsParseInput with text (max 50,000 chars) and disambiguate flag."New value: +"CitationsParseInput."

Changed1 schema field changedApr 20, 2026
- addedInput schema / properties / params / description
```
Added value: +"CitationsParseInput with text (max 50,000 chars) and disambiguate flag."
```

Changed8 schema fields changedApr 15, 2026

changedOutput schema / description

Previous value: -"Generic wrapper for non-object return types."New value: +"Result of parsing all OSCOLA citations from a body of text."

addedOutput schema / properties / ambiguous

Added value: +{
+  "description": "Citations with confidence < 0.7; may have been partially disambiguated via sampling",
+  "items": {
+    "description": "A single parsed OSCOLA citation with optional resolution.",
+    "properties": {
+      "confidence": {
+        "description": "Parse confidence 0.0–1.0. Citations below 0.7 are ambiguous and may have been sent for LLM disambiguation.",
+        "maximum": 1,
+        "minimum": 0,
+        "type": "number"
+      },
+      "court": {
+        "anyOf": [
+          {
+            "type": "string"
+          },
+          {
+            "type": "null"
+          }
+        ],
+        "default": null,
+        "description": "Court code: UKSC, UKPC, EWCA Civ, EWCA Crim, EWHC (KB), EWHC (Ch), EWHC (Comm), EWHC (Fam), EWHC (Pat), EWHC (IPEC), UKUT (IAC), UKUT (TCC), UKUT (AAC), UKUT (LC), EAT, UKFTT (TC), UKFTT (GRC)"
+      },
+      "legislation_title": {
+        "anyOf": [
+          {
+            "type": "string"
+          },
+          {
+            "type": "null"
+          }
+        ],
+        "default": null,
+        "description": "Title of legislation (for s.NN Act YYYY citations)"
+      },
+      "number": {
+        "anyOf": [
+          {
+            "type": "integer"
+          },
+          {
+            "type": "null"
+          }
+        ],
+        "default": null,
+        "description": "Judgment number within the year"
+      },
+      "page": {
+        "anyOf": [
+          {
+            "type": "integer"
+          },
+          {
+            "type": "null"
+          }
+        ],
+        "default": null,
+        "description": "Starting page in the law report"
+      },
+      "raw": {
+        "description": "Original citation text as found in the source",
+        "type": "string"
+      },
+      "report_series": {
+        "anyOf": [
+          {
+            "type": "string"
+          },
+          {
+            "type": "null"
+          }
+        ],
+        "default": null,
+        "description": "Law report series abbreviation: WLR, AC, QB, KB, Ch, All ER, EWCA Civ, etc."
+      },
+      "resolved_url": {
+        "anyOf": [
+          {
+            "type": "string"
+          },
+          {
+            "type": "null"
+          }
+        ],
+        "default": null,
+        "description": "TNA Find Case Law or legislation.gov.uk URL if successfully resolved"
+      },
+      "section": {
+        "anyOf": [
+          {
+            "type": "string"
+          },
+          {
+            "type": "null"
+          }
+        ],
+        "default": null,
+        "description": "Section number referenced"
+      },
+      "si_number": {
+        "anyOf": [
+          {
+            "type": "integer"
+          },
+          {
+            "type": "null"
+          }
+        ],
+        "default": null,
+        "description": "SI number"
+      },
+      "si_year": {
+        "anyOf": [
+          {
+            "type": "integer"
+          },
+          {
+            "type": "null"
+          }
+        ],
+        "default": null,
+        "description": "SI year (for SI YYYY/NNN citations)"
+      },
+      "type": {
+        "description": "Classification of the citation type",
+        "enum": [
+          "neutral",
+          "law_report",
+          "legislation",
+          "si",
+          "eu_retained"
+        ],
+        "type": "string"
+      },
+      "volume": {
+        "anyOf": [
+          {
+            "type": "integer"
+          },
+          {
+            "type": "null"
+          }
+        ],
+        "default": null,
+        "description": "Report volume number (for law reports)"
+      },
+      "year": {
+        "anyOf": [
+          {
+            "type": "integer"
+          },
+          {
+            "type": "null"
+          }
+        ],
+        "default": null,
+        "description": "Year component of the citation"
+      }
+    },
+    "required": [
+      "raw",
+      "type",
+      "confidence"
+    ],
+    "type": "object"
+  },
+  "type": "array"
+}

addedOutput schema / properties / citations

Added value: +{
+  "description": "All successfully parsed citations (confidence >= 0.7)",
+  "items": {
+    "description": "A single parsed OSCOLA citation with optional resolution.",
+    "properties": {
+      "confidence": {
+        "description": "Parse confidence 0.0–1.0. Citations below 0.7 are ambiguous and may have been sent for LLM disambiguation.",
+        "maximum": 1,
+        "minimum": 0,
+        "type": "number"
+      },
+      "court": {
+        "anyOf": [
+          {
+            "type": "string"
+          },
+          {
+            "type": "null"
+          }
+        ],
+        "default": null,
+        "description": "Court code: UKSC, UKPC, EWCA Civ, EWCA Crim, EWHC (KB), EWHC (Ch), EWHC (Comm), EWHC (Fam), EWHC (Pat), EWHC (IPEC), UKUT (IAC), UKUT (TCC), UKUT (AAC), UKUT (LC), EAT, UKFTT (TC), UKFTT (GRC)"
+      },
+      "legislation_title": {
+        "anyOf": [
+          {
+            "type": "string"
+          },
+          {
+            "type": "null"
+          }
+        ],
+        "default": null,
+        "description": "Title of legislation (for s.NN Act YYYY citations)"
+      },
+      "number": {
+        "anyOf": [
+          {
+            "type": "integer"
+          },
+          {
+            "type": "null"
+          }
+        ],
+        "default": null,
+        "description": "Judgment number within the year"
+      },
+      "page": {
+        "anyOf": [
+          {
+            "type": "integer"
+          },
+          {
+            "type": "null"
+          }
+        ],
+        "default": null,
+        "description": "Starting page in the law report"
+      },
+      "raw": {
+        "description": "Original citation text as found in the source",
+        "type": "string"
+      },
+      "report_series": {
+        "anyOf": [
+          {
+            "type": "string"
+          },
+          {
+            "type": "null"
+          }
+        ],
+        "default": null,
+        "description": "Law report series abbreviation: WLR, AC, QB, KB, Ch, All ER, EWCA Civ, etc."
+      },
+      "resolved_url": {
+        "anyOf": [
+          {
+            "type": "string"
+          },
+          {
+            "type": "null"
+          }
+        ],
+        "default": null,
+        "description": "TNA Find Case Law or legislation.gov.uk URL if successfully resolved"
+      },
+      "section": {
+        "anyOf": [
+          {
+            "type": "string"
+          },
+          {
+            "type": "null"
+          }
+        ],
+        "default": null,
+        "description": "Section number referenced"
+      },
+      "si_number": {
+        "anyOf": [
+          {
+            "type": "integer"
+          },
+          {
+            "type": "null"
+          }
+        ],
+        "default": null,
+        "description": "SI number"
+      },
+      "si_year": {
+        "anyOf": [
+          {
+            "type": "integer"
+          },
+          {
+            "type": "null"
+          }
+        ],
+        "default": null,
+        "description": "SI year (for SI YYYY/NNN citations)"
+      },
+      "type": {
+        "description": "Classification of the citation type",
+        "enum": [
+          "neutral",
+          "law_report",
+          "legislation",
+          "si",
+          "eu_retained"
+        ],
+        "type": "string"
+      },
+      "volume": {
+        "anyOf": [
+          {
+            "type": "integer"
+          },
+          {
+            "type": "null"
+          }
+        ],
+        "default": null,
+        "description": "Report volume number (for law reports)"
+      },
+      "year": {
+        "anyOf": [
+          {
+            "type": "integer"
+          },
+          {
+            "type": "null"
+          }
+        ],
+        "default": null,
+        "description": "Year component of the citation"
+      }
+    },
+    "required": [
+      "raw",
+      "type",
+      "confidence"
+    ],
+    "type": "object"
+  },
+  "type": "array"
+}

addedOutput schema / properties / parse_duration_ms

Added value: +{
+  "description": "Time taken to parse, in milliseconds",
+  "type": "integer"
+}

removedOutput schema / properties / result

Removed value: -{
-  "type": "string"
-}

addedOutput schema / properties / text_length

Added value: +{
+  "description": "Character length of the input text",
+  "type": "integer"
+}

changedOutput schema / required

Previous value: -[
-  "result"
-]New value: +[
+  "citations",
+  "ambiguous",
+  "text_length",
+  "parse_duration_ms"
+]

removedOutput schema / x-fastmcp-wrap-result
```
Removed value: -true
```

First observedApr 14, 2026

TDQS

A4.5/5.0

Behavior5/5

Does the description disclose side effects, auth requirements, rate limits, or destructive behavior?

Beyond the annotations (readOnlyHint=true, destructiveHint=false), the description adds critical behavioral context: parsing is pure regex by default, optional disambiguation invokes the client's own LLM via MCP sampling, and recognition of citation shape does not guarantee document existence. This meaningfully informs the agent of limitations and side effects (model-in-the-loop) that annotations cannot convey.

Agents need to know what a tool does to the world before calling it. Descriptions should go beyond structured annotations to explain consequences.

Conciseness5/5

Is the description appropriately sized, front-loaded, and free of redundancy?

The description is well-structured with clear sections: a bolded usage trigger, a list of supported citation types, parsing behavior, and a follow-up instruction. It is front-loaded with the most important 'when to use' information and every sentence contributes operational value without redundancies.

Shorter descriptions cost fewer tokens and are easier for agents to parse. Every sentence should earn its place.

Completeness5/5

Given the tool's complexity, does the description cover enough for an agent to succeed on first attempt?

Given the tool has only 2 parameters, an output schema, and rich sibling context, the description fully covers the essential operational details: input type, output scope, disambiguation behavior, URL resolution, and the requirement to verify via citations_resolve. It clearly differentiates itself from the resolve and format siblings, so an agent can select and invoke it correctly.

Complex tools with many parameters or behaviors need more documentation. Simple tools need less. This dimension scales expectations accordingly.

Parameters3/5

Does the description clarify parameter syntax, constraints, interactions, or defaults beyond what the schema provides?

Schema coverage is 100%, and the parameter descriptions already fully explain the text and disambiguate parameters. The tool description repeats the supported citation types and the disambiguation behavior, adding little new semantic value beyond the schema. It does hint at URL resolution as output, but that is not a parameter-level detail.

Input schemas describe structure but not intent. Descriptions should explain non-obvious parameter relationships and valid value ranges.

Purpose5/5

Does the description clearly state what the tool does and how it differs from similar tools?

The description opens with a specific action ('extract and classify every OSCOLA-style citation') and identifies the target resource (free text). It lists concrete citation types and explicitly separates itself from sibling tools like citations_resolve by stating what it does not do (confirm existence). The verb and scope are precise and unambiguous.

Agents choose between tools based on descriptions. A clear purpose with a specific verb and resource helps agents select the right tool.

Usage Guidelines4/5

Does the description explain when to use this tool, when not to, or what alternatives exist?

The description clearly states when to use the tool ('USE THIS TOOL WHEN you have free text... and want every OSCOLA-style citation... extracted and classified') and explicitly directs the agent to follow up with citations_resolve for verification. It does not explicitly say when not to use it, but the alternative/next-step guidance is strong and actionable.

Agents often have multiple tools that could apply. Explicit usage guidance like "use X instead of Y when Z" prevents misuse.

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TDQS

A4.4/5.0

Disambiguation5/5

Every tool has a clearly distinct purpose, with detailed descriptions that prevent ambiguity. Tools covering similar domains (e.g., multiple parliament search tools) are carefully differentiated by their search approach and input requirements.

Naming Consistency5/5

All tools follow a consistent snake_case verb_noun pattern (e.g., bills_get_bill, case_law_search, citations_resolve). Even generic tools adhere to this style. No mixing of conventions.

Tool Count4/5

With 35 tools, the count is on the higher side but appropriate for the wide-ranging domain of UK legal research. Each tool contributes to specific sub-domains (bills, case law, citations, committees, HMRC, legislation, parliament, votes) without unnecessary duplication.

Completeness5/5

The tool surface covers nearly all essential aspects of UK legal research: searching and retrieving bills, case law, and legislation; parsing and resolving citations; exploring committee evidence; accessing Hansard debates and member interests; and checking HMRC guidance and VAT rates. Gaps like full judgment text retrieval are mitigated by paragraph-level access and indexing.

Parse OSCOLA Citations

Input Schema

Output Schema

Schema Changelog

TDQS

Glama MCP Gateway

TDQS

Resources