Recommended flow
Understand the structure
Call
GET /toc to get the full table of contents — parts, papers, and their titles.Search for relevant passages
Use
POST /search for keyword matching, or POST /search/semantic for meaning-based similarity search. Semantic search finds conceptually related passages even without exact keyword matches — ideal for natural language queries from users.Get surrounding context
For each relevant result, call
GET /paragraphs/:ref/context?window=3 to get paragraphs before and after. This improves comprehension significantly.Search tips
Full-text search (POST /search)
Best for keyword-based queries. Supports three modes:
and(default) — all words must appear. Best for specific queries.or— any word can appear. Best for broad exploratory queries.phrase— exact phrase match. Best when quoting specific text.
Semantic search (POST /search/semantic)
Best for natural language queries. Uses vector embeddings to find conceptually similar passages, even when the exact words don’t match. Returns results ranked by similarity (0-1).
paperId and partId filters to narrow scope.
Entity lookup
The API catalogs 4,400+ named entities — beings, places, orders, races, religions, and concepts — with descriptions and cross-references, sourced from Urantiapedia by Jan Herca. UseGET /entities?q=<name> to find entities by name, or GET /entities?type=being to browse by type. Each entity includes a citationCount showing how often it appears.
To find every paragraph that mentions an entity:
?include=entities (or "include": "entities" in search request bodies). Each entity includes an id, name, and type:
Context window
The/paragraphs/:ref/context endpoint is particularly useful for RAG. It returns the target paragraph plus surrounding paragraphs (configurable via the window parameter, 1-10).
This provides the LLM with the narrative flow around a passage, which leads to more accurate and contextual responses.
MCP Servers
MCP Servers
Connect AI agents to the Urantia Book via 2 MCP servers — 13 API tools + docs search. Full setup instructions, tool reference, and example prompts.