Exposes CDISC standards data including SDTM, ADaM, CDASH, and Controlled Terminology as tools for AI assistants via the CDISC Library API. It enables users to s
Exposes CDISC standards data including SDTM, ADaM, CDASH, and Controlled Terminology as tools for AI assistants via the CDISC Library API. It enables users to search standards, retrieve domain variables, and access codelist definitions to facilitate clinical research data management.
README
CDISC Library MCP Server — Query clinical data standards (SDTM, ADaM, CDASH, CT) directly from AI assistants.
The CDISC MCP Server connects AI assistants (Claude, VS Code Copilot, Cursor, etc.) to the CDISC Library REST API, exposing 11 structured tools for querying clinical trial data standards. Ask your AI assistant questions like:
"What variables are in the SDTM AE domain?"/m
"Show me the ADSL variables in ADaM IG 1.3""List all available Controlled Terminology packages"
For full setup instructions, see the User Manual →. See Examples → for real conversation samples.
# Runtime only
pip install -e .
# With dev dependencies
pip install -e ".[dev]"
# With web explorer
pip install -e ".[web]"
3 · Set API Key
# Linux / macOS
export CDISC_API_KEY=your_key_here
# Windows — Command Prompt
set CDISC_API_KEY=your_key_here
# Windows — PowerShell
$env:CDISC_API_KEY = "your_key_here"
4 · Run
# Start MCP server (for AI assistant integration)
cdisc-mcp
# OR: Start Web Explorer (quick interactive testing)
python web/app.py
Web Explorer — Quick Interactive Testing
The fastest way to verify your setup and explore tools without any AI client.
# 1. Install web dependencies
pip install -e ".[web]"
# 2. Set your API key
export CDISC_API_KEY=your_key_here # Linux/macOS
set CDISC_API_KEY=your_key_here # Windows CMD
$env:CDISC_API_KEY = "your_key_here" # Windows PowerShell
# 3. Start the bridge server
python web/app.py
# 4. Open in browser
# → http://localhost:8080
The explorer provides:
Sidebar navigation — all 11 tools organized by standard (SDTM / ADaM / CDASH / Terminology)
Auto-generated forms — dropdowns for versions and domains, text inputs for variables
Live JSON responses — syntax-highlighted, copyable output with response time
Bridge status indicator — confirms your API key and connectivity
Tip: Use version strings with dashes — 3-4 not 3.4, 1-3 not 1.3.
Example: SDTM-IG 3-4, ADaM-IG 1-3, CDASH-IG 2-0
Available Tools
#
Tool
Standard
Description
1
list_products
—
List all available CDISC standards and published versions
2
get_sdtm_domains
SDTM
List all datasets in a SDTM-IG version
3
get_sdtm_domain_variables
SDTM
List all variables in an SDTM domain/dataset
4
get_sdtm_variable
SDTM
Get full definition of a specific SDTM variable
5
get_adam_datastructures
ADaM
List all data structures in an ADaM-IG version
6
get_adam_variable
ADaM
Get definition of a specific ADaM variable
7
get_cdash_domains
CDASH
List all domains in a CDASH-IG version
8
get_cdash_domain_fields
CDASH
Get all data collection fields for a CDASH domain
9
list_ct_packages
CT
List all available Controlled Terminology packages
Claude Code supports MCP servers at two scopes: user (global, all projects) and project (local, current project only).
Option A — CLI command (recommended)
# Add globally (available in all projects)
claude mcp add cdisc-mcp -e CDISC_API_KEY=your_key_here -- python -m cdisc_mcp.server
# Add for the current project only
claude mcp add cdisc-mcp --scope project -e CDISC_API_KEY=your_key_here -- python -m cdisc_mcp.server
# Verify the server was registered
claude mcp list
Tip: If CDISC_API_KEY is already in your system environment, omit the env block entirely — Claude Code inherits it automatically.
Once registered, confirm with /mcp in any Claude Code session, then use the tools conversationally:
User: What SDTM domains are defined in version 3.4?
Claude: [calls get_sdtm_domains with version="3-4"] ...
Using in Your Own Python Tools
You can call CDISC MCP tools programmatically from any Python script using the official MCP client SDK.
Install the client
pip install mcp
Minimal example
import asyncio
import os
from mcp import ClientSession, StdioServerParameters
from mcp.client.stdio import stdio_client
SERVER = StdioServerParameters(
command="python",
args=["-m", "cdisc_mcp.server"],
env={"CDISC_API_KEY": os.environ["CDISC_API_KEY"]},
)
async def main():
async with stdio_client(SERVER) as (read, write):
async with ClientSession(read, write) as session:
await session.initialize()
# List all available tools
tools = await session.list_tools()
print([t.name for t in tools.tools])
# Call a tool
result = await session.call_tool(
"get_sdtm_domains",
arguments={"version": "3-4"},
)
print(result.content[0].text)
asyncio.run(main())
Reusable helper
import asyncio, os, json
from contextlib import asynccontextmanager
from mcp import ClientSession, StdioServerParameters
from mcp.client.stdio import stdio_client
_SERVER = StdioServerParameters(
command="python",
args=["-m", "cdisc_mcp.server"],
env={"CDISC_API_KEY": os.environ["CDISC_API_KEY"]},
)
@asynccontextmanager
async def cdisc_session():
"""Async context manager that yields an initialised MCP session."""
async with stdio_client(_SERVER) as (read, write):
async with ClientSession(read, write) as session:
await session.initialize()
yield session
async def call(tool: str, **kwargs) -> dict:
async with cdisc_session() as s:
result = await s.call_tool(tool, arguments=kwargs)
return json.loads(result.content[0].text)
# --- Usage examples ---
async def demo():
# Fetch SDTM domains
domains = await call("get_sdtm_domains", version="3-4")
# Fetch all variables in the AE domain
variables = await call("get_sdtm_domain_variables", version="3-4", domain="AE")
# Look up a single variable
aeterm = await call("get_sdtm_variable", version="3-4", domain="AE", variable="AETERM")
print(aeterm)
asyncio.run(demo())
CDISCClient is a singleton async HTTP client with 1-hour TTL in-memory cache
Only 429 and 5xx responses are retried; 4xx raise immediately
Tool functions are pure async — independently testable without patching
format_response() strips HAL _links metadata, extracts structured data for LLM consumption
Development
Development workflow (devel-first, branch & merge SOP): See Contributing Guide.
Running Tests
# Full suite with coverage (≥80% required)
pytest
# Specific modules
pytest tests/test_tools.py tests/test_client.py -v
# Single test
pytest tests/test_tools.py::test_list_products -v
