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Powo

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POWO (Plants of the World Online, by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew) MCP.

Source code Website Documentation

Install

Add this to your client's MCP configuration (Claude Desktop: claude_desktop_config.json; Cursor: .cursor/mcp.json; VS Code and others use the same "mcpServers" shape).

Remote (streamable-http)
Claude Code 
claude mcp add --transport http powo 'https://gateway.pipeworx.io/powo/mcp'
JSON configuration (Claude Desktop, Cursor, VS Code) 
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "powo": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://gateway.pipeworx.io/powo/mcp"
        }
    }
}

Documentation

From the project's README on GitHub, refreshed weekly. Links open on GitHub.

Contents
  1. mcp-powo
  2. Tools
  3. Quick Start
  4. No MCP client? Call it over HTTP
  5. Standalone (no gateway account)
  6. Using with ask_pipeworx
  7. More
  8. License

mcp-powo

POWO (Plants of the World Online, by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew) MCP.

Part of Pipeworx — an MCP gateway connecting AI agents to 1683+ live data sources.

Tools

ToolDescription
search_plantsSearch POWO (Plants of the World Online, by Kew) — the authoritative global plant taxonomy database — for accepted plant names and synonyms by scientific or common name. Returns matching taxa with their family, rank, whether the name is accepted, and a POWO fqId you can pass to get_taxon. Keyless. Complements GBIF/iNaturalist with curated botanical taxonomy.
get_taxonFetch a full POWO (Plants of the World Online, by Kew) taxon record by its fqId (e.g. "urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:304293-2", obtained from search_plants). Returns the taxon's classification, family/genus, taxonomic status, native distribution (TDWG region codes), accepted-name resolution (for synonyms), and synonym count. Keyless authoritative botanical taxonomy.

Quick Start

Add to your MCP client (Claude Desktop, Cursor, Windsurf, etc.):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "powo": {
      "url": "https://gateway.pipeworx.io/powo/mcp"
    }
  }
}
What this endpoint actually serves

tools/list at https://gateway.pipeworx.io/powo/mcp returns the tools in the table above plus the shared Pipeworx meta-tools — ask_pipeworx, discover_tools, search_within, remember/recall and the rest of the gateway-wide set. So the tool count you see is larger than this table: a single-pack endpoint currently lists roughly 30 shared tools alongside the pack's own. The connection's initialize response states its exact scope, and is the authoritative answer for a given day.

This is deliberate, not multiplexing by accident. The meta-tools are what let a scoped connection answer a question this pack does not cover — via ask_pipeworx, which routes across the whole catalog — without you adding a second MCP server. There is currently no way to mount a pack endpoint without them; if the extra schemas cost you more context than the routing is worth, connect to the full gateway once rather than to several pack endpoints.

Or connect to the full Pipeworx gateway to get every pack's tools listed directly, instead of just this one's:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "pipeworx": {
      "url": "https://gateway.pipeworx.io/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Both URLs reach the same gateway and the same 1683+ data sources. The only difference is which pack's tools are listed directly; ask_pipeworx reaches all of them from either one.

No MCP client? Call it over HTTP

curl -X POST https://gateway.pipeworx.io/v1/tools/powo_search_plants \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"query":"Quercus robur"}'

No account needed for the first calls. Inspect any tool: GET https://gateway.pipeworx.io/v1/tools/powo_search_plants. Find one: POST https://gateway.pipeworx.io/v1/tools/search_packs with {"query":"..."}.

Standalone (no gateway account)

This package also runs as a local stdio MCP server — no Pipeworx account, no gateway round-trip:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "powo": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@pipeworx/mcp-powo"]
    }
  }
}

Or run it directly to confirm it starts:

npx -y @pipeworx/mcp-powo

It speaks MCP over stdin/stdout and answers initialize/tools/list/tools/call for only this pack's tools — none of the shared meta-tools the gateway connection above adds. Same source, same tools, no ask_pipeworx routing.

Using with ask_pipeworx

Instead of calling tools directly, you can ask questions in plain English — this works on the pack endpoint above as well as on the full gateway:

ask_pipeworx({ question: "your question about Powo data" })

The gateway picks the right tool and fills the arguments automatically.

More

License

MIT

Frequently asked questions

What is Powo?

POWO (Plants of the World Online, by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew) MCP.

How do I install Powo?

It runs as a remote server. In Claude Code: claude mcp add --transport http powo 'https://gateway.pipeworx.io/powo/mcp'. For other clients, paste the JSON configuration from this page into their MCP settings.

Does Powo need an API key?

Its registry entry lists no required key or secret. Some features may still need an account with the service it connects to.

Is Powo open source?

Yes. Its code is on GitHub under the MIT license.

Who maintains Powo?

It is published by pipeworx-io. AI.tn lists it but does not maintain or endorse it.

From the official MCP Registry. Listing is not an endorsement: review a server's code and permissions before giving it access to your data.