Tutorial: University Directory

Education

Data source: Hipolabs Universities API

Overview

University Directory wraps Hipolabs Universities API, handling authentication, pagination, and rate limits for you. This tutorial covers all 2 tools with working code examples you can copy and run.

Prerequisites

Sign up at https://context.gnist.ai/signup for a free API key (100 calls/day).
Choose your integration method: MCP protocol or REST API.

Connect via MCP

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

MCP Config

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "gnist-university": {
      "url": "https://context.gnist.ai/mcp/university/",
      "headers": {
        "Gnist-API-Key": "YOUR_API_KEY"
      }
    }
  }
}

Tools (2)

`search_universities`

Search universities worldwide by name and/or country. Returns university name, country, domains, and web pages. At least one of name or country should be provided for meaningful results. Args: name: Partial university name to search for. country: Country name to filter by. limit: Maximum number of results to return (default 20). Returns: Dictionary with 'count' and 'universities' list. Each university has name, country, alpha_two_code, state_province, domains, and web_pages.

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
`name`	any	optional	Partial university name to search for (e.g. 'MIT', 'Oxford', 'technol'). Optional.
`country`	any	optional	Country name to filter by (e.g. 'United States', 'Norway', 'Germany'). Optional.
`limit`	integer	optional	Maximum number of results to return (1-100, default 20). (default: `20`)

curl -X POST "https://context.gnist.ai/mcp/university/" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Gnist-API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -d '{"jsonrpc": "2.0", "method": "tools/call", "id": 1, "params": {"name": "search_universities", "arguments": {"name": "'MIT'"}}}'

import httpx

resp = httpx.post(
    "https://context.gnist.ai/mcp/university/",
    headers={"Gnist-API-Key": "YOUR_API_KEY"},
    json={'id': 1,
 'jsonrpc': '2.0',
 'method': 'tools/call',
 'params': {'arguments': {'name': "'MIT'"}, 'name': 'search_universities'}},
)
print(resp.json())

`report_feedback`

Report a bug, feature request, or general feedback for this data source. Use this when something doesn't work as expected, when you'd like a new feature, or when you have suggestions for improvement. Args: feedback: Describe the issue or suggestion. feedback_type: One of 'bug', 'feature_request', or 'general'.

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
`feedback`	string	required
`feedback_type`	string	optional	(default: `general`)

curl -X POST "https://context.gnist.ai/mcp/university/" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Gnist-API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -d '{"jsonrpc": "2.0", "method": "tools/call", "id": 1, "params": {"name": "report_feedback", "arguments": {"feedback": "example"}}}'

import httpx

resp = httpx.post(
    "https://context.gnist.ai/mcp/university/",
    headers={"Gnist-API-Key": "YOUR_API_KEY"},
    json={'id': 1,
 'jsonrpc': '2.0',
 'method': 'tools/call',
 'params': {'arguments': {'feedback': 'example'}, 'name': 'report_feedback'}},
)
print(resp.json())

Common Patterns

Pagination
Several tools support limit, offset, or page parameters. Start with small limits during development, then increase for production queries.