Gleif MCP Server

🚀 GLEIF MCP Server

Verify any company's legal identity in one question. Look up LEI codes, validate counterparties, and trace corporate ownership structures using the official GLEIF database. Covers 2.8M+ entities across 200+ jurisdictions.

29 tools are available for LEI lookup, entity search, BIC/SWIFT cross - referencing, corporate ownership, and batch validation. This server works with Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code, Windsurf, and other MCP - compatible tools.

🚀 Quick Start

The GLEIF MCP Server allows you to verify any company's legal identity with a single query. It provides access to the official GLEIF database, enabling you to look up LEI codes, validate counterparties, and trace corporate ownership structures.

✨ Features

Core Capabilities

• LEI Lookup: Retrieve full entity details by providing an LEI code.
• Batch Lookup: Look up multiple LEIs in a single request (up to 100).
• Entity Search: Find companies by name using fuzzy matching and pagination.
• LEI Validation: Verify the format, check digits (ISO 17442), and registration status of an LEI.

Financial Identifiers

• BIC/SWIFT Lookup: Find bank LEIs from BIC codes.
• ISIN Lookup: Find security issuer LEIs from ISIN codes.
• Country Browse: List entities by jurisdiction.

Relationships & Compliance

• Corporate Ownership: Identify parent companies, subsidiaries, and ultimate parents.
• Fund Relationships: Discover fund managers, umbrella funds, and sub - funds.
• Reporting Exceptions: Get Level 2 data exceptions with reasons.
• LEI Issuers: View a list and details of all Local Operating Units (LOUs).

Performance & Reliability

• Fast Responses: Results are cached locally, ensuring instant returns for repeat queries.
• No API Key Needed: Works directly with GLEIF's public API.
• Graceful Error Handling: Automatically retries on timeouts or temporary failures.
• Rate Limiting: Built - in rate limiting prevents hitting GLEIF's quotas.

📦 Installation

Download Binary

Pre - built binaries for all platforms are available on the releases page:

# macOS/Linux - download and make executable
chmod +x gleif-mcp-server-darwin-arm64

Build from Source

Requires Go 1.25+:

git clone https://github.com/olgasafonova/gleif-mcp-server.git
cd gleif-mcp-server
go build -o gleif-mcp-server .

Install via Go

go install github.com/olgasafonova/gleif-mcp-server@latest

💻 Usage Examples

Basic LEI Lookup

Prompt: "Look up LEI HWUPKR0MPOU8FGXBT394" Returns: Full entity details for Apple Inc., including legal name, headquarters address, jurisdiction (US - CA), entity status, registration status, managing LOU, and next renewal date.

Company Search with Pagination

Prompt: "Search for Deutsche Bank, show page 2" Tool call:

{
  "name": "search_entity",
  "arguments": {
    "query": "Deutsche Bank",
    "limit": 20,
    "page": 2,
    "fuzzy": true
  }
}

Returns: A list of matching entities with pagination info (total results, current page, has more).

Batch LEI Lookup

Prompt: "Look up these LEIs: HWUPKR0MPOU8FGXBT394, 5493006MHB84DD0ZWV18, 549300GKFG0RYRRQ1414" Returns: A summary of all three entities with LEI, legal name, country, city, and status.

Find Bank by BIC

Prompt: "Find the LEI for BIC DEUTDEFF" Returns: Deutsche Bank AG's LEI record with full details.

Find Security Issuer

Prompt: "Who issued ISIN US0378331005?" Returns: Apple Inc. (the issuer of AAPL stock).

Corporate Structure

Prompt: "Who is the ultimate parent of this subsidiary?" Tool call:

{
  "name": "get_relationships",
  "arguments": {
    "lei": "549300GKFG0RYRRQ1414",
    "type": "ultimate-parent"
  }
}

LEI Validation

Prompt: "Is LEI HWUPKR0MPOU8FGXBT394 valid?" Returns:

{
  "lei": "HWUPKR0MPOU8FGXBT394",
  "valid": true,
  "status": "ISSUED",
  "entityStatus": "ACTIVE",
  "nextRenewal": "2025-08-15"
}

Check Reporting Exceptions

Prompt: "Why is parent info missing for this company?" Tool call:

{
  "name": "get_reporting_exceptions",
  "arguments": {
    "lei": "5493006MHB84DD0ZWV18"
  }
}

Returns: Exception categories and reasons (e.g., NON_CONSOLIDATING, NATURAL_PERSONS).

List All LEI Issuers

Prompt: "Show me all LEI issuers" Returns: A complete list of LOUs (Local Operating Units) with name, country, status, and number of sponsored LEIs.

📚 Documentation

What is LEI?

The Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) is a 20 - character alphanumeric code that uniquely identifies legal entities participating in financial transactions worldwide. It is mandated by over 200 regulations, including MiFID II, EMIR, Dodd - Frank, and DORA.

LEI Format (ISO 17442):

• Characters 1 - 4: LOU (Local Operating Unit) prefix
• Characters 5 - 18: Entity - specific identifier
• Characters 19 - 20: Check digits (mod 97 validation)

Example: HWUPKR0MPOU8FGXBT394 (Apple Inc.)

AI Agent Setup

Quickest start: Using Claude Desktop? Just add the config below and restart. Using an IDE like Cursor? Same idea, different config file. Pick your tool below.

Claude Desktop

1. Download the binary: Go to the releases page and download the binary for your system:
   • Mac (Apple Silicon M1/M2/M3/M4): gleif-mcp-server-darwin-arm64
   • Mac (Intel): gleif-mcp-server-darwin-amd64
   • Windows: gleif-mcp-server-windows-amd64.exe
2. Mac only - allow the file to run: macOS blocks downloaded files. Open Terminal and run:

chmod +x ~/Downloads/gleif-mcp-server-darwin-arm64
xattr -d com.apple.quarantine ~/Downloads/gleif-mcp-server-darwin-arm64

3. Open the config file:
   • Mac: Open Finder, press Cmd + Shift + G, paste this path:

~/Library/Application Support/Claude/

- **Windows**: Press `Win + R`, paste this path:

%APPDATA%\Claude

Open `claude_desktop_config.json`. If it doesn't exist, create it.

4. Add the config:
   • Mac (replace YOUR_USERNAME with your actual username):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "gleif": {
      "command": "/Users/YOUR_USERNAME/Downloads/gleif-mcp-server-darwin-arm64"
    }
  }
}

- **Windows** (replace YOUR_USERNAME - note the double backslashes):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "gleif": {
      "command": "C:\\Users\\YOUR_USERNAME\\Downloads\\gleif-mcp-server-windows-amd64.exe"
    }
  }
}

To find your username: Mac - open Terminal and type `whoami`. Windows - look at `C:\Users\`.

5. Restart Claude Desktop: Quit completely (Cmd + Q on Mac) and reopen.
6. Test it: Type in Claude Desktop:

Look up Apple's LEI using GLEIF

You should see Claude call the GLEIF tool and return company data.

Claude Code (CLI)

# Add the server
claude mcp add gleif /path/to/gleif-mcp-server

# Or with scope for all projects
claude mcp add --scope user gleif /path/to/gleif-mcp-server

Cursor IDE

Add to .cursor/mcp.json in your project or ~/.cursor/mcp.json for global config:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "gleif": {
      "command": "/path/to/gleif-mcp-server"
    }
  }
}

VS Code with Continue Extension

Add to .continue/config.json:

{
  "experimental": {
    "modelContextProtocolServers": [
      {
        "name": "gleif",
        "transport": {
          "type": "stdio",
          "command": "/path/to/gleif-mcp-server"
        }
      }
    ]
  }
}

Windsurf

Add to ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "gleif": {
      "command": "/path/to/gleif-mcp-server"
    }
  }
}

Cline (VS Code Extension)

Add via Cline's MCP settings or in .vscode/cline_mcp_settings.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "gleif": {
      "command": "/path/to/gleif-mcp-server",
      "args": []
    }
  }
}

Antigravity

Add to ~/.antigravity/mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "gleif": {
      "command": "/path/to/gleif-mcp-server"
    }
  }
}

Not working? Tell us what made it hard — even one sentence helps.

Tools Reference

Core Lookup Tools

Search Tools

Relationship Tools

LEI Issuer Tools

Compliance Tools

Response Format

All tools return JSON with relevant fields. Example entity record:

{
  "lei": "HWUPKR0MPOU8FGXBT394",
  "legalName": "Apple Inc.",
  "country": "US",
  "city": "Cupertino",
  "status": "ACTIVE",
  "regStatus": "ISSUED"
}

Search results include pagination:

{
  "count": 20,
  "results": [...],
  "pagination": {
    "currentPage": 1,
    "perPage": 20,
    "total": 156,
    "lastPage": 8
  },
  "hasMore": true
}

Error Handling

The server returns structured errors:

Example error response:

{
  "code": "not_found",
  "message": "LEI not found in GLEIF database",
  "statusCode": 404,
  "retryable": false
}

Architecture

gleif-mcp-server/
├── main.go                 # Entry point, MCP server setup
├── internal/gleif/
│   ├── client.go          # GLEIF API client with caching & rate limiting
│   ├── client_test.go     # Client and validation tests
│   ├── cache.go           # LRU cache with TTL
│   ├── types.go           # Data structures for API responses
│   └── errors.go          # Structured error types
└── tools/
    ├── definitions.go     # Tool metadata and parameter specs
    ├── handlers.go        # MCP tool implementations
    └── handlers_test.go   # Handler tests with mock server

Technical Details

For developers who want the specifics:

API Reference

This server wraps the public GLEIF API:

• Base URL: https://api.gleif.org/api/v1
• Authentication: None required
• Rate Limit: 60 requests/minute
• Documentation: https://www.gleif.org/en/lei-data/gleif-api

Troubleshooting

Server won't start

• Check the binary has execute permissions: chmod +x gleif-mcp-server
• Verify the path in your MCP config is absolute, not relative

"Rate limit exceeded" errors

• The server automatically handles rate limiting with retries
• If persistent, reduce concurrent requests or wait a few minutes

"LEI not found" for valid LEI

• The GLEIF database updates daily; recently issued LEIs may not appear immediately
• Verify the LEI format (exactly 20 alphanumeric characters)

Slow responses

• First requests may be slower (cache warming)
• GLEIF API occasionally has latency spikes; retries handle this automatically

Claude Desktop doesn't show the server

• Restart Claude Desktop after editing config
• Check JSON syntax in config file
• Verify the binary path exists and is executable

Development

# Run tests
go test ./...

# Run tests with coverage
go test -coverprofile=coverage.out ./...
go tool cover -html=coverage.out

# Run tests with race detector
go test -race ./...

# Build
go build -o gleif-mcp-server .

Contributing

Contributions are welcome. Please open an issue first to discuss proposed changes.

📄 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see LICENSE for details.

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Acknowledgments

• GLEIF for the public LEI API
• Model Context Protocol for the MCP specification