Set up Zitierfest

The address

https://mcp.zitierfest.de/mcp

That is all you need. The first time you connect, Claude opens a sign-in window of this website. You enter your email address, confirm with the code from the email and allow access. An account is created automatically. You do not need an API key for this. The sign-in window, the email with the code and your account page are in German: enter your email address (“E-Mail-Adresse”), then the code (“Anmeldecode”), then click “Erlauben” (allow).

Claude (web and desktop)

1. Open Claude and go to Settings → Connectors.
2. Choose Add custom connector.
3. Name: “Zitierfest”; URL: the address above. Claude detects the authentication itself.
4. Click Connect, sign in and choose Allow. In a new chat, Zitierfest appears among the tools.

Claude renews the sign-in on its own. You can revoke access at any time in your account under “Verbundene Anwendungen” (connected applications). In Team and Enterprise organisations, admins may have to approve custom connectors first.

First questions to try

Start a new chat. If Zitierfest does not show up, check in the chat’s tool menu that the “Zitierfest” connector is switched on. Then, for example:

• “Show me § 573(2) BGB in German and explain it in English.”
• “Which setback distances does Art. 6 BayBO require? Quote the German text.”
• “Prepare a fee note for a claim of €12,000, 1.3 procedural fee and 1.2 hearing fee.”
• “What does the Munich bylaw on the misuse of residential space (Zweckentfremdung) regulate?”
• “Which provisions refer to § 573 BGB?”
• “Show me § 5 LBO BW.”
• “Which Federal Labour Court decisions deal with consulting the works council?”
• “Quote para. 20 of BGH VIII ZR 180/18.”

With every answer, Claude shows which tools it called. If Claude asks for permission to use the tool the first time, confirm it.

Claude Code

Add it in the terminal, then sign in within Claude Code using /mcp:

claude mcp add --transport http zitierfest https://mcp.zitierfest.de/mcp

ChatGPT (beta)

Zitierfest is built for Claude. The server speaks standard MCP (Streamable HTTP, OAuth 2.1 with dynamic client registration and PKCE), so it should work in ChatGPT as well. This has not been tested yet. Feedback is welcome (contact in the legal notice).

1. In ChatGPT, open Settings → Apps → Advanced settings and turn on Developer mode.
2. Choose Create app.
3. Name “Zitierfest”, the address above as URL, authentication OAuth.
4. Sign in and allow access, as with Claude.

ChatGPT only connects custom MCP servers on paid plans in developer mode, not on the free plan (as of September 2026). Menu names may change.

Other programs

Any MCP client that supports Streamable HTTP and OAuth should work with the same address. Claude, Claude Code and Mistral Vibe are tested; the others are considered beta. Sign-in works the same everywhere: sign-in window, code from the email, allow access.

Mistral Vibe (formerly Le Chat)

1. In Vibe, open the Connectors page, choose Add Connector and switch to the Custom MCP Connector tab.
2. Name “Zitierfest”, the address above as server URL. Vibe detects the sign-in itself.
3. Sign in and allow access.

According to Mistral, this also works on the free plan (as of September 2026).

Gemini CLI

Add it in the terminal; on first use, the sign-in opens in your browser:

gemini mcp add --transport http zitierfest https://mcp.zitierfest.de/mcp

VS Code with GitHub Copilot

Run the command MCP: Add Server or create the file .vscode/mcp.json:

{
  "servers": {
    "zitierfest": { "type": "http", "url": "https://mcp.zitierfest.de/mcp" }
  }
}

Cursor

Add the server to the file mcp.json and then sign in via the MCP settings:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "zitierfest": { "url": "https://mcp.zitierfest.de/mcp" }
  }
}

API key (only without OAuth)

For clients without a sign-in dialog, and for scripts and automation, there are API keys. Create one in your account and send it as a header with every request:

Authorization: Bearer gmcp_…

Treat the key like a password: anyone who knows it uses your quota. Clients with a sign-in dialog, such as Claude, do not need it. Without sign-in or key, the server does not answer requests.

Tools

Claude chooses the tools itself. For orientation, all 9 of them (the names are German):

Asking good questions

• Name the provision if you know it: “Show me § 573(2) BGB” is faster than a description.
• Ask Claude to check the text: “Check against the statutory text …” makes Claude retrieve the provision instead of quoting from memory.
• Use German legal terms for searches: the texts are German, so “Mietminderung” finds more than “rent reduction”. Claude usually translates search terms itself.
• Name state and local law: “Bavarian Building Code” or “BayBO”, “bylaw of the City of Munich”, so that Claude does not search federal law. Many states use the same abbreviations, such as “LBO” or “GO”: add the state (“LBO BW”, “GO NRW”). If an abbreviation matches several statutes, the answer lists the other matches and Claude asks which one you mean.
• Ask for a translation explicitly: Claude’s translation helps you understand the text, but only the German wording is authoritative.

Zitierfest provides statutory texts and decisions of the federal supreme courts in the official wording, but no commentary. Which courts are already included is shown on the case law page. State law is currently available for Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg, North Rhine-Westphalia, Berlin, Hamburg, Hesse, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland, Saxony-Anhalt, Schleswig-Holstein and Thuringia; if you ask about other German states, Claude will say that the provision is missing instead of falling back on another state.

Limits

Tool calls are counted, not connections. Your current quota and usage are shown in your account. From 90 % of the daily quota, answers include a notice. Once a limit is reached, the call fails with a message saying when it will work again. For law firms or applications with higher demand, the limit can be raised on request.