Ignifer

OSINT MCP Server for Claude Desktop

Ignifer is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that provides Claude Desktop with powerful Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) capabilities. It aggregates five authoritative data sources into a unified interface, enabling comprehensive intelligence briefings, entity research, transportation tracking, and multi-source deep dive analysis directly within your Claude conversations.

Features

Intelligence Briefings

Real-time news intelligence from 65+ language sources worldwide via GDELT (Global Database of Events, Language, and Tone). Get synthesized briefings on any topic with automatic article extraction, translation support, and configurable time ranges.

Economic Analysis

Comprehensive country economic profiles using World Bank Open Data, organized by E-series analysis categories:

• E1 - Vulnerability Assessment: External debt, current account balance, reserves
• E2 - Trade Profile: Exports, imports, trade openness, trade balance
• E4 - Financial Indicators: Inflation, unemployment, FDI, domestic credit

Entity Intelligence

Rich contextual data from Wikidata including:

• Entity profiles (people, organizations, vessels, locations)
• Aliases and alternative names
• Relationships and associated entities
• Government leadership and institutional context
• Cross-reference identifiers (Q-IDs, IMO numbers, etc.)

Aviation Tracking

Real-time aircraft tracking via OpenSky Network:

• Track by callsign, tail number, or ICAO24 code
• Current position, altitude, heading, and speed
• 24-hour flight track history
• Aircraft type and registration details

Maritime Tracking

Real-time vessel tracking via AISStream:

• Track by vessel name, IMO number, or MMSI
• Current position, speed, and course
• Destination and ETA information
• Vessel type and flag state

Multi-Source Deep Dive

Comprehensive analysis correlating all available sources:

• Automatic source selection based on query type
• Concurrent querying of relevant sources
• Corroboration detection when sources agree
• Conflict identification when sources disagree
• Source attribution for every finding

Source Quality Intelligence

Persistent metadata tracking for news source quality assessment:

• Automatic enrichment from GDELT data on first encounter
• IC-style reliability grades (A-F) for each source domain
• Political orientation tracking with region-specific axes
• Source ranking prioritizing regional and high-reliability sources
• User override capability with rollback to original values
• Multi-region detection for global topics

Rigor Mode (IC-Standard Output)

Toggle enhanced analytical output for professional analysts:

• ICD 203 confidence levels (REMOTE to ALMOST_CERTAIN)
• IC-standard phrasing: "We assess with moderate confidence..."
• Full source attribution with URLs and timestamps
• Academic citation formatting (bibliography)
• Analytical caveats and limitations
• Source quality assessments

Data Sources

Source	Type	Quality	Auth Required
GDELT	Global news & events	Medium	No
World Bank	Economic indicators	High	No
Wikidata	Entity information	High	No
OpenSky	Aviation tracking	High	Yes (free)
AISStream	Maritime tracking	High	Yes (free)

MCP Tools

Ignifer exposes twelve tools to Claude Desktop:

briefing

Generate OSINT intelligence briefings on any topic.

briefing(topic: str, time_range: str | None = None, rigor: bool | None = None) -> str

Parameters:

• topic - Topic to research (2-4 words recommended)
• time_range - Optional time filter:
  • "last 24 hours", "last 48 hours"
  • "last 7 days", "last 30 days"
  • "this week", "last week"
  • "2026-01-01 to 2026-01-08" (ISO date range)
• rigor - Enable IC-standard output with confidence levels and citations

Example:

briefing("Syria", time_range="last 48 hours")
briefing("Ukraine", rigor=True)  # IC-standard output

---

extract_article

Extract full article content from any news URL.

extract_article(url: str) -> str

Parameters:

• url - Full URL of the article to extract

Returns: Clean article text with ads and navigation removed.

---

economic_context

Get comprehensive economic analysis for any country.

economic_context(country: str, rigor: bool | None = None) -> str

Parameters:

• country - Country name (e.g., "Germany") or ISO code (e.g., "DEU")
• rigor - Enable IC-standard output with confidence levels and citations

Returns: Structured economic report with key indicators, vulnerability assessment, trade profile, and financial indicators.

---

entity_lookup

Look up any entity and get comprehensive intelligence.

entity_lookup(name: str = "", identifier: str = "", rigor: bool | None = None) -> str

Parameters:

• name - Entity name to search for
• identifier - Alternative identifier (Wikidata Q-ID, IMO number, etc.)
• rigor - Enable IC-standard output with match confidence percentages

Returns: Entity profile with type, description, aliases, relationships, and cross-reference identifiers.

Example:

entity_lookup(name="Gazprom")
entity_lookup(identifier="Q102673", rigor=True)  # Shows "87% match confidence (VERY_LIKELY)"

---

track_flight

Track any aircraft by callsign, tail number, or ICAO24 code.

track_flight(identifier: str, rigor: bool | None = None) -> str

Parameters:

• identifier - Callsign (UAL123), tail number (N12345), or ICAO24 code
• rigor - Enable IC-standard output with ADS-B coverage caveats

Returns: Current position, altitude, heading, speed, and 24-hour track history.

Note: Requires OpenSky OAuth2 credentials. Set IGNIFER_OPENSKY_CLIENT_ID and IGNIFER_OPENSKY_CLIENT_SECRET environment variables. Create API credentials at https://opensky-network.org/account

---

track_vessel

Track any vessel by name, IMO number, or MMSI.

track_vessel(identifier: str, rigor: bool | None = None) -> str

Parameters:

• identifier - Vessel name, IMO number (IMO 9811000), or MMSI (367596480)
• rigor - Enable IC-standard output with AIS coverage caveats

Returns: Current position, speed, course, destination, and vessel details.

Note: Requires AISStream API key. Set IGNIFER_AISSTREAM_KEY environment variable.

---

deep_dive

Comprehensive multi-source analysis correlating all available data sources.

deep_dive(topic: str, focus: str | None = None, rigor: bool | None = None) -> str

Parameters:

• topic - The subject to analyze (country, person, organization, vessel, event)
• focus - Optional focus area to emphasize (e.g., "economic", "entity", "aviation", "maritime")
• rigor - Enable IC-standard output with full source attribution and bibliography

Returns: Comprehensive analysis with:

• Automatic source selection based on query type
• News & events (GDELT)
• Economic context (World Bank)
• Entity profiles (Wikidata)
• Corroboration notes where sources agree
• Conflict markers where sources disagree

Example:

deep_dive("Myanmar")
deep_dive("Venezuela", focus="economic")
deep_dive("Roman Abramovich", rigor=True)  # Full IC-standard analysis

---

set_source_reliability

Set the reliability grade for a news source domain.

set_source_reliability(domain: str, reliability: str) -> str

Parameters:

• domain - The news source domain (e.g., "reuters.com", "scmp.com")
• reliability - Reliability grade A-F:
  • A = Completely reliable
  • B = Usually reliable
  • C = Fairly reliable
  • D = Not usually reliable
  • E = Unreliable
  • F = Reliability cannot be judged

Example:

set_source_reliability("focustaiwan.tw", "B")
set_source_reliability("rt.com", "E")

---

set_source_orientation

Set the political orientation for a news source domain.

set_source_orientation(domain: str, orientation: str, axis: str | None = None) -> str

Parameters:

• domain - The news source domain
• orientation - Political orientation description (e.g., "Pro-independence", "Center-right")
• axis - Optional orientation axis for context (e.g., "china-independence", "left-right")

Example:

set_source_orientation("focustaiwan.tw", "Pro-independence", "china-independence")
set_source_orientation("guardian.co.uk", "Center-left", "left-right")

---

set_source_nation

Set the nation of origin for a news source domain.

set_source_nation(domain: str, nation: str) -> str

Parameters:

• domain - The news source domain
• nation - Nation of origin (e.g., "Hong Kong", "Taiwan", "United States")

Example:

set_source_nation("scmp.com", "Hong Kong")

---

get_source_metadata

Get stored metadata for a news source domain.

get_source_metadata(domain: str) -> str

Parameters:

• domain - The news source domain to inspect

Returns: Formatted metadata including nation, language, reliability grade, and political orientation.

---

reset_source_metadata

Reset source metadata to original auto-enriched values.

reset_source_metadata(domain: str) -> str

Parameters:

• domain - The news source domain to reset

Returns: Confirmation message or error if no original values exist to restore.

Rigor Mode

Rigor mode provides IC-standard analytical output suitable for professional intelligence products.

Enabling Rigor Mode

Per-query: Add rigor=True to any tool call:

briefing("Ukraine", rigor=True)
deep_dive("Venezuela", rigor=True)

Globally: Set environment variable:

export IGNIFER_RIGOR_MODE=true

Or in config file (~/.config/ignifer/config.toml):

rigor_mode = true

Rigor Mode Output

When enabled, output includes:

ICD 203 Confidence Levels:

• REMOTE (<5%), VERY_UNLIKELY (5-20%), UNLIKELY (20-45%)
• ROUGHLY_EVEN (45-55%), LIKELY (55-80%)
• VERY_LIKELY (80-95%), ALMOST_CERTAIN (>95%)

IC-Standard Phrasing:

• "We assess with moderate confidence (55-80%) that..."
• "It is very likely (80-95%) that..."

Source Attribution:

• Full URLs with retrieval timestamps
• Data freshness indicators (Fresh, Recent, Stale, Archived)
• Source quality tier (HIGH, MEDIUM, LOW)

Academic Citations:

Sources
═══════

GDELT Project. "Global Database of Events, Language, and Tone."
  Retrieved 2026-01-10T14:32:00Z from https://api.gdeltproject.org/...
  Data freshness: Fresh (<1 hour old)

World Bank. "World Development Indicators: Germany."
  Retrieved 2026-01-10T14:32:15Z from https://api.worldbank.org/...
  Data freshness: Recent (1-24 hours old)

Note: Data reflects point-in-time snapshot. URLs may change;
consider archiving via archive.org for permanent reference.

Installation

Requirements

• Python 3.10+
• uv (package manager)

Install

make install

Configure Claude Desktop

Add to your Claude Desktop configuration (claude_desktop_config.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ignifer": {
      "command": "uv",
      "args": ["run", "--directory", "/path/to/ignifer", "ignifer"]
    }
  }
}

Or if installed globally:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ignifer": {
      "command": "ignifer"
    }
  }
}

API Key Configuration

For sources requiring authentication, set environment variables:

# OpenSky (Aviation Tracking - OAuth2)
export IGNIFER_OPENSKY_CLIENT_ID="your_client_id"
export IGNIFER_OPENSKY_CLIENT_SECRET="your_client_secret"

# AISStream (Maritime Tracking)
export IGNIFER_AISSTREAM_KEY="your_api_key"

# Rigor Mode (Optional - enables IC-standard output globally)
export IGNIFER_RIGOR_MODE=true

Alternatively, create a config file at ~/.config/ignifer/config.toml:

rigor_mode = true  # Optional: enable rigor mode globally

# OpenSky OAuth2 credentials
opensky_client_id = "your_client_id"
opensky_client_secret = "your_client_secret"

# AISStream API key
aisstream_key = "your_api_key"

Architecture

ignifer/
├── server.py              # FastMCP server with tool definitions
├── adapters/
│   ├── base.py            # Base adapter protocol & error hierarchy
│   ├── gdelt.py           # GDELT news adapter
│   ├── worldbank.py       # World Bank economic data adapter
│   ├── wikidata.py        # Wikidata entity adapter
│   ├── opensky.py         # OpenSky aviation adapter
│   └── aisstream.py       # AISStream maritime adapter
├── aggregation/
│   ├── entity_resolver.py # Tiered entity resolution system
│   ├── relevance.py       # Source relevance engine
│   └── correlator.py      # Multi-source correlation
├── confidence.py          # ICD 203 confidence framework
├── citation.py            # Academic citation formatting
├── rigor.py               # Rigor mode output formatting
├── cache.py               # SQLite-based response caching
├── config.py              # Configuration management
├── models.py              # Pydantic data models
├── output.py              # Output formatting
├── source_metadata.py     # Source quality tracking & management
└── timeparse.py           # Time range parsing

Adapter Pattern

All data source adapters implement the OSINTAdapter protocol:

• source_name - Unique identifier for the source
• base_quality_tier - Quality tier (HIGH, MEDIUM, LOW)
• query(params) - Execute a query against the source
• health_check() - Verify source availability
• close() - Clean up resources

Multi-Source Correlation

The aggregation layer provides intelligent source selection and correlation:

• SourceRelevanceEngine - Analyzes queries to identify relevant sources
• Correlator - Queries sources concurrently, detects corroboration/conflicts
• EntityResolver - Tiered entity matching (exact → normalized → Wikidata → fuzzy)

Caching

Ignifer uses SQLite-based caching with source-specific TTLs:

• GDELT: 1 hour
• World Bank: 24 hours
• Wikidata: 7 days
• OpenSky: 5 minutes
• AISStream: 15 minutes

Error Handling

All tools provide graceful degradation:

• Timeout errors suggest retry or query refinement
• Rate limiting returns helpful wait guidance
• Missing data offers alternative search suggestions
• Partial data returns available results with source attribution
• Authentication failures provide configuration guidance

Development

# Run tests
make test

# Run linting
make lint

# Run type checking
make type-check

# Format code
make format

# Run all checks
make all

# Clean build artifacts
make clean

Running Tests

# All tests
make test

# With coverage
uv run pytest --cov=ignifer --cov-report=term-missing

# Specific test file
uv run pytest tests/adapters/test_gdelt.py -v

Roadmap

Completed

• Phase 1: Zero-Config OSINT (GDELT, World Bank, Wikidata)
• Phase 2: Transportation Tracking (OpenSky, AISStream)
• Phase 3: Multi-Source Correlation & Rigor Mode
• Phase 4: Source Quality Intelligence (reliability tracking, political orientation, regional prioritization)

Planned

• Enhancements to economic tool (trade network/resource security)
• Social media monitoring/trend analysis
• Infrastructure monitoring (power/internet/telecom outages)
• Strategic modeling (scenario modeling/actor capability/strategic impact)
• System Administration & Power Features
• Visualization

License

MIT License - see LICENSE file for details.