Orthros MCP documentation

Connect your assistant to the free Orthros library: how, with every tool, its limits, and where its texts come from.

At a glance

The Orthros server gives your own assistant read-only access to Orthros's free library, using the Model Context Protocol (MCP). It is a library your assistant reads from. It is not a spiritual adviser, and nothing is generated: it returns stored text, and nothing machine-made is served.

https://mcp.orthros.app/mcp
  • Cost. Free. No account, no sign-up, no API key, and no Orthros+ needed.
  • Access. Read-only. It keeps no personal data and cannot see anything you write in the app.
  • Transport. Streamable HTTP at the address above, with no authentication. Each request stands alone; there is no session.
  • Protocol. MCP 2025-06-18. The server announces itself as orthros, version 1.0.0.
  • Tools. 15, all marked read-only.
  • Behaviour. It quotes and never paraphrases, always names the source and licence, and sends questions of practice to your priest and parish.

Connect your assistant

Every assistant asks for the same thing: the address https://mcp.orthros.app/mcp, and no sign-in. Menu names change as these products change; if a name below is not on your screen, look for the nearest word to it, and check the assistant's own help.

Claude on the web, Claude Desktop and the Claude apps

Custom connectors are available on Claude's Free (one custom connector), Pro, Max, Team and Enterprise plans.

  1. Open claude.ai or Claude Desktop and go to Customize, then Connectors. Older versions call this Settings, then Connectors.
  2. Choose + Add, then Add custom connector.
  3. Name it Orthros. Paste https://mcp.orthros.app/mcp as the server URL and choose Continue.
  4. Under Authentication, choose No sign in. Orthros needs none.
  5. Choose Add.
  6. In a conversation, open the + menu at the lower left, choose Connectors, and turn Orthros on for that conversation.

On a Team or Enterprise plan, an Owner adds the connector once under Organization settings, then Connectors, then Add, then Custom, then Web. Each member then finds it under Customize, Connectors, and chooses Connect. Claude reaches the server from Anthropic's own servers, not from your machine. Add the connector on the web or in Claude Desktop; see Claude's help for what the mobile apps offer.

Claude Code

Add the server from a terminal:

claude mcp add --transport http orthros https://mcp.orthros.app/mcp

This adds it for the current project only. To have it in every project, add --scope user:

claude mcp add --transport http --scope user orthros https://mcp.orthros.app/mcp

Check it with claude mcp list (it should show Connected), or open /mcp inside a session. To share it with a team, use --scope project, which writes this to .mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "orthros": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://mcp.orthros.app/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Remove it with claude mcp remove orthros.

ChatGPT

ChatGPT can use a remote MCP server as a connector through its developer mode. This is a beta feature, and which plans have it, and whether a workspace administrator must turn it on, has changed more than once. Check OpenAI's current help if a step is missing.

  1. Open Settings and go to Connectors. Under Advanced settings, turn on Developer mode.
  2. Create a new connector. Name it Orthros and paste https://mcp.orthros.app/mcp as the MCP server URL.
  3. Set Authentication to No authentication, confirm that you trust the server if asked, and create it.
  4. Start a new chat, open the + menu, choose Developer mode, and enable Orthros for that chat.

Any other MCP client

Any client that supports remote MCP servers over streamable HTTP can use Orthros. Give it the address, choose the HTTP transport (some clients call it streamable HTTP, others just HTTP), and choose no authentication. Clients that only run local servers cannot connect to it directly.

https://mcp.orthros.app/mcp

Check the connection

Once connected, ask your assistant a question the library can answer, such as “What is the Orthros calendar for June 7, 2026, New Calendar?” and watch for it to use the Orthros tool. To test the server without an assistant, send it a request yourself:

curl -s https://mcp.orthros.app/mcp \
  -H 'content-type: application/json' \
  -H 'accept: application/json, text/event-stream' \
  -A 'Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_15_7) AppleWebKit/537.36 Chrome/124.0 Safari/537.36' \
  -d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"tools/call","params":{"name":"get_day","arguments":{"date":"2026-06-07","calendar":"new"}}}'

The server answers JSON. Some networks and Cloudflare reject requests that carry no browser-like User-Agent, which is why the example sets one. To list the tools instead, send {"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"tools/list"}.

Every tool

15 tools, all read-only. This list is read from the live server's own tool list, and each answer below was fetched from it. Your assistant chooses the tool; you only ask.

The calendar

get_dayThe Church day

Everything the Orthros calendar holds for one date on one Church calendar: the feast, every saint remembered that day, the fast, the tone, the Menaion hymns, the weekday's dedication, the verse of the day, the references of the day's readings and the Prologue page to open.

Try asking: “What saints are commemorated on October 31 on the Old Calendar?”

Inputs for get_day
INPUTTYPE AND VALUESMEANING
daterequiredtextThe person's local date, YYYY-MM-DD.
calendaroptionalone of new, oldnew (Revised Julian, default) or old (Julian).
translationoptionalone of orthros, brenton, kjv, weborthros (default), brenton, kjv or web.
textsoptionaltexttrue for the readings' full texts.
  • calendar is optional. Left out, it is new (Revised Julian), and the answer carries a calendar_note saying so and how to ask for old (Julian). Give the person's own local calendar date.
  • The readings come as references by default, which keeps the answer short. Pass texts: true for their full text in the same call, or call get_readings.
  • prologue_page is the page to hand to get_prologue. Pages are the Julian day plus thirteen, so they differ from the civil date.
  • Each commemoration carries a saint_slug that get_saint reads.

REFUSES

  • A date it cannot read: the answer asks for YYYY-MM-DD, and says "November 1, 2026" is read too.
  • A date outside 2025 to 2035: "Orthros's library covers 2025 to 2035."

EXAMPLE REQUEST

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 1,
  "method": "tools/call",
  "params": {
    "name": "get_day",
    "arguments": {
      "date": "2026-06-07",
      "calendar": "new"
    }
  }
}

REAL ANSWER, TRIMMED

{
  "id": "day:new:2026-06-07",
  "kind": "day",
  "title": "Sunday of All Saints",
  "date": "2026-06-07",
  "calendar": "new",
  "feast": "Sunday of All Saints",
  "saint": "All Saints",
  "commemorations": [
    {
      "title": "All Saints",
      "rank": "feast",
      "saint_slug": "all-saints"
    },
    {
      "title": "Hieromartyr Theodotus, Bishop of Ancyra",
      "rank": "saint",
      "saint_slug": "hieromartyr-theodotus-bishop-of-ancyra"
    },
    "… 1 more"
  ],
  "tone": 8,
  "tone_name": "Tone 8, Plagal of the Fourth",
  "hymns": [],
  "dedication": {
    "name": "Sunday",
    "title": "The Resurrection",
    "text": "Every Sunday is a little Pascha. The Church keeps the first day of the week as the day of the Lord's rising from the dead, which is why Sundays are never strict fast days, and why we stand (rather than kneel) in the joy of the Res […]",
    "source_id": "orthros-house",
    "licence": "© Orthros · original editorial content",
    "attribution": "Orthros · house catechetical copy (our own words)"
  },
  "season": "ordinary",
  "fast": "none",
  "is_fast_day": false,
  "week_label": "1st Sunday after Pentecost",
  "season_name": null,
  "fast_label": "No fast today",
  "fast_observance": null,
  "prologue_page": "06-20",
  "verse_of_day": {
    "text": "But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins—” then he said to the paralytic, “Get up, and take up your mat, and go to your house.”",
    "reference": "Matthew 9:6",
    "translation": "World English Bible",
    "source_id": "web-pd",
    "licence": "Public domain (dedication); \"World English Bible\" is a trademark",
    "attribution": "World English Bible"
  },
  "observances": [
    {
      "slug": "all-saints",
      "name": "Sunday of All Saints",
      "door_label": "Sunday of All Saints"
    }
  ],
  "readings": [
    {
      "kind": "Vespers",
      "reference": "Isaiah 43.9-14",
      "book": "Isa",
      "chapter": 43,
      "verse_start": 9,
      "end_chapter": 43,
      "verse_end": 14,
      "translation": "orthros",
      "service_context": null,
      "variant_label": null,
      "variant_jurisdiction": null,
      "source_id": "orthros-ot",
      "licence": "Public domain (dedication) · edited by Orthros",
      "attribution": "LXX2012 Septuagint, Orthros edition (register, spelling and names edited by Orthros)",
      "sources": [
        {
          "id": "lxx2012-pd",
          "licence": "Public domain",
          "attribution": "LXX2012: Septuagint in American English (Brenton, updated by Michael Paul Johnson)"
        },
        {
          "id": "orthros-ot",
          "licence": "Public domain (dedication) · edited by Orthros",
          "attribution": "LXX2012 Septuagint, Orthros edition (register, spelling and names edited by Orthros)"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "kind": "Vespers",
      "reference": "Wisdom of Solomon 5.15-6.3",
      "book": "Wis",
      "chapter": 5,
      "verse_start": 15,
      "end_chapter": 6,
      "verse_end": 3,
      "translation": "orthros",
      "service_context": null,
      "variant_label": null,
      "variant_jurisdiction": null,
      "source_id": "orthros-ot",
      "licence": "Public domain (dedication) · edited by Orthros",
      "attribution": "LXX2012 Septuagint, Orthros edition (register, spelling and names edited by Orthros)",
      "sources": [
        {
          "id": "lxx2012-pd",
          "licence": "Public domain",
          "attribution": "LXX2012: Septuagint in American English (Brenton, updated by Michael Paul Johnson)"
        },
        {
          "id": "orthros-ot",
          "licence": "Public domain (dedication) · edited by Orthros",
          "attribution": "LXX2012 Septuagint, Orthros edition (register, spelling and names edited by Orthros)"
        }
      ]
    },
    "… 5 more"
  ],
  "text": null,
  "source_id": "orthocal",
  "licence": "MIT",
  "attribution": "Calendar computed with orthocal-python by Brian Glass (MIT License)",
  "share_alike": false,
  "url": "https://orthros.app",
  "readings_note": "These are the readings' references; get_readings (or texts: true) gives their full texts."
}

Read from the live server. Long text and lists are shortened here; the server returns them whole.

THE DESCRIPTION THE ASSISTANT RECEIVES

The Church day for a date (2025–2035) from the Orthros calendar: feast, saint, commemorations (Synaxarion order; saint_slug: get_saint), hymns, dedication, fast and fast_label, tone and tone_name (hymns: get_tone), week_label and season_name as Today shows them, verse_of_day, observances (great feasts, each with its door_label; read with get_teaching, kind feast), and prologue_page (for get_prologue). date is the person's own local date; calendar is new (Revised Julian, the app's default) or old (Julian).

The readings come as references; their full texts come from get_readings, or here with texts: true, in the Orthros edition unless translation asks for brenton, kjv or web. Quote the text exactly, with its attribution; for questions of practice, point the person to their priest and parish.

get_readingsThe day's readings

The appointed Scripture readings for a civil date on the person's calendar, with their full text and source, in the Orthros edition by default, as the day's readings in the app.

Try asking: “What are the Gospel and Epistle readings for next Sunday, New Calendar?”

Inputs for get_readings
INPUTTYPE AND VALUESMEANING
daterequiredtextThe person's local date, YYYY-MM-DD.
calendaroptionalone of new, oldnew (Revised Julian, default) or old (Julian).
translationoptionalone of orthros, brenton, kjv, weborthros (default), brenton, kjv or web.
  • calendar is optional and defaults to new. translation asks for brenton, kjv or web instead of the Orthros edition, and each reading carries the source, licence and attribution of the edition served.
  • If the chosen edition lacks a book, the reading comes from the next one and says so.

REFUSES

  • The same two refusals as get_day.

EXAMPLE REQUEST

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 1,
  "method": "tools/call",
  "params": {
    "name": "get_readings",
    "arguments": {
      "date": "2026-06-07",
      "calendar": "new"
    }
  }
}

REAL ANSWER, TRIMMED

{
  "date": "2026-06-07",
  "calendar": "new",
  "translation": "orthros",
  "readings": [
    {
      "kind": "Vespers",
      "reference": "Isaiah 43.9-14",
      "text": "All the nations are gathered together, and princes shall be gathered out of them: who will declare these things? or who will declare to you things from the beginning? let them bring forth their witnesses, and be justified; and let […]",
      "book": "Isa",
      "chapter": 43,
      "verse_start": 9,
      "end_chapter": 43,
      "verse_end": 14,
      "translation": "orthros",
      "service_context": null,
      "variant_label": null,
      "variant_jurisdiction": null,
      "source_id": "orthros-ot",
      "licence": "Public domain (dedication) · edited by Orthros",
      "attribution": "LXX2012 Septuagint, Orthros edition (register, spelling and names edited by Orthros)",
      "sources": [
        {
          "id": "lxx2012-pd",
          "licence": "Public domain",
          "attribution": "LXX2012: Septuagint in American English (Brenton, updated by Michael Paul Johnson)"
        },
        {
          "id": "orthros-ot",
          "licence": "Public domain (dedication) · edited by Orthros",
          "attribution": "LXX2012 Septuagint, Orthros edition (register, spelling and names edited by Orthros)"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "kind": "Vespers",
      "reference": "Wisdom of Solomon 5.15-6.3",
      "text": "But the righteous live for evermore; their reward also is with the Lord, and the care of them is with the most High. Therefore shall they receive a glorious kingdom, and a beautiful crown from the Lord's hand: for with his right h […]",
      "book": "Wis",
      "chapter": 5,
      "verse_start": 15,
      "end_chapter": 6,
      "verse_end": 3,
      "translation": "orthros",
      "service_context": null,
      "variant_label": null,
      "variant_jurisdiction": null,
      "source_id": "orthros-ot",
      "licence": "Public domain (dedication) · edited by Orthros",
      "attribution": "LXX2012 Septuagint, Orthros edition (register, spelling and names edited by Orthros)",
      "sources": [
        {
          "id": "lxx2012-pd",
          "licence": "Public domain",
          "attribution": "LXX2012: Septuagint in American English (Brenton, updated by Michael Paul Johnson)"
        },
        {
          "id": "orthros-ot",
          "licence": "Public domain (dedication) · edited by Orthros",
          "attribution": "LXX2012 Septuagint, Orthros edition (register, spelling and names edited by Orthros)"
        }
      ]
    },
    "… 5 more"
  ]
}

Read from the live server. Long text and lists are shortened here; the server returns them whole.

THE DESCRIPTION THE ASSISTANT RECEIVES

The appointed Scripture readings for a date in the person's Church calendar (new by default, or old), with their full text and source, each carrying its service_context and, where a jurisdiction receives another form, variant_label. Read in the Orthros edition by default, as the app reads them (see get_passage); translation asks for brenton, kjv or web, and each reading carries the source, licence and attribution of the edition served (a book the edition lacks falls back as the app does, and says so). Quote the text exactly, with its attribution; for questions of practice, point the person to their priest and parish.

Prayers

get_prayerA prayer

A prayer's full text, by slug, by name, by what it is for, or the prayers the app offers for a need. The wording is the app's own: Orthros's wording where Orthros has reworded a prayer, and the received wording otherwise. The Jesus Prayer also carries its shorter forms, its forms in Greek, Slavonic, Romanian and Arabic, and the prayer rope's dividers and teaching.

Try asking: “Give me the prayer for the sick.”

Inputs for get_prayer
INPUTTYPE AND VALUESMEANING
slugoptionaltextThe prayer's slug, from search.
nameoptionaltextThe prayer's name, or what it is for ("prayer before eating").
needoptionaltextA need, e.g. "in grief": the app's prayers for it.
wordingoptionalone of orthros, receivedorthros or received. Default: the app's.
  • Give one of slug, name or need. need takes plain words ("in sickness", "before Confession", "at meals"), up to 80 characters.
  • A name is read generously: a title, an alias or a part of one finds the prayer, and so does what it is for ("prayer before eating"). The answer says resolved_from when the name was not exact, and lists matches to choose from when several prayers could be meant.
  • Thirty-three prayers are served in Orthros's wording by default and the rest in the received wording (Hapgood 1906, Shann 1894 and the like). Each answer carries a wording field and lists the wordings it has; pass wording: received or orthros for the other.

REFUSES

  • A prayer the library does not have: "That prayer is not in Orthros's library. Try search."
  • A need it has no prayers for: the answer lists the needs the app offers.

EXAMPLE REQUEST

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 1,
  "method": "tools/call",
  "params": {
    "name": "get_prayer",
    "arguments": {
      "name": "The Jesus Prayer"
    }
  }
}

REAL ANSWER, TRIMMED

{
  "id": "prayer:jesus-prayer",
  "kind": "prayer",
  "title": "The Jesus Prayer",
  "text": "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.",
  "source_id": "traditional-pd",
  "licence": "Public domain · Orthros edition",
  "attribution": "Traditional text common to public-domain prayer books",
  "share_alike": false,
  "url": "https://orthros.app",
  "slug": "jesus-prayer",
  "wording": "received",
  "tags": [],
  "forms": [
    {
      "language": "English",
      "text": "Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me.",
      "transliteration": null,
      "full_form": false,
      "note": "The usual shorter English form, corresponding to the short Greek form below.",
      "source_id": "traditional-pd"
    },
    {
      "language": "English",
      "text": "Lord, have mercy.",
      "transliteration": null,
      "full_form": false,
      "note": "The shortest form · 'Kyrie eleison' in Greek.",
      "source_id": "traditional-pd"
    },
    "… 12 more"
  ],
  "dividers": [
    {
      "title": "Most Holy Theotokos",
      "language": "English",
      "text": "Most Holy Theotokos, save us.",
      "source_id": "traditional-pd",
      "licence": "Public domain · Orthros edition",
      "attribution": "Traditional text common to public-domain prayer books"
    },
    {
      "title": "Glory to the Father",
      "language": "English",
      "text": "Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, both now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen.",
      "source_id": "traditional-pd",
      "licence": "Public domain · Orthros edition",
      "attribution": "Traditional text common to public-domain prayer books"
    },
    "… 8 more"
  ],
  "about": [
    {
      "title": "The prayer of the heart",
      "language": null,
      "text": "The Jesus Prayer is the Church's school of unceasing prayer · the Apostle's \"pray without ceasing\" made simple enough for a child and deep enough for a saint. Say it slowly and without strain; let the mind rest in the words and, l […]",
      "source_id": "orthros-house",
      "licence": "© Orthros · original editorial content",
      "attribution": "Orthros · house catechetical copy (our own words)"
    },
    {
      "title": "How many, and how often",
      "language": null,
      "text": "The number is not one rule for everyone · it is given by your priest or spiritual father, who sets it to your life and strength. Many begin with a single round of a 33-knot rope each day (the 33 knots recall the years of the Lord' […]",
      "source_id": "orthros-house",
      "licence": "© Orthros · original editorial content",
      "attribution": "Orthros · house catechetical copy (our own words)"
    },
    "… 1 more"
  ],
  "wordings": [
    "received"
  ]
}

Read from the live server. Long text and lists are shortened here; the server returns them whole.

THE DESCRIPTION THE ASSISTANT RECEIVES

A prayer's full text and source by slug or name ("Our Father", "The Jesus Prayer"), or by what it is for ("prayer before eating", searched among the prayers: the best match, or the few close ones), or the prayers the app offers for a need (need: "in sickness", "before Confession", "at meals").

The wording is the app's default for each prayer: Orthros's wording where Orthros has reworded it (wording "orthros"), otherwise the received wording (Hapgood 1906, Shann 1894 and the like; "received"); wording asks for the other, and wordings lists what it has. The Jesus Prayer also carries its shorter forms, its Greek, Slavonic, Romanian and Arabic forms, and the prayer rope's teaching. Quote the text exactly, with its attribution; for questions of practice, point the person to their priest and parish.

Scripture

get_passageA Scripture passage

The verses of a Scripture reference, verbatim, with their source, in the Orthros edition (the default), Brenton's Septuagint, the King James Version or the World English Bible. A single chapter also carries the app's summary of it, where there is one.

Try asking: “Read me Psalm 50 from the Orthros edition.”

Inputs for get_passage
INPUTTYPE AND VALUESMEANING
referencerequiredtextA book, chapter and optional verses, e.g. "John 3:16-21".
translationoptionalone of orthros, brenton, kjv, weborthros (default), brenton, kjv or web.
  • The Orthros edition and Brenton number the Psalter the Greek (Septuagint) way, as the Orthodox Church does, so Ps 50 is "Have mercy on me, O God". The KJV and WEB number it the Hebrew way, where that psalm is 51. The title gives both.
  • If the chosen translation lacks a book, the answer comes from the next one and a notice says so.

REFUSES

  • A reference it cannot read: the answer asks for one such as "John 3:16-21", "Ps 50" or "Genesis 1".
  • More than 200 verses: "Ask for a shorter passage: at most 200 verses at a time."

EXAMPLE REQUEST

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 1,
  "method": "tools/call",
  "params": {
    "name": "get_passage",
    "arguments": {
      "reference": "Ps 50"
    }
  }
}

REAL ANSWER, TRIMMED

{
  "reference": "Psalms 50",
  "title": "Psalm 50 (51)",
  "book": "Psalms",
  "translation": "orthros",
  "source_id": "orthros-ot",
  "licence": "Public domain (dedication) · edited by Orthros",
  "attribution": "LXX2012 Septuagint, Orthros edition (register, spelling and names edited by Orthros)",
  "sources": [
    {
      "id": "lxx2012-pd",
      "licence": "Public domain",
      "attribution": "LXX2012: Septuagint in American English (Brenton, updated by Michael Paul Johnson)"
    },
    {
      "id": "orthros-ot",
      "licence": "Public domain (dedication) · edited by Orthros",
      "attribution": "LXX2012 Septuagint, Orthros edition (register, spelling and names edited by Orthros)"
    }
  ],
  "url": "https://orthros.app",
  "verses": [
    {
      "chapter": 50,
      "verse": 1,
      "text": "Have mercy upon me, O God, according to your great mercy; and according to the multitude of your compassions blot out my transgression."
    },
    {
      "chapter": 50,
      "verse": 2,
      "text": "Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin."
    },
    "… 17 more"
  ],
  "psalm_numbering": "Septuagint (Greek) numbering",
  "summary": {
    "text": "The great penitential psalm (Ps 50 in the LXX), crying out for a clean heart and a renewed spirit.",
    "key_verse": "Ps 51:10",
    "source_id": "orthros-house",
    "licence": "© Orthros · original editorial content",
    "attribution": "Orthros · house catechetical copy (our own words)"
  }
}

Read from the live server. Long text and lists are shortened here; the server returns them whole.

THE DESCRIPTION THE ASSISTANT RECEIVES

The verses of a Scripture reference ("John 3:16-21", "Ps 50", "Genesis 1"), verbatim with source, at most 200 verses. translation: orthros (default, as the app reads: the LXX2012 Septuagint and the World English Bible New Testament, public domain, edited by Orthros), brenton (Brenton's Septuagint, 1851), kjv or web. The Orthros edition and Brenton number the Psalms the Greek (Septuagint) way, as the Orthodox Church does (Ps 50 is "Have mercy on me, O God"); kjv and web use the Hebrew numbers (their 51), and the title gives both. A single chapter carries the app's summary of it, where there is one. Quote the text exactly, with its attribution; for questions of practice, point the person to their priest and parish.

get_kathismaA kathisma of the Psalter

One of the twenty kathismata, the sections into which the Church divides the Psalter for prayer, read whole as the app's Psalter reads it.

Try asking: “What does Kathisma 17 contain?”

Inputs for get_kathisma
INPUTTYPE AND VALUESMEANING
numberrequiredwhole number, -9007199254740991 to 9007199254740991The kathisma, 1 to 20 ("7" and "VII" are read too).
translationoptionalone of orthros, brenton, kjv, weborthros (default), brenton, kjv or web.
  • Kathismata are counted by Septuagint psalm numbers: Kathisma 7 is Psalms 46 to 54. Kathisma 17 is Psalm 118 alone.
  • Every answer ends with: which kathismata to read, and when, ask your priest.

REFUSES

  • A kathisma outside 1 to 20 is rejected. Roman numerals are read ("VII" is 7).
  • A kathisma longer than 400 verses in the chosen translation: read it by psalm with get_passage.

EXAMPLE REQUEST

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 1,
  "method": "tools/call",
  "params": {
    "name": "get_kathisma",
    "arguments": {
      "number": 17
    }
  }
}

REAL ANSWER, TRIMMED

{
  "number": 17,
  "first_ps": 118,
  "last_ps": 118,
  "note": "Psalm 118, the Amomos · prayed at funerals and on Holy Saturday.",
  "translation": "orthros",
  "psalm_numbering": "Septuagint (Greek) numbering",
  "source_id": "orthros-ot",
  "licence": "Public domain (dedication) · edited by Orthros",
  "attribution": "LXX2012 Septuagint, Orthros edition (register, spelling and names edited by Orthros)",
  "sources": [
    {
      "id": "lxx2012-pd",
      "licence": "Public domain",
      "attribution": "LXX2012: Septuagint in American English (Brenton, updated by Michael Paul Johnson)"
    },
    {
      "id": "orthros-ot",
      "licence": "Public domain (dedication) · edited by Orthros",
      "attribution": "LXX2012 Septuagint, Orthros edition (register, spelling and names edited by Orthros)"
    }
  ],
  "url": "https://orthros.app",
  "psalms": [
    {
      "number": 118,
      "title": "Psalm 118 (119)",
      "verses": [
        {
          "verse": 1,
          "text": "Blessed are the blameless in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord."
        },
        {
          "verse": 2,
          "text": "Blessed are they that search out his testimonies: they will diligently seek him with the whole heart."
        },
        "… 174 more"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "practice_note": "Which kathismata to read, and when, ask your priest."
}

Read from the live server. Long text and lists are shortened here; the server returns them whole.

THE DESCRIPTION THE ASSISTANT RECEIVES

One of the twenty kathismata of the Psalter, read whole as the app's Psalter reads it, counted by the Septuagint psalm numbers (Kathisma 7 is Psalms 46–54). Translations as get_passage; kjv and web give the Hebrew-numbered equivalents, and each title gives both numbers. Which kathismata to read, and when, is a question for one's priest. Quote the text exactly, with its attribution; for questions of practice, point the person to their priest and parish.

get_bible_entityA person, angel or symbol of the Bible

Orthros's page on a person, angel, angelic order or symbol of the Bible, by name or any Scripture spelling: their story, meaning, key verses and relations to others.

Try asking: “Who was Moses, according to Orthros?”

Inputs for get_bible_entity
INPUTTYPE AND VALUESMEANING
namerequiredtextThe name or slug.

REFUSES

  • A name it does not have: the answer lists nearby names.

EXAMPLE REQUEST

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 1,
  "method": "tools/call",
  "params": {
    "name": "get_bible_entity",
    "arguments": {
      "name": "Moses"
    }
  }
}

REAL ANSWER, TRIMMED

{
  "id": "bible_entity:moses",
  "kind": "bible_entity",
  "title": "Moses",
  "text": "The prophet and lawgiver who met God at the bush and on Sinai.\n\n## Traditional\n\nThe Exodus generation (traditional).\n\nDrawn from the water and raised in Pharaoh's house, Moses met the Angel of the Lord in the burning bush, led Isr […]",
  "source_id": "orthros-house",
  "licence": "© Orthros · original editorial content",
  "attribution": "Orthros · house catechetical copy (our own words)",
  "share_alike": false,
  "url": "https://orthros.app",
  "slug": "moses",
  "sections": [
    {
      "heading": null,
      "text": "The prophet and lawgiver who met God at the bush and on Sinai."
    },
    {
      "heading": "Traditional",
      "text": "The Exodus generation (traditional)."
    },
    "… 4 more"
  ],
  "entity_kind": "person",
  "aliases": [
    "Moses",
    "Mouses"
  ],
  "relations": [
    {
      "from": "moses",
      "relation": "sibling-of",
      "to": "aaron",
      "label": null
    }
  ],
  "typology": "Explicit in Scripture"
}

Read from the live server. Long text and lists are shortened here; the server returns them whole.

THE DESCRIPTION THE ASSISTANT RECEIVES

Orthros's page on a person, angel or symbol of the Bible ("Moses", "Michael", "the burning bush"), by name or any Scripture spelling: story, meaning, key verses and relations, verbatim with source. Quote the text exactly, with its attribution; for questions of practice, point the person to their priest and parish.

The Prologue and the saints

get_prologueThe Prologue page

The Prologue from Ochrid's entries for one page, each entry with its own source. The entries are CC BY-SA 4.0, and their attribution must accompany any quotation.

Try asking: “Read me today's Prologue.”

Inputs for get_prologue
INPUTTYPE AND VALUESMEANING
pagerequiredtextMM-DD, or a civil date YYYY-MM-DD.
calendaroptionalone of new, oldnew (Revised Julian, default) or old (Julian).
  • Use the prologue_page from get_day, not the civil date.

REFUSES

  • A page that is not MM-DD: "Give the page as MM-DD."
  • A page the library does not have.

EXAMPLE REQUEST

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 1,
  "method": "tools/call",
  "params": {
    "name": "get_prologue",
    "arguments": {
      "page": "06-20"
    }
  }
}

REAL ANSWER, TRIMMED

{
  "id": "prologue:06-20",
  "kind": "prologue-page",
  "page": "06-20",
  "note": "Pages are keyed as ochrid.com keys them: the Julian day plus thirteen. A day's own page is its prologue_page.",
  "entries": [
    {
      "id": "prologue:06-20:1",
      "kind": "prologue",
      "title": "The Holy Martyr Theodotus Of Ancyra",
      "text": "This martyr of Christ was a secret Christian, and as such he helped the Church and honorably buried the bodies of holy martyrs. Thus he buried the bodies of seven maidens who had suffered for Christ. When the pagans learned of him […]",
      "source_id": "prologue-ochrid",
      "licence": "CC BY-SA 4.0",
      "attribution": "St. Nikolai Velimirović, The Prologue from Ochrid · English text from ochrid.com, CC BY-SA 4.0 · rendered from the Serbian; small roughnesses may remain.",
      "share_alike": true,
      "url": "https://orthros.app",
      "page": "06-20",
      "section": "life"
    },
    {
      "id": "prologue:06-20:2",
      "kind": "prologue",
      "title": "The Holy Women Martyrs Cyriaca, Valeria, And Maria",
      "text": "All three of these martyrs were from Caesarea of Palestine. When the persecution of Christians began, they withdrew from the city to a hut, and there they prayed unceasingly to God, fasting and weeping, that the faith of Christ mi […]",
      "source_id": "prologue-ochrid",
      "licence": "CC BY-SA 4.0",
      "attribution": "St. Nikolai Velimirović, The Prologue from Ochrid · English text from ochrid.com, CC BY-SA 4.0 · rendered from the Serbian; small roughnesses may remain.",
      "share_alike": true,
      "url": "https://orthros.app",
      "page": "06-20",
      "section": "life"
    },
    "… 11 more"
  ]
}

Read from the live server. Long text and lists are shortened here; the server returns them whole.

THE DESCRIPTION THE ASSISTANT RECEIVES

The Prologue from Ochrid's entries for a page MM-DD, or for a civil date YYYY-MM-DD (its own page). Pages are the Julian day plus thirteen, so use the prologue_page get_day gives. Entries from ochrid.com are CC BY-SA 4.0; their attribution must accompany any quotation. Quote the text exactly, with its attribution; for questions of practice, point the person to their priest and parish.

get_saintA saint

A saint the calendar keeps: every date they are remembered in 2025 to 2035 on each calendar, the Prologue page and entry the app opens as their Life, and their sayings and hymns where the app has them. Give a slug, a name, or a first name for its name day.

Try asking: “When is the name day for George?”

Inputs for get_saint
INPUTTYPE AND VALUESMEANING
slugoptionaltextThe saint's slug, from get_day or search.
nameoptionaltextThe saint's name or title.
name_dayoptionaltextA first name, for its name day.

REFUSES

  • A saint it does not have: "That saint is not in Orthros's library. Try search."
  • A name that is not a saint's full title returns a list of matches to choose from, not an error.

EXAMPLE REQUEST

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 1,
  "method": "tools/call",
  "params": {
    "name": "get_saint",
    "arguments": {
      "name_day": "George"
    }
  }
}

REAL ANSWER, TRIMMED

{
  "name_day": {
    "display": "George",
    "month": 4,
    "day": 23,
    "saint": "St. George the Great Martyr",
    "note": null
  },
  "note": "Read the day with get_day; the saint is among its commemorations."
}

Read from the live server. Long text and lists are shortened here; the server returns them whole.

THE DESCRIPTION THE ASSISTANT RECEIVES

A saint: the dates the Church remembers them (2025–2035, both calendars), the Prologue entry the app opens as their Life, their sayings and hymns. By slug (from get_day or search) or name (a name that is not a full title returns matches to choose from), or name_day (a first name, e.g. "George") for that name's saint. Quote the text exactly, with its attribution; for questions of practice, point the person to their priest and parish.

Hymns and services

get_toneA tone of the Octoechos

One of the eight tones of the Octoechos as the app's tone page shows it: its name and character, why the Church sings in it, its resurrectional apolytikion and its Sunday cycle of hymns, each with its source.

Try asking: “Teach me Tone 4.”

Inputs for get_tone
INPUTTYPE AND VALUESMEANING
tonerequiredwhole number, -9007199254740991 to 90071992547409911 to 8 (5 to 8 are the plagal tones).
  • Tones 5 to 8 are the plagal tones. get_day's tone_name names the tone of the week.

REFUSES

  • A tone outside 1 to 8 is rejected. "4", "IV" and "Tone 4" are all read.

EXAMPLE REQUEST

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 1,
  "method": "tools/call",
  "params": {
    "name": "get_tone",
    "arguments": {
      "tone": 4
    }
  }
}

REAL ANSWER, TRIMMED

{
  "id": "tone:4",
  "kind": "tone",
  "title": "Tone 4",
  "text": "The fourth tone is traditionally the most festal and bright, quick and joyful, often heard on great feasts. Its resurrectional hymn tells the glad tidings the women learned from the angel at the empty tomb. Its week completes the […]",
  "source_id": "orthros-house",
  "licence": "© Orthros · original editorial content",
  "attribution": "Orthros · house catechetical copy (our own words)",
  "share_alike": false,
  "url": "https://orthros.app",
  "slug": "4",
  "tone": 4,
  "character": "Festal and bright, joyful and swift",
  "genus": {
    "lower": null,
    "upper": null,
    "upper_alt": null
  },
  "apolytikion": {
    "kind": "apolytikion",
    "tone": 4,
    "text": "When the women disciples of the Lord heard the Angel joyously proclaim the resurrection, they cast aside the ancestral verdict, and boasting in glory they said to the Apostles, “Death has been despoiled! Christ God has risen, gran […]",
    "source_id": "ages-goadedes",
    "licence": "CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)",
    "attribution": "AGES Initiatives / Fr. Seraphim Dedes, GOA edition (alwb-library-en-us-goadedes)"
  },
  "hymns": [
    {
      "kind": "sticheron",
      "label": "Stichera at Vespers",
      "hymns": [
        {
          "kind": "sticheron",
          "tone": 4,
          "text": "Unceasingly we venerate Your crucifixion that bestowed life, O Christ our God, and glorify Your resurrection on the third day. Thereby You refashioned human nature that was damaged; You also revealed to us the ascent into the heav […]",
          "source_id": "ages-goadedes",
          "licence": "CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)",
          "attribution": "AGES Initiatives / Fr. Seraphim Dedes, GOA edition (alwb-library-en-us-goadedes)"
        },
        {
          "kind": "sticheron",
          "tone": 4,
          "text": "You rescinded the penalty for failure to obey at the tree, when You, O Savior, voluntarily were nailed to the tree of the Cross. As God, You broke the bonds of death, when You descended to the netherworld, O Mighty One. And now we […]",
          "source_id": "ages-goadedes",
          "licence": "CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)",
          "attribution": "AGES Initiatives / Fr. Seraphim Dedes, GOA edition (alwb-library-en-us-goadedes)"
        },
        "… 5 more"
      ]
    },
    {
      "kind": "aposticha",
      "label": "The Aposticha",
      "hymns": [
        {
          "kind": "aposticha",
          "tone": 4,
          "text": "Inside your womb you were carrying the Maker * of the universe, when He was taking on our flesh * and was reforming humanity, which through the serpent * had disobeyed and fallen long ago. * You ineffably gave birth to the Word in […]",
          "source_id": "ages-goadedes",
          "licence": "CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)",
          "attribution": "AGES Initiatives / Fr. Seraphim Dedes, GOA edition (alwb-library-en-us-goadedes)"
        },
        {
          "kind": "aposticha",
          "tone": 4,
          "text": "We pray you, blot out the sins and the transgressions * of us your unworthy servants, and thereby reveal * to all that great and abundant is your tender mercy * and that your goodness towards all is fathomless. * O all-blameless V […]",
          "source_id": "ages-goadedes",
          "licence": "CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)",
          "attribution": "AGES Initiatives / Fr. Seraphim Dedes, GOA edition (alwb-library-en-us-goadedes)"
        },
        "… 4 more"
      ]
    },
    "… 4 more"
  ]
}

Read from the live server. Long text and lists are shortened here; the server returns them whole.

THE DESCRIPTION THE ASSISTANT RECEIVES

One of the eight tones as the app shows it: name, character, why the Church sings in it, its resurrectional apolytikion and Sunday hymns, each with source. get_day's tone names the week's tone. Quote the text exactly, with its attribution; for questions of practice, point the person to their priest and parish.

get_serviceA service

A service as the app's Services screen reads it: Vespers, Orthros, the Divine Liturgy, the Hours, Compline, the Presanctified Liturgy, and the services a reader may pray without a priest (slugs beginning reader-). Each answer has the service's note and walk-through, then its parts in order, each with its role (priest, deacon, reader, people, rubric) and source.

Try asking: “Walk me through the order of Vespers.”

Inputs for get_service
INPUTTYPE AND VALUESMEANING
slugoptionaltextThe service's slug, from the list.
nameoptionaltextThe service's name, e.g. "Vespers".
fromoptionalwhole number, -9007199254740991 to 9007199254740991The first part (idx) to return.
tooptionalwhole number, -9007199254740991 to 9007199254740991The last part (idx) to return.
  • Give nothing to list the services.
  • A long service comes 120 parts at a time. total_parts counts them, and next_from is the from to ask for next.
  • Services are prayed at the parish; every answer points to one's priest.

REFUSES

  • A service it does not have: "That service is not in Orthros's library. Give no slug to list the services."

EXAMPLE REQUEST

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 1,
  "method": "tools/call",
  "params": {
    "name": "get_service",
    "arguments": {
      "name": "Vespers",
      "from": 0,
      "to": 3
    }
  }
}

REAL ANSWER, TRIMMED

{
  "id": "service:vespers",
  "kind": "service",
  "title": "Vespers",
  "text": "The evening office that opens the liturgical day, in the priest's order. Follow along; the parish is the place.\n\nThe Church's day does not begin at midnight or at dawn. It begins at sunset,\nthe evening before, because that is how […]",
  "source_id": "orthros-house",
  "licence": "© Orthros · original editorial content",
  "attribution": "Orthros · house catechetical copy (our own words)",
  "share_alike": false,
  "url": "https://orthros.app",
  "slug": "vespers",
  "service_kind": "vespers",
  "note": "The evening office that opens the liturgical day, in the priest's order. Follow along; the parish is the place.",
  "walkthrough": "The Church's day does not begin at midnight or at dawn. It begins at sunset,\nthe evening before, because that is how the first day began. *And the\nevening and the morning were the first day.* Genesis sets the pattern, and\nthe Chur […]",
  "reader": false,
  "parts": [
    {
      "idx": 0,
      "role": "rubric",
      "text": "**The Service of Vespers**",
      "source_id": "ages-goadedes",
      "licence": "CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)",
      "attribution": "AGES Initiatives / Fr. Seraphim Dedes, GOA edition (alwb-library-en-us-goadedes)",
      "part_kind": "ordinary",
      "proper_ref": null,
      "language": "en"
    },
    {
      "idx": 1,
      "role": "rubric",
      "text": "**For Sundays and Feasts**",
      "source_id": "ages-goadedes",
      "licence": "CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)",
      "attribution": "AGES Initiatives / Fr. Seraphim Dedes, GOA edition (alwb-library-en-us-goadedes)",
      "part_kind": "ordinary",
      "proper_ref": null,
      "language": "en"
    },
    "… 2 more"
  ],
  "practice_note": "For how to keep this in your own life, ask your priest.",
  "total_parts": 35
}

Read from the live server. Long text and lists are shortened here; the server returns them whole.

THE DESCRIPTION THE ASSISTANT RECEIVES

A service as the app's Services screen reads it (Vespers, Orthros, the Divine Liturgy, the Hours, Compline, the Presanctified Liturgy) and the reader's services prayed without a priest (slugs beginning reader-). Nothing lists them; a slug or name gives one: its note, walk-through and parts in order, each with its role and source. A long service comes 120 parts at a time: total_parts counts them, and next_from is the from to ask next (from and to are part numbers, idx). Services are prayed at the parish; pass on their practice_note. Quote the text exactly, with its attribution; for questions of practice, point the person to their priest and parish.

The glossary

defineA definition

The glossary's definition of an Orthodox term, by the term in any case or accent, or by its slug. For a word the glossary lacks, it answers with the one-breath sheet the app opens when the word is tapped in its prose.

Try asking: “What is theosis?”

Inputs for define
INPUTTYPE AND VALUESMEANING
termrequiredtextThe term, or its slug.

REFUSES

  • A term it does not have: the answer lists nearby terms.

EXAMPLE REQUEST

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 1,
  "method": "tools/call",
  "params": {
    "name": "define",
    "arguments": {
      "term": "theosis"
    }
  }
}

REAL ANSWER, TRIMMED

{
  "id": "definition:theosis",
  "kind": "definition",
  "title": "Theosis",
  "text": "Deification, union with God, the aim of the Christian life: that a person, by grace, be filled with God's own life and made a “partaker of the divine nature” (2 Pet 1:4), not becoming God in essence, but wholly healed and glorifie […]",
  "source_id": "orthros-house",
  "licence": "© Orthros · original editorial content",
  "attribution": "Orthros · house catechetical copy (our own words)",
  "share_alike": false,
  "url": "https://orthros.app",
  "slug": "theosis"
}

Read from the live server. Long text and lists are shortened here; the server returns them whole.

THE DESCRIPTION THE ASSISTANT RECEIVES

Orthros's glossary definition of an Orthodox term ("Theosis", "Nepsis"), by term or slug, with source. A word the glossary lacks answers with the app's word sheet (kind concept): its short text and, where it leads to a page, destination (a kind and slug). Quote the text exactly, with its attribution; for questions of practice, point the person to their priest and parish.

Teaching

get_teachingTeaching

The teaching pages, verbatim with their source. Give a kind alone to list its pages, a kind and slug for one page, or a page's name. Practice pages end at the parish: their practice_note says to ask one's priest, and the answer should too.

Try asking: “Teach me about the Nativity of Christ.”

Inputs for get_teaching
INPUTTYPE AND VALUESMEANING
kindoptionalone of catechesis, fasting, feast, creed, mystery, council, virtue, passion, teaching, practice, saying, path, howto, chant_lesson, chant_sign, temple, liturgy, commandment, covenant, timeline, canon, bible_entity, way, guide, rule, dedication, track, chant_phrase, chant_piece, help, hour-
slugoptionaltextThe page's slug, from a list or from search.
nameoptionaltextThe page's title, e.g. "The Nativity of Christ".
  • A renamed page keeps its old slug: slugs are append-only, so an old address still opens the page.

REFUSES

  • A page it does not have: "That page is not in Orthros's teaching. Try search."
  • Neither a kind, a slug nor a name: "Give a kind, a kind and slug, or a page's name."

EXAMPLE REQUEST

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 1,
  "method": "tools/call",
  "params": {
    "name": "get_teaching",
    "arguments": {
      "kind": "feast",
      "slug": "all-saints"
    }
  }
}

REAL ANSWER, TRIMMED

{
  "id": "feast:all-saints",
  "kind": "feast",
  "title": "Sunday of All Saints",
  "text": "## Date\n\n56 days after Pascha\n\nThe Sunday after Pentecost, honoring every saint known and unknown as the harvest of the Spirit, kept in the East here rather than on the Western November 1.\n\nOn the Sunday after Pentecost the Church […]",
  "source_id": "orthros-house",
  "licence": "© Orthros · original editorial content",
  "attribution": "Orthros · house catechetical copy (our own words)",
  "share_alike": false,
  "url": "https://orthros.app",
  "slug": "all-saints",
  "sections": [
    {
      "heading": "Date",
      "text": "56 days after Pascha"
    },
    {
      "heading": null,
      "text": "The Sunday after Pentecost, honoring every saint known and unknown as the harvest of the Spirit, kept in the East here rather than on the Western November 1."
    },
    "… 7 more"
  ],
  "forefeast_days": 0,
  "afterfeast_days": 0,
  "preceding_fast": null,
  "leavetaking_rule": "One Sunday. The Apostles' Fast begins the next day.",
  "research_sources": [
    {
      "title": "Sunday of All Saints",
      "publisher": "Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America",
      "url": "https://www.goarch.org/-/sunday-of-all-saints"
    },
    {
      "title": "Synaxis of All Saints",
      "publisher": "Orthodox Church in America",
      "url": "https://www.oca.org/saints/lives/2026/06/07/48-synaxis-of-all-saints"
    },
    "… 1 more"
  ],
  "related": [
    {
      "slug": "pentecost",
      "name": "Holy Pentecost, the Descent of the Holy Spirit"
    },
    {
      "slug": "holy-spirit-monday",
      "name": "Monday of the Holy Spirit"
    },
    "… 3 more"
  ],
  "dates": [
    {
      "year": 2025,
      "new": "2025-06-15",
      "old": "2025-06-15"
    },
    {
      "year": 2026,
      "new": "2026-06-07",
      "old": "2026-06-07"
    },
    "… 9 more"
  ],
  "scripture": [],
  "sources_note": "Orthros house synthesis from the OCA Church year, GOARCH liturgical calendar and Paschalion, and the approved calendar-mechanics dossier. Hymn texts are omitted unless separately verified from a public-domain printed edition."
}

Read from the live server. Long text and lists are shortened here; the server returns them whole.

THE DESCRIPTION THE ASSISTANT RECEIVES

Orthros's teaching pages, verbatim with source. Kinds include catechesis ("why we do this"), feast (the great feasts), mystery (the holy mysteries), saying (Desert Fathers), path (the Way's free paths), guide, rule (the starter prayer rules, morning and evening, and the very short and short beginnings: a rule is received from one's priest, so offer these only as a gentle start, never design one), help (the Help Center: how to use the app), hour (the hours of the day), dedication (each weekday's), track (each recording's text; the audio is in the app), chant_lesson, chant_sign, chant_phrase, chant_piece (Learn to Chant and the chant catalog, text only), timeline (the story of the Bible), canon (of Scripture).

Give a kind alone to list its pages, a kind and slug for one page, or a page's name. Practice pages carry a practice_note to ask one's priest; pass it on. Quote the text exactly, with its attribution; for questions of practice, point the person to their priest and parish.

Recipes

get_recipeA recipe

The reviewed recipes, text only: ingredients and steps in the app's order, with timers, times, yield and the fasting days each recipe suits. Give a slug or name for one recipe, or a fasting level to list the recipes the app offers for it.

Try asking: “Give me a strict-fast recipe.”

Inputs for get_recipe
INPUTTYPE AND VALUESMEANING
slugoptionaltextThe recipe's slug, from a list or search.
nameoptionaltextThe recipe's title.
fastingoptionaltextA fasting level, as above ("strict", "oil" are read too).
  • Levels: fast (strict: no meat, dairy, fish, wine or oil), wine-oil, fish, dairy, fast-free and none. Plain words such as "strict", "oil" or "no fast" are read as their level.
  • Every answer carries a practice_note: how to keep a fast is a question for one's priest.

REFUSES

  • A fasting level it does not know: "Give a fasting level: fast, wine-oil, fish, dairy, fast-free, none."
  • A recipe it does not have: "That recipe is not in Orthros's library. Try search."

EXAMPLE REQUEST

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 1,
  "method": "tools/call",
  "params": {
    "name": "get_recipe",
    "arguments": {
      "fasting": "strict"
    }
  }
}

REAL ANSWER, TRIMMED

{
  "fasting": "fast",
  "recipes": [
    {
      "slug": "apple-sandwiches-granola-peanut-butter",
      "title": "Apple Sandwiches with Granola and Peanut Butter",
      "recipe_level": "fast",
      "meal_types": [
        "breakfast",
        "snack"
      ],
      "total_minutes": 5
    },
    {
      "slug": "guatemalan-style-black-bean-tostadas",
      "title": "Guatemalan-Style Black Bean Tostadas",
      "recipe_level": "fast",
      "meal_types": [
        "dinner",
        "lunch"
      ],
      "total_minutes": 49
    },
    "… 13 more"
  ],
  "practice_note": "What to eat on a fast day, and how strictly to keep it, ask your priest."
}

Read from the live server. Long text and lists are shortened here; the server returns them whole.

THE DESCRIPTION THE ASSISTANT RECEIVES

Orthros's reviewed recipes, text only: ingredients, steps, timers, yield and the fasting days each suits. A slug or name gives one; fasting alone lists those for a fasting level: fast (no meat, dairy, fish, wine or oil), wine-oil, fish, dairy, fast-free or none. search finds recipes by ingredient or dish. Every answer carries practice_note: how to keep a fast is a question for one's priest. Quote the text exactly, with its attribution; for questions of practice, point the person to their priest and parish.

Finding things

Sources

list_sourcesOrthros's sources

Every source the library's texts come from, with its licence and address.

Try asking: “Where do Orthros's texts come from, and under what licences?”

Takes no inputs.

EXAMPLE REQUEST

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 1,
  "method": "tools/call",
  "params": {
    "name": "list_sources",
    "arguments": {}
  }
}

REAL ANSWER, TRIMMED

{
  "sources": [
    {
      "id": "ages-goa-greek",
      "name": "AGES Initiatives Greek liturgical library for the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America",
      "licence": "CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)",
      "url": "https://github.com/AGES-Initiatives/alwb-library-gr-us-goa"
    },
    {
      "id": "ages-goadedes",
      "name": "AGES Initiatives / Fr. Seraphim Dedes, GOA edition (alwb-library-en-us-goadedes)",
      "licence": "CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)",
      "url": "https://github.com/AGES-Initiatives/alwb-library-en-us-goadedes"
    },
    "… 37 more"
  ]
}

Read from the live server. Long text and lists are shortened here; the server returns them whole.

THE DESCRIPTION THE ASSISTANT RECEIVES

Every source the library's texts come from, with its licence. Quote the text exactly, with its attribution; for questions of practice, point the person to their priest and parish.

The kinds of teaching

get_teaching takes one of these 31 kinds. A kind alone lists its pages; a kind and a slug opens one. Search results name the kind of each result.

The kinds get_teaching reads
KINDWHAT IT HOLDS
catechesisThe "why we do this" behind a prayer, a practice or a season
fastingThe fasting guide
feastThe great feasts, every section of the feast page, with related feasts and dates
creedThe articles of the Creed
mysteryThe holy mysteries
councilThe Ecumenical Councils
virtueThe virtues
passionThe passions
teachingTeachings of the Church
practicePractices; each ends with a note to ask one's priest
sayingThe sayings of the Desert Fathers
pathThe Way's free paths, each a list of steps naming what to read or pray
howtoPractical how-to pages, text only
chant_lessonLearn to Chant, by lesson number
chant_signThe neumes of Byzantine notation
templeThe parts of the church building
liturgyThe Divine Liturgy, part by part, and explained
commandmentThe Ten Commandments
covenantThe covenants of God
timelineThe story of the Bible, station by station
canonThe canon of Scripture and each book's introduction
bible_entityPeople, angels and symbols of the Bible (also get_bible_entity)
wayThe stones of the Way
guideThe Library's practical guides and remembrances
ruleThe app's starter prayer rules, morning and evening, with the guided setup's very short and short beginnings; each notes that a rule is received from one's priest
dedicationWhat each weekday is dedicated to
trackThe page of text of each Orthros recording (the recording itself is in the app)
chant_phraseLearn to Chant's practice phrases
chant_pieceThe chant catalog: what each piece is and where it is sung
helpThe Help Center: how to use Orthros
hourThe hours of the day as the Pray tab names them

Good things to ask

Ask in your own words. If the assistant answers from memory, add “using Orthros” and ask it to quote the text and name the source.

  • “What saints are commemorated today on the Old Calendar?”Reads with get_day
  • “When is the Sunday of All Saints this year?”Reads with search, get_teaching
  • “Read me Psalm 50 from the Orthros edition.”Reads with get_passage
  • “What is theosis?”Reads with define
  • “Give me a strict-fast recipe.”Reads with get_recipe
  • “Teach me Tone 4.”Reads with get_tone
  • “What does Kathisma 17 contain?”Reads with get_kathisma
  • “What are the readings for this Sunday on the New Calendar?”Reads with get_readings
  • “Give me the Jesus Prayer, and how the prayer rope is used.”Reads with get_prayer
  • “Who was Melchizedek?”Reads with get_bible_entity
  • “When is the name day for Nicholas?”Reads with get_saint
  • “Walk me through the parts of Vespers.”Reads with get_service
  • “Where does Orthros get its texts, and under what licences?”Reads with list_sources

Facts and limits

  • Calendar. Both calendars, New (Revised Julian) and Old (Julian), cover 2025 to 2035. A date outside that is refused with "Orthros's library covers 2025 to 2035." Give the person's own local calendar date, as YYYY-MM-DD; loose forms such as "November 1, 2026" are read too. The calendar is optional and defaults to new.
  • Prologue pages. The Prologue from Ochrid is keyed as ochrid.com keys it: a page is MM-DD, the Julian day plus thirteen. It therefore differs from the civil date. Use the prologue_page that get_day gives, not the date.
  • Scripture. get_passage returns at most 200 verses at a time. A kathisma may run to 400 verses. The Orthros edition and Brenton number the Psalms the Greek way (Psalm 50 is "Have mercy on me, O God"); the KJV and WEB number them the Hebrew way (51). The title always gives both.
  • Services. get_service returns 120 parts at a time; next_from says where to continue.
  • Search. 5 results by default and at most 10, for a query of 2 to 120 characters. A prayer that clearly wins comes with its text.
  • Names and spellings. A name, title or alias that is nearly right is read as the page it plainly means, and the answer says so in resolved_from. Where several pages could be meant, the answer lists them as matches to choose from instead of failing. Dates, tones and kathismata are read loosely too: "November 1, 2026", "IV" and "VII" work.
  • Short answers. get_day gives the day's readings as references; pass texts: true to have their full text in the same answer. Answers carry their data once, as text, with no second copy.
  • Rate limit. About 60 requests a minute from one address. Past that the server answers 429, "Too many requests. Wait a minute.", with a Retry-After of 60 seconds. The count is kept in memory for the minute only.
  • Caching. Every response is sent with no-store, so no cache keeps an answer for a different request.
  • Every answer. Carries its source, licence, attribution and a link to orthros.app, so a quotation can be credited. Text that is share-alike says so.

Sources and licences

Orthros takes only public-domain or verified-open texts, and every item names its source. The full list, with licences and addresses, is one call to list_sources. In brief:

Sources and licences
TEXTSLICENCE
Scripture: Brenton's Septuagint (1851), the King James Version, the World English Bible, the LXX2012 behind the Orthros edition, which is also the default for the day's readingsPublic domain (the Orthros edition is edited by Orthros for register, spelling and names)
Prayers: Orthros's own wording for 33 prayers, which is the default, and otherwise the received wording: Hapgood (1906), Shann (1894), the Horologion editions and traditional textsPublic domain (the Orthros wording is edited by Orthros for register and spelling)
Hymnography: AGES Initiatives, the Dedes editionCC0 1.0
The calendar: orthocal-python, by Brian GlassMIT
The Prologue from Ochrid, by St. Nikolai Velimirovic, as given at ochrid.comCC BY-SA 4.0: credit ochrid.com and share alike
The Fathers' works from the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers series, and other pre-1929 translationsPublic domain
Orthros's own teaching, catechesis and glossary© Orthros, original editorial content; keep its attribution with any quotation

Where a text is CC BY-SA, as the Prologue is, attribution must travel with any quotation your assistant makes. The server returns the attribution and a share_alike flag with each item so that it can.

What is left out, and why

The server offers what the app shows a free reader, and nothing more. These are not served:

  • Orthros+ wiring. The paid paths, the Fathers' links, the threads, the verse notes and the study rooms' chains between pages stay in the app. Orthros+ gates the wiring between pages, never a page itself, and every page of text is served.
  • Texts still under review. The Fathers' commentary and homilies, the modern wording of prayers, one draft recipe, and prose in the Creed, the mysteries and the canon that is not yet signed off are held until they are reviewed in the app.
  • Anything generated or machine-made. Nothing is generated, and nothing machine-made is served. Every text is stored text that Orthros has approved to show; the rest is held back until it is.
  • Audio, artwork and images. Recordings, chant sounds, icons, drawings and their credits are not text. The recordings' pages of text are served.
  • Search routing. The app's grounded answers and thematic shelves only point at pages already served whole, so the pages are served instead.
  • Your own writing. The journal, notes, diptychs, confession preparation, a priest's counsel, your rule and your prayer history live on your device. They are never exposed to any assistant, in either direction.

Privacy

The server has no accounts, no sessions and no memory of what was asked. Each request is answered from static files and then forgotten. The only count it keeps is the rate limit's, in memory, for a minute.

Two things remain outside Orthros's hands. Your conversation is handled by your assistant's provider under its own terms. And like any web service, the hosts that carry the connection, Cloudflare and Vercel, see the request in transit. Nothing you write in the app is ever exposed to an assistant. See the privacy page.

Troubleshooting

  • The assistant will not accept the address. Use the whole address, https://mcp.orthros.app/mcp, including /mcp. The bare host, https://mcp.orthros.app, shows only a short notice. Choose the HTTP (streamable HTTP) transport, not SSE or a local command.
  • It asks me to sign in. Choose no authentication or No sign in. Orthros has no sign-in, and a sign-in prompt means the connector was set up as a different kind.
  • The assistant does not use Orthros. Check the connector is switched on for the conversation (in Claude, the + menu, then Connectors; in ChatGPT, the + menu, then Developer mode). Then ask plainly: use Orthros to find it, and quote the text.
  • A request is refused with a message. Read the message: it says what to change. The usual ones are a date outside 2025 to 2035, a date it cannot read, or a passage over 200 verses.
  • Too many requests. Wait a minute. The limit is about 60 requests a minute from one address.
  • A script or curl is blocked. Send a browser-like User-Agent, as in the example above. Requests with a default User-Agent can be refused before they reach the server.
  • The assistant paraphrased or added to the text. The server asks the assistant to quote exactly, but Orthros does not control what an assistant does with the text. Ask it to quote word for word, and check the quotation against the cited source.
  • A tool I expected is missing. Some clients cache the tool list. Disconnect and reconnect the connector, then start a new conversation.

Contact

Something wrong, missing or unclear? Write to help@orthros.app. A person reads it.

Questions of practice, such as how to fast, what to pray, or what to do, belong with your priest and parish. Orthros is not an official work of any Church body and does not advise. Back to the overview.

No trackers. No ads. No data sold. Ever.

help@orthros.app

Available for iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and CarPlay

Orthros · an Orthodox prayer companion, made by Orthodox Christians, for everyone. Not an official work of any Church body.

Scene & ornament artwork © Orthros, its own drawn work, not historical icons. Source and license details identify received texts and editions. Orthros editorial teaching is labeled separately.