Getting Started

Getting Started

Two paths: use the MCP server in your AI tools, or hit the REST API directly with curl. They're the same data; the MCP is just structured for AI consumption.

Option A — Add to Claude Code

claude mcp add --scope user --transport http arizona-statutes \
  https://ars.cactus.watch/mcp

Restart Claude Code. Verify with:

claude mcp list

You'll get 4 new tools: ars_get_section, ars_search, ars_list_titles, ars_list_sections.

Option B — Add to Claude Desktop

Open ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json (Mac) or the equivalent on Windows/Linux:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "arizona-statutes": {
      "url": "https://ars.cactus.watch/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Quit and relaunch Claude Desktop.

Option C — Cursor / Cline / other MCP clients

Same URL, same Streamable HTTP transport. Wherever your client lets you add a remote MCP server, drop in https://ars.cactus.watch/mcp.

Option D — Just curl

No client at all. The REST API is fully public:

curl https://ars.cactus.watch/api/ars/16-925

First query — five things to try

1. Look up a section by citation

ars_get_section(citation="16-925")

Returns the full text of A.R.S. § 16-925 (Advertising and fundraising disclosure statements) with section heading, body, source URL, and a "not authoritative" disclaimer.

Citation forms accepted:

• 16-925
• A.R.S. § 16-925
• § 16-925
• 16-925.01 (decimal sections)

2. Search the whole code

ars_search(query="campaign contribution")

Returns the top-ranked sections with snippets. Words are matched as prefix tokens with porter stemming.

3. Search within a single title

ars_search(query="disclaimer", title=16)

Restricts to a single title. Title 16 = Elections, Title 13 = Criminal Code, Title 41 = State Government.

4. List all titles

ars_list_titles()

Returns all 47 active titles with their names and section counts. Good for getting oriented.

5. Browse a title

ars_list_sections(title=16, limit=50)

Returns every section in Title 16 with its citation and name. Useful for "what's actually in this title".

Next steps

• Read Examples and Recipes for real-world investigations
• Read Title Index for the full list of active titles
• Read Why MCP? if you're convincing someone (or yourself) to use this instead of curl