feat: Explore WebMCP support for agent-accessible text references

[maehr]

Foundation landed (2026-08-25)

The two read-only capabilities this issue lists first now exist as plain HTTP, so a WebMCP surface can wrap them instead of inventing them:

• Search the registry — /reg/works.json and /reg/systems.json (feat: collection endpoints for works and citation systems #83).
• Resolve a citation to a canonical reference — /reg/work/{key}/aliases.json (feat: resolve a reference by work and locator without computing its UUID #84).

Validating that a reference exists and finding its resolver targets both follow from a /id/ref/{uuid}.json fetch. Scope the exploration to the tool definitions and the transport, and treat the data surface as settled.

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Summary

Explore how TextRefs could use WebMCP to make its registry and canonical references directly accessible to browser-based AI agents.

Motivation

TextRefs provides stable identifiers, canonical citation data, and links to editions of referenced works. Browser agents currently need to interpret pages and links themselves, which can lead to unreliable reference resolution.

WebMCP could allow TextRefs to expose its core capabilities more explicitly, helping agents:

• Search for registered works and citation systems
• Resolve a traditional citation to a canonical TextRefs reference
• Validate whether a reference exists
• Find available editions or resolver targets
• Retrieve structured information about the current reference

Proposed change

Define a small, read-only WebMCP surface that reflects TextRefs’ existing public data and use cases.

The initial scope should prioritize:

1. Searching the registry
2. Resolving canonical references
3. Listing available resolver targets

WebMCP support should complement the existing HTML and JSON-LD resources rather than replace them.

Considerations

• Treat WebMCP as a progressive enhancement
• Preserve stable URLs and structured-data access for non-browser integrations
• Keep the initial scope read-only
• Ensure results clearly distinguish valid citation syntax from references that are actually registered
• Avoid requiring WebMCP for normal use of the site
• Checkout stateless MCPs https://modelcontextprotocol.io/seps/2575-stateless-mcp

Alternatives considered

No response

Acceptance criteria

• The intended agent workflows are documented
• The initial read-only capabilities are agreed
• The relationship between WebMCP, HTML pages, and JSON-LD resources is clear
• Experimental browser support and compatibility risks are acknowledged
• Follow-up work can be split into smaller implementation issues