# Litmus

> A plain-language reference for sustainability claims, certifications, and rating systems in architecture and interior design. It connects what a product page says ("PFAS free"), the document that proves it ("FloorScore"), and the rating systems it counts toward ("LEED").

Litmus is a reference, not product truth. It explains what a claim means, what evidence would back it, and what a project's context requires — it never verifies a product or decides whether one qualifies. It is not a product database or a verification service.

## MCP server

Everything in the reference is also callable by AI agents over a public, read-only MCP server. Streamable HTTP, no auth:

https://litmus.materialinstruments.com/api/mcp/mcp

Add it to Claude Code with:

  claude mcp add --transport http litmus https://litmus.materialinstruments.com/api/mcp/mcp

Five tools, each a reference lookup — not a product search or a verification service:

- search_litmus_canon: Search the reference two ways at once — exact matches for known phrases and closest-meaning matches, each returned with its graph context. (query ≤ 2,000 characters)
- classify_material_claims: Read free-text product or marketing copy and sort every sustainability claim into its family, the evidence it needs, and its greenwashing risk — plus how much of the text was recognised. (text ≤ 20,000 characters)
- assess_in_context: Give a rating-system target, a use (healthcare, education…), and a region, and read which evidence is required by law, required for that target, merely strengthening, or not applicable. It explains what a context requires — it never decides whether a product qualifies. (query ≤ 20,000 characters)
- normalize_source_fragments: Turn raw sustainability source fragments into claim families, source types, evidence requirements, and the context fields still missing. (≤ 50 fragments, each ≤ 20,000 characters)
- report_coverage_gaps: Report where the reference itself is thin — entries not yet reviewed, certificates no claim relies on, programmes not yet connected to a claim, and claims missing an evidence path — as structural counts with the exact ids. Gaps are review opportunities, not evidence a claim is invalid. (no input, or an optional entity-kind filter)

## HTTP API

- POST https://litmus.materialinstruments.com/api/ask: Ask a question in plain language. JSON body {"question": "..."} returns {"answer", "references", "verdict"}. Send an Accept: application/x-ndjson header instead for a streamed NDJSON response.

## Explore the reference

- [Claims](https://litmus.materialinstruments.com/claims): What manufacturers say about products — "has an EPD", "PFAS free", "recycled content" — and what each statement actually covers.
- [Certificates](https://litmus.materialinstruments.com/certificates): The documents that back claims up — EPDs, Declare labels, FloorScore — including what each one does not prove.
- [Programmes](https://litmus.materialinstruments.com/programmes): The rating systems and frameworks projects aim for — LEED, BREEAM, WELL, Living Building Challenge, and their counterparts worldwide.
- [Context](https://litmus.materialinstruments.com/context): Why a material is never sustainable on its own — only for a target, a use, and a place. The same certificate changes meaning across projects.
- [Coverage](https://litmus.materialinstruments.com/coverage): Where the reference itself is thin — entries not yet reviewed, certificates no claim relies on, programmes not yet connected to a claim. Research opportunities, not evidence a claim is invalid.
- [Ask](https://litmus.materialinstruments.com/ask): Put a question in plain language and get a sourced answer from the reference.
- [Decode](https://litmus.materialinstruments.com/decode): Paste sustainability language — or a product page URL — and see what it means, what evidence it needs, and where the gaps are.
- [Graph](https://litmus.materialinstruments.com/graph): Watch the agent walk the knowledge graph to an answer — claims, evidence, and programmes lighting up as it reasons.
- [Material](https://litmus.materialinstruments.com/material): Read a single material's sustainability record — its claims, the evidence behind them, and the programmes they count toward.
- [X-ray](https://litmus.materialinstruments.com/xray): Lift every claim out of a product page in seconds — what it reads as, what it proves, and what to watch for.