---
name: lovdata-mcp
description: Use when researching Norwegian laws, regulations, or legal provisions via the lovdata-mcp MCP server. Covers tool usage, search strategy, citation format, and data quality caveats. Triggered by questions about Norwegian legislation, legal references, or when the lovdata-mcp server is connected.
---

# Lovdata MCP — Companion Skill

You have the `lovdata-mcp` MCP server connected. It provides access to 4500+ Norwegian
laws and regulations with 136 000+ individual provisions. Full-text search (Norwegian
tsvector) and semantic search (vector embeddings) are available. **This skill covers
search strategy, citation, and data quality awareness.**

## Available MCP tools

| Tool | Purpose |
|---|---|
| `get_law` | Get a single law/regulation by doc_id |
| `list_laws` | List laws with optional type filter (`lov`/`forskrift`) |
| `search_laws_fulltext` | Norwegian full-text search across law titles and metadata |
| `search_laws_semantic` | Semantic (meaning-based) search across laws |
| `get_law_content` | Get full HTML content of a law |
| `get_law_text` | Get plain text content of a law |
| `get_provision` | Get a single provision by ID |
| `get_provisions_batch` | Get multiple provisions by ID |
| `list_provisions` | List provisions for a given law |
| `search_provisions_fulltext` | Norwegian full-text search across provisions |
| `search_provisions_semantic` | Semantic search across provisions |
| `get_cross_references` | Get cross-references from a specific provision |
| `get_cross_references_by_law` | Get all cross-references for a law |
| `resolve_reference` | Resolve a legal reference string to a database record |
| `health_check` | Server and database status |
| `license_info` | NLOD 2.0 attribution |

## Workflow

1. **Find the law** — `search_laws_fulltext("helsepersonell")` or `list_laws(law_type="lov")`
2. **Get its provisions** — `list_provisions(lov_id=<id>)` to see all sections
3. **Search within provisions** — `search_provisions_fulltext` for exact terms, `search_provisions_semantic` for concepts
4. **Follow references** — `get_cross_references(provision_id)` to find related provisions
5. **Get full text** — `get_law_text(doc_id)` if you need the complete document

## CRITICAL: Fulltext vs semantic search — use the right one

| Use case | Tool | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Known § or exact legal term | `search_provisions_fulltext` | Exact Norwegian stemming, reliable |
| Conceptual question ("hva sier loven om...") | `search_provisions_semantic` | Finds meaning, not just words |
| Known law name or short title | `search_laws_fulltext` | Matches title, short title, department |

**Semantic search uses a similarity threshold of 0.7.** Below that, results are returned
with `below_threshold: true` and a suggestion to rephrase. This is expected for vague
queries — don't treat low-similarity results as authoritative matches.

**Fulltext search uses Norwegian stemming.** Queries like "personopplysning" will match
"personopplysninger", "personopplysningsloven", etc.

## Citation format

Use standard Norwegian legal citation with Lovdata doc_id:

```
Helsepersonelloven (lov 1999-07-02-64) § 8
  doc_id: NL/lov/1999-07-02-64
```

```
Forskrift om tilskudd til lokale lyd- og bildemedier (forskrift 2016-02-19-166) § 3
  doc_id: SF/forskrift/2016-02-19-166
```

The `doc_id` field uniquely identifies each law. It follows the pattern:
- Laws: `NL/lov/YYYY-MM-DD-NR`
- Regulations: `SF/forskrift/YYYY-MM-DD-NR`

## Data model

**Three levels:**
- `lover` (laws) — the document: title, type, department, legal area, dates
- `bestemmelser` (provisions) — individual sections within a law: §, ledd, punkt
- `kryssreferanser` (cross-references) — links between provisions

**Hierarchy fields on provisions:**
- `artikkel` — section number (e.g. "8", "2-1", "8a")
- `ledd` — paragraph within section
- `punkt` — point within paragraph
- `kapittel` — chapter
- `henvisning` — reference string (e.g. "§8")

## Data quality — MUST READ

### Not all provisions have § numbers

About 31% of provisions lack `artikkel` and `henvisning`. These are:
- **Preambles** — introductory text before § 1
- **Ikrafttredelsesbestemmelser** — entry-into-force clauses after the last §
- **Unnumbered content** — older laws and simple regulations without § structure
- **List items** — enumerated points extracted from bullet lists

These provisions are searchable and have full text — they just can't be cited by §.

### Repealed provisions are filtered

Provisions containing only "– – –" (Lovdata's convention for repealed/deleted sections)
are excluded from the database. If a § reference returns no result, the provision may
have been repealed.

### Laws vs regulations

| Type | Count | Description |
|---|---|---|
| `lov` | ~780 | Acts passed by Stortinget |
| `forskrift` | ~3700 | Regulations issued by ministries/agencies |

Use `list_laws(law_type="lov")` or `list_laws(law_type="forskrift")` to filter.

### Cross-references resolve to law level only

`get_cross_references` returns `til_lov_id` (target law) but NOT `til_bestemmelse_id`
(target provision). To find the specific target provision, use the `henvisningstekst`
field and search within the target law.

### Nynorsk and bokmal

Some laws are written in nynorsk. The database contains one version per law — bokmal
where both versions exist (Grunnloven). The `html lang` attribute indicates the language.

### Very large laws

Some regulations (kosmetikkforskriften, Ukraina-sanksjoner) have 100 000+ characters.
Law-level semantic search is based on the first ~8000 characters only. For large documents,
**search at provision level** for meaningful semantic results.

### Semantic search similarity

Results below the 0.7 threshold are still returned (the single closest match) with
metadata explaining the situation. Do not present below-threshold results as confident
matches — tell the user the query didn't find a strong match and suggest alternatives.

## Attribution

Data is published under NLOD 2.0 by [Lovdata](https://lovdata.no/). Always include
attribution when presenting results to users. The `license_info` tool returns the
full license text.