scholar-search-mcp

# Scholar Search MCP A MCP server that integrates the [Semantic Scholar API](https://www.semanticscholar.org/product/api) and [arXiv API](https://info.arxiv.org/help/api/user-manual.html) so AI assistants (e.g. Claude, Cursor) can search and fetch academic paper metadata. ## Features - **Search papers** – Keyword search with parallel merge from **Semantic Scholar** and **arXiv**; optional year and venue filters (venue applies to Semantic Scholar only) - **Paper details** – Full metadata (title, authors, abstract, citations, etc.) - **Citations & references** – Papers that cite or are cited by a given paper - **Author info** – Author profile and paper list - **Batch lookup** – Fetch up to 500 papers in one call - **Recommendations** – Similar papers for a given paper - **arXiv LaTeX source** – Download and extract the source tarball from `https://arxiv.org/src/{id}` (tool: `download_arxiv_source`) ## Installation ```bash pip install scholar-search-mcp ``` ## Configuration ### Claude Desktop Edit the config file: - **macOS**: `~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json` - **Windows**: `%APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json` Add: ```json { "mcpServers": { "scholar-search": { "command": "python", "args": ["-m", "scholar_search_mcp"], "env": { "SCHOLAR_SEARCH_ENABLE_SEMANTIC_SCHOLAR": "true", // enable https://www.semanticscholar.org/ "SCHOLAR_SEARCH_ENABLE_ARXIV": "true" // enable https://arxiv.org/ } } } } ``` If you have API keys (optional but recommended for search): ```json { "mcpServers": { "scholar-search": { "command": "python", "args": ["-m", "scholar_search_mcp"], "env": { "SEMANTIC_SCHOLAR_API_KEY": "your-semantic-scholar-api-key-here", "SCHOLAR_SEARCH_ENABLE_SEMANTIC_SCHOLAR": "true", // enable https://www.semanticscholar.org/ "SCHOLAR_SEARCH_ENABLE_ARXIV": "true" // enable https://arxiv.org/ } } } } ``` ### Cursor Add an MCP server in Cursor settings with the same `command`, `args`, and `env` as above. ### API keys (optional) `search_papers` queries enabled sources in parallel and merges results by title: 1. **Semantic Scholar** – Works without a key with lower limits. Set `SEMANTIC_SCHOLAR_API_KEY` for higher limits. 2. **arXiv** – No key required. ### Enable/disable search channels Control which sources are used in `search_papers` via environment variables (default: all enabled): | Variable | Description | | ---------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------- | | `SCHOLAR_SEARCH_ENABLE_SEMANTIC_SCHOLAR` | Use Semantic Scholar (default: true). | | `SCHOLAR_SEARCH_ENABLE_ARXIV` | Use arXiv (default: true). | Example: CORE and arXiv only (skip Semantic Scholar): ```json "env": { "SCHOLAR_SEARCH_ENABLE_SEMANTIC_SCHOLAR": "false" } ``` ### arXiv source downloads (`download_arxiv_source`) Optional default **parent** directory for extracted sources when the tool is called without `output_dir`: | Variable | Description | | --------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | `SCHOLAR_ARXIV_SOURCE_DIR` | If set, files go under `<dir>/<arxiv_id>/`. Otherwise uses a temp subfolder. | ## Tools | Tool | Description | | --------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------ | | `search_papers` | Search by query; optional `limit`, `fields`, `year`, `venue` | | `get_paper_details` | Get one paper by ID (DOI, ArXiv ID, S2 ID, or URL) | | `get_paper_citations` | Papers that cite the given paper | | `get_paper_references` | References of the given paper | | `get_author_info` | Author profile by ID | | `get_author_papers` | Papers by author | | `get_paper_recommendations` | Similar papers for a given paper | | `batch_get_papers` | Details for up to 500 paper IDs | | `download_arxiv_source` | Download arXiv source `tar.gz` and extract; args: `arxiv_id`, optional `output_dir` | ## Testing with MCP Inspector ```bash npm install -g @modelcontextprotocol/inspector mcp-inspector python -m scholar_search_mcp ``` ## License MIT ## Links - [Semantic Scholar API](https://api.semanticscholar.org/api-docs) - [arXiv API User's Manual](https://info.arxiv.org/help/api/user-manual.html)