io.github.penny4nonsense/mcp-scholaris

mcp-scholaris

Academic paper search and retrieval via arXiv, Semantic Scholar, PubMed, Unpaywall.

GitHub PyPI

No known CVEs

No license

Actively maintained

Last commit 3d ago

Works with most clients

Transport: stdio

0 tools

Grade F

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Education

Step 1

Install in your client

Config is the same across clients — only the file and path differ.

Supported in Claude Desktopstdio · Node 18+

Paste into ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "scholaris": {
      "command": "scholaris"
    }
  }
}

Are you the author?

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[![MCPpedia Score](https://mcppedia.org/api/badge/io-github-penny4nonsense-mcp-scholaris)](https://mcppedia.org/s/io-github-penny4nonsense-mcp-scholaris)

Read me

What io.github.penny4nonsense/mcp-scholaris does

An MCP server for retrieving academic papers from open access sources. Provides search across arXiv, Semantic Scholar, and PubMed, with full text retrieval via arXiv PDFs, PubMed Central (BioC API), and Unpaywall. No paywalls, no grey area — legitimate open access only.

Test This Server

Run this in your terminal to verify the server starts. Then let us know if it worked — your result helps other developers.

uvx 'mcp-scholaris' 2>&1 | head -1 && echo "✓ Server started successfully"

After testing, let us know if it worked:

Loading README…

Scored, not listed

Why this score

Five weighted categories — click any category to see the underlying evidence.

Score breakdown

54/100across 5 weighted dimensions

How we score →

0255075100

−46

Security

Maintenance

Efficiency

Documentation

Compatibility

Categoriesclick a row to see evidence

Security

OSV.dev

No known CVEs.

Checked mcp-scholaris against OSV.dev.

Community

Reviews

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Have you used this server?

Share your experience — it helps other developers decide.

How easy was setup?Did it work reliably?How was the documentation?

Frequently Asked Questions

Is io.github.penny4nonsense/mcp-scholaris safe to use?: io.github.penny4nonsense/mcp-scholaris has no known CVEs as of the latest MCPpedia security scan. It does not require authentication, so any local process can connect — keep this in mind in shared environments.
How do I install io.github.penny4nonsense/mcp-scholaris?: io.github.penny4nonsense/mcp-scholaris supports copy-paste install configs on its MCPpedia page for Claude Desktop, Cursor, and Claude Code. Scroll to the Quick Install section and select your client.
What AI clients work with io.github.penny4nonsense/mcp-scholaris?: io.github.penny4nonsense/mcp-scholaris is compatible with claude-desktop, cursor, claude-code. It uses stdio transport.
Is io.github.penny4nonsense/mcp-scholaris actively maintained?: io.github.penny4nonsense/mcp-scholaris is actively maintained — last commit was 3 days ago.

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Community

Discussion

Start a conversation

Ask a question, share a tip, or report an issue.

Has anyone used this with Cursor?How do you handle auth?Any alternatives?

Tools

search_papers

Search for academic papers by topic, author, or keyword.

Parameters:

query (required) — search terms

sources (optional) — list of sources to search: arxiv, semantic_scholar, pubmed. Defaults to all three.

max_results (optional) — maximum results per source. Defaults to 5.

fetch_paper

Fetch the full text of a paper. Tries open access sources in order: arXiv → PubMed Central → Unpaywall. Provide at least one identifier.

Parameters:

arxiv_id — e.g. 2301.00001 or arxiv:2301.00001

pubmed_id — PubMed ID (PMID), e.g. 36383508

doi — e.g. 10.1371/journal.pone.0276755

Source

Full Text

arXiv

✓

✓ PDF

Semantic Scholar

✓

✓ when OA PDF available

PubMed

✓

✓ via BioC API (PMC articles)

Unpaywall

—

✓ for any DOI with OA version

Frequently Asked Questions

Is io.github.penny4nonsense/mcp-scholaris safe to use?

io.github.penny4nonsense/mcp-scholaris has no known CVEs as of the latest MCPpedia security scan. It does not require authentication, so any local process can connect — keep this in mind in shared environments.

How do I install io.github.penny4nonsense/mcp-scholaris?

io.github.penny4nonsense/mcp-scholaris supports copy-paste install configs on its MCPpedia page for Claude Desktop, Cursor, and Claude Code. Scroll to the Quick Install section and select your client.

What AI clients work with io.github.penny4nonsense/mcp-scholaris?

io.github.penny4nonsense/mcp-scholaris is compatible with claude-desktop, cursor, claude-code. It uses stdio transport.

Is io.github.penny4nonsense/mcp-scholaris actively maintained?

io.github.penny4nonsense/mcp-scholaris is actively maintained — last commit was 3 days ago.

mcp-scholaris

Installation

pip install mcp-scholaris

Tools

`search_papers`

Search for academic papers by topic, author, or keyword.

Parameters:

query (required) — search terms
sources (optional) — list of sources to search: arxiv, semantic_scholar, pubmed. Defaults to all three.
max_results (optional) — maximum results per source. Defaults to 5.

`fetch_paper`

Fetch the full text of a paper. Tries open access sources in order: arXiv → PubMed Central → Unpaywall. Provide at least one identifier.

Parameters:

arxiv_id — e.g. 2301.00001 or arxiv:2301.00001
pubmed_id — PubMed ID (PMID), e.g. 36383508
doi — e.g. 10.1371/journal.pone.0276755

Configuration

Semantic Scholar works without an API key but is rate-limited. For higher limits, create a .env file in your working directory:

SEMANTIC_SCHOLAR_API_KEY=your_key_here

API keys are free at semanticscholar.org.

Usage with an MCP client

Add to your MCP client configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "scholaris": {
      "command": "scholaris"
    }
  }
}

Or run directly:

scholaris

The server communicates over stdio using the MCP protocol (JSON-RPC 2.0).

Sources

Source	Search	Full Text
arXiv	✓	✓ PDF
Semantic Scholar	✓	✓ when OA PDF available
PubMed	✓	✓ via BioC API (PMC articles)
Unpaywall	—	✓ for any DOI with OA version

License

MIT