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Phở Research Tools

Registre officiel Données et bases de données

Verifies AI-written references; finds real papers, evidence, datasets and research tools; PRISMA.

Code source Site web Documentation

Installation

Ajoutez ceci à la configuration MCP de votre client (Claude Desktop : claude_desktop_config.json ; Cursor : .cursor/mcp.json ; VS Code et les autres utilisent la même forme « mcpServers »).

Remote (streamable-http)
Claude Code 
claude mcp add --transport http ph-research-tools 'https://mcp.pho.chat/mcp'
Configuration JSON (Claude Desktop, Cursor, VS Code) 
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "ph-research-tools": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.pho.chat/mcp"
        }
    }
}

Documentation

Tirée du README du projet sur GitHub, actualisée chaque semaine. Les liens ouvrent GitHub.

Sommaire
  1. Phở Research Tools
  2. Use the hosted server (no install)
  3. Verified Citations skill
  4. Run it yourself
  5. Repository layout
  6. Open data only
  7. Privacy
  8. Contributing and license

Phở Research Tools

An open-source MCP server that lets any AI assistant check its own references. It verifies citations, flags retractions, finds the strongest evidence for a claim, formats bibliographies, runs PRISMA 2020 screening and finds open datasets and research software, using only open databases: Crossref, PubMed, OpenAlex, Europe PMC, DataCite, bio.tools and others.

AI models invent references. This server gives Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor or any MCP client a way to look each one up in a public database before you trust it.

ToolWhat it does
verify_referencesChecks each reference: verified, real but with wrong details (with the corrected record), likely fabricated, not found, retracted, or ambiguous.
check_retractionsRetraction, expression-of-concern and correction notices for a list of DOIs.
search_papersSearches OpenAlex and PubMed. Every result has a DOI or PMID; retracted papers are left out and preprints are labelled.
format_citationsAPA 7, MLA 9, Chicago, Harvard, Vancouver, IEEE or AMA, or BibTeX, RIS and CSL-JSON, formatted from the real record.
prisma_flow_diagramA PRISMA 2020 flow diagram (PNG + SVG) with a check that the counts add up.
find_evidenceThe strongest evidence on a claim, ordered by level of evidence (guideline, meta-analysis, RCT and down), each with its conclusion quoted verbatim.
screening_logTurns screening decisions into PRISMA counts, a diagram and a CSV log, and lists the problems a reviewer would catch.
find_datasetsOpen datasets for a research question, with licence verdicts, verified source papers and a shareable brief.
find_toolsResearch software for a task from the bio.tools registry, with licence verdicts, verified papers, maintenance labels and install lines.

All nine tools are read-only. Results are database lookups, not model opinions: likely_fabricated means the DOI is not registered or no matching record exists, and find_evidence never says whether a paper supports a claim; its quoted conclusion does.

Use the hosted server (no install)

Add this URL as a custom connector / MCP server in your client:

https://mcp.pho.chat/mcp
  • Claude Code: claude mcp add --transport http pho-research https://mcp.pho.chat/mcp
  • Claude (web, desktop): Settings → Connectors → Add custom connector.
  • ChatGPT: Settings → Apps & Connectors → Developer mode → Create.
  • Cursor, VS Code, others: see apps/mcp/README.md.

No account is needed. Anonymous use has a daily allowance; a free account at pho.chat raises it. Prefer a web page? The same tools run at pho.chat/tools.

Verified Citations skill

This repository also ships Verified Citations, an Agent Skill that makes an assistant use the tools above on every reference it writes: find sources with search_papers instead of recalling them, run verify_references before showing anything, format with format_citations, and say which references were corrected, retracted or removed.

Claude Code (plugin: skill + MCP server in one step)
claude plugin marketplace add thaohienhomes/pho-research-tools
claude plugin install verified-citations@pho-research-tools

The plugin adds the skill and connects the pho-research MCP server. Run /mcp to check the server shows as connected. From a local checkout, pass the folder path to marketplace add instead.

Cursor (Agent Plugin: skill + MCP server in one step)

The repository root is an Agent Plugin: plugin.json names the plugin, skills/ holds the skill, and mcp.json connects the pho-research server at https://mcp.pho.chat/mcp. Cursor loads it as-is:

  • Teams and Enterprise: Dashboard → Plugins & MCPs → Add Marketplace → Import from Repo, and paste https://github.com/thaohienhomes/pho-research-tools.
  • Local: clone or copy this repository to ~/.cursor/plugins/local/verified-citations, run Developer: Reload Window, and check under Customize that the plugin and the pho-research MCP server are listed.

The plugin logo is assets/logo.svg. Support: support@pho.chat.

skills.sh (Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, Gemini CLI and other agents)
npx skills add thaohienhomes/pho-research-tools --skill verified-citations

This installs the skill only. Connect the MCP server in your agent too, for example in Claude Code:

claude mcp add --transport http pho-research https://mcp.pho.chat/mcp
ClawHub (OpenClaw)
clawhub install verified-citations

Then add https://mcp.pho.chat/mcp as a remote MCP server in OpenClaw.

Claude.ai, ChatGPT and others

Add https://mcp.pho.chat/mcp as a custom connector; step-by-step instructions for each app are at https://pho.chat/tools/mcp/. Without the connector, paste a reference list into the free checker at https://pho.chat/tools/citation-checker/.

Run it yourself

Requires Node 22+ and pnpm 9.

pnpm install
pnpm dev            # http://localhost:8787/mcp

Every setting is optional for a local run; see apps/mcp/.env.example. A Dockerfile is in apps/mcp/ (docker build -f apps/mcp/Dockerfile -t pho-mcp .).

Repository layout

PathWhat it is
apps/mcpThe MCP server (Streamable HTTP, Hono). Quotas, optional sign-in, analytics, all off unless configured.
packages/scholar-coreVerification, retraction checks, search, citation formatting and PRISMA rendering. Pure TypeScript, no AI SDK, no database.
packages/citation-engineDOI, BibTeX and RIS parsing and Crossref helpers.
docs/samples/scholar-coreSample outputs, regenerated and checked by the test suite.
skills/verified-citationsThe Verified Citations Agent Skill.
.claude-plugin/, .mcp.jsonClaude Code plugin + one-plugin marketplace (skill and MCP server in one install).
plugin.json, mcp.jsonAgent Plugin manifest for Cursor and other Agent Plugins clients (skills found in skills/).
assets/logo.svgPlugin logo, a vector version of apps/mcp/public/icon.png.
server.json, glama.jsonMCP Registry entry (published by .github/workflows/publish-mcp-registry.yml) and Glama maintainer claim.
pnpm test        # 190 tests, all replaying recorded API responses
pnpm typecheck

Open data only

Every source this server calls has an open API and open metadata. Nothing paywalled is fetched or stored. Embedded CSL styles are CC BY-SA 3.0; details in NOTICE.md.

Privacy

What the hosted server receives and keeps: https://pho.chat/tools/privacy/

Contributing and license

Issues and pull requests are welcome; read CONTRIBUTING.md first. Security reports: SECURITY.md.

Code is MIT. Built by Phở, a research workspace for doctors and scientists.

Tiếng Việt: Phở Research Tools là máy chủ MCP mã nguồn mở giúp trợ lý AI tự kiểm tra tài liệu tham khảo (xác minh trích dẫn, kiểm tra rút bài, định dạng, vẽ sơ đồ PRISMA 2020), chỉ dùng dữ liệu khoa học mở.

Questions fréquentes

Qu'est-ce que Phở Research Tools ?

Verifies AI-written references; finds real papers, evidence, datasets and research tools; PRISMA.

Comment installer Phở Research Tools ?

Il fonctionne comme serveur distant. Dans Claude Code : claude mcp add --transport http ph-research-tools 'https://mcp.pho.chat/mcp'. Pour les autres clients, collez la configuration JSON de cette page dans leurs réglages MCP.

Faut-il une clé API pour Phở Research Tools ?

Son entrée au registre n'indique aucune clé ni secret obligatoire. Certaines fonctions peuvent tout de même demander un compte auprès du service auquel il se connecte.

Phở Research Tools est-il open source ?

Oui. Son code est sur GitHub sous licence MIT.

Qui maintient Phở Research Tools ?

Il est publié par thaohienhomes. AI.tn le référence sans le maintenir ni le recommander.

Issu du registre MCP officiel. Être listé n'est pas une recommandation : vérifiez le code et les permissions d'un serveur avant de lui donner accès à vos données.