com.nobleblocks/nobleblocks-mcp
Search 340M+ academic papers — citation graphs, semantic similarity, and AI literature reviews.
Install
Add this to your client's MCP configuration (Claude Desktop: claude_desktop_config.json; Cursor: .cursor/mcp.json; VS Code and others use the same "mcpServers" shape).
claude mcp add --transport http nobleblocks-mcp 'https://mcp.nobleblocks.com/mcp'
{
"mcpServers": {
"nobleblocks-mcp": {
"type": "http",
"url": "https://mcp.nobleblocks.com/mcp"
}
}
}
Documentation
From the project's README on GitHub, refreshed weekly. Links open on GitHub.
Contents
NobleBlocks MCP Server
Search 340 million deduplicated academic papers from Claude Desktop, Claude Web, ChatGPT, Cursor, VS Code Copilot, or any MCP-compatible tool. Covers 15+ academic databases — all cross-linked through a biomedical knowledge graph with 1.3M+ entities and 109M+ paper connections.
This is a thin authenticated client — all indexing, ranking, vector search, and knowledge graph traversal runs on the NobleBlocks backend. You get fast results without managing any infrastructure.
What's in the index
| Source | Papers | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| OpenAlex | ~250M works | Daily |
| Semantic Scholar | ~220M papers | Weekly |
| PubMed / MEDLINE | ~41M articles | Daily |
| Europe PMC | ~43M articles | Daily |
| Crossref | Incremental | Daily |
| arXiv | ~2.5M preprints | Daily |
| bioRxiv / medRxiv | ~1K/day | Daily |
| ClinicalTrials.gov | ~582K trials | Daily |
| Unpaywall | OA link resolution | Daily |
| DBLP | Computer science | Via OpenAlex |
| CORE | ~37M open access outputs | Coming soon |
| BASE (Bielefeld) | Discovery metadata | Via OpenAlex |
| DOAJ | Open access journals | Via Crossref |
| Papers with Code | ML/AI benchmarks | Weekly |
| Retraction Watch | Retraction status | Weekly |
| USPTO / EPO patents | ~9.3M patent-paper links | Daily |
| …and others |
All sources are cross-deduplicated on DOI, PMID, and arXiv ID. Total unique records after dedup: 340M+ (June 2026).
Knowledge graph
The search backend also maintains a biomedical knowledge graph (1.3M+ entities, 109M+ paper links) with genes, diseases, drugs, proteins, institutions, researchers, topics, genetic variants, and drug-target-disease relationships sourced from PubTator Central, DisGeNET, ChEMBL, UniProt, ROR, ORCID, Open Targets, and others.
Tools
| Tool | What it does |
|---|---|
search_papers | Full-text + semantic hybrid search with year/citation/source filters |
get_paper | Fetch metadata by DOI, PMID, arXiv ID, or OpenAlex ID |
find_similar | Find papers related by meaning, not just keyword matching |
get_citation_graph | Citation network — references and citing papers |
search_by_entity | Find papers linked to a gene, drug, disease, or institution via the KG |
create_literature_review | AI-generated structured lit review with citations (Pro) |
Get an API key
All usage requires a free NobleBlocks account. Sign up takes 30 seconds:
- Go to nobleblocks.com/signup
- Create an account (email or Google)
- Navigate to Settings > API Keys and generate a key
Free plan: 100 searches/day, 5 similar/day, citation graph access. Pro plan: 5,000 searches/day, literature review generation, priority support.
Quick start (Remote — no install needed)
The easiest way to get started is the remote connector — no API keys, no Python install:
- Open claude.ai → Settings → Connectors (or Integrations)
- Click "Add" and paste:
https://mcp.nobleblocks.com/mcp - Sign in with your NobleBlocks account
- Ask Claude: "Search for papers on CRISPR gene therapy"
Install (Local)
uvx nobleblocks-mcp
Configure Claude Desktop
Add to your Claude Desktop config (~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json on macOS):
{
"mcpServers": {
"nobleblocks": {
"command": "nobleblocks-mcp",
"env": {
"NOBLEBLOCKS_API_KEY": "nb_pk_your_key_here"
}
}
}
}
Restart Claude Desktop. The NobleBlocks tools will appear in the tools list.
Configure VS Code Copilot
Add to .vscode/mcp.json in your project:
{
"servers": {
"nobleblocks": {
"command": "nobleblocks-mcp",
"env": {
"NOBLEBLOCKS_API_KEY": "nb_pk_your_key_here"
}
}
}
}
Configure Cursor / Cline / Continue
Point your editor's MCP settings at the nobleblocks-mcp command with stdio transport. Set NOBLEBLOCKS_API_KEY in the environment.
CLI usage
You can also search directly from the terminal:
# Search papers
nobleblocks search "CRISPR base editing" --limit 5 --min-year 2022
# Get a specific paper
nobleblocks get 10.1038/s41586-020-2649-2
# Find similar papers
nobleblocks similar "Attention Is All You Need"
# Citation graph
nobleblocks citations 10.1038/s41586-020-2649-2 --direction both
All CLI commands require NOBLEBLOCKS_API_KEY set in your environment (or pass --key).
Environment variables
| Variable | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
NOBLEBLOCKS_API_KEY | (required) | Your API key from nobleblocks.com |
NOBLEBLOCKS_API_BASE | https://www.nobleblocks.com | API endpoint |
LOG_LEVEL | INFO | Logging verbosity |
Examples
Once configured, ask naturally in Claude/Cursor:
"Find the most-cited papers on CRISPR base editing from 2022-2024"
"Show me papers similar to 'Attention Is All You Need' by Vaswani"
"What papers cite DOI 10.1038/s41586-020-2649-2?"
"Find papers linking BRCA1 to drug resistance"
"Generate a literature review on CAR-T cell therapy in solid tumors"
Development
git clone https://github.com/nobleblocks/nobleblocks-mcp.git
cd nobleblocks-mcp
pip install -e .
# Test with MCP Inspector
npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector nobleblocks-mcp
License
MIT — see LICENSE.
Built by NobleBlocks — the academic research platform for the AI era.
Frequently asked questions
What is com.nobleblocks/nobleblocks-mcp?
Search 340M+ academic papers — citation graphs, semantic similarity, and AI literature reviews.
How do I install com.nobleblocks/nobleblocks-mcp?
It runs as a remote server. In Claude Code: claude mcp add --transport http nobleblocks-mcp 'https://mcp.nobleblocks.com/mcp'. For other clients, paste the JSON configuration from this page into their MCP settings.
Does com.nobleblocks/nobleblocks-mcp need an API key?
Its registry entry lists no required key or secret. Some features may still need an account with the service it connects to.
Is com.nobleblocks/nobleblocks-mcp open source?
Yes. Its code is on GitHub under the MIT license.
Who maintains com.nobleblocks/nobleblocks-mcp?
It is published by nobleblocks. AI.tn lists it but does not maintain or endorse it.
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