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Find Research Papers

Official registry Search and web

Search open-source research papers across arXiv, OpenAlex, Crossref, PubMed, Semantic Scholar.

Source code Documentation

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).

NPM package find-research-papers-mcp
Claude Code 
claude mcp add find-research-papers -e 'FIND_RESEARCH_PAPERS_MCP_S2_API_KEY=<your find_research_papers_mcp_s2_api_key>' -- npx -y find-research-papers-mcp@0.1.0
JSON configuration (Claude Desktop, Cursor, VS Code) 
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "find-research-papers": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "-y",
                "find-research-papers-mcp@0.1.0"
            ],
            "env": {
                "FIND_RESEARCH_PAPERS_MCP_S2_API_KEY": "<your find_research_papers_mcp_s2_api_key>"
            }
        }
    }
}

Environment variables

  • FIND_RESEARCH_PAPERS_MCP_S2_API_KEY secret Semantic Scholar API key. Without it, the shared rate pool may 429 (source is skipped, never a crash).

Documentation

From the project's README on GitHub, refreshed weekly. Links open on GitHub.

Contents
  1. Scientific Research Papers MCP Server 📄
  2. ⚡ Quickstart
  3. 🤖 Client Setup
  4. 🛠️ Tools & Capabilities
  5. 🔒 Telemetry & Privacy
  6. 📄 License

Scientific Research Papers MCP Server 📄

Scientific literature grounding MCP server for AI agents: unified search across 250M+ scholarly papers on arXiv, PubMed, OpenAlex, CrossRef, and Semantic Scholar.

🌐 Live Documentation & Web Portal: https://papers.builditwithai.xyz

⚡ Quickstart

# 1-Line Universal Installer (Auto-configures Claude Desktop, Cursor, Claude Code, Antigravity, VS Code, Zed, Windsurf)
curl -fsSL "https://papers.builditwithai.xyz/install" | bash

# Or run directly via your preferred runtime:
uvx find-research-papers-mcp
npx -y find-research-papers-mcp

🤖 Client Setup

A. Claude Code (CLI)
claude mcp add papers -- uvx find-research-papers-mcp
B. Cursor & Google Antigravity (mcp.json)
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "papers": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["find-research-papers-mcp"]
    }
  }
}
C. Claude Desktop (claude_desktop_config.json)
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "papers": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["find-research-papers-mcp"]
    }
  }
}
D. VS Code (Cline / Roo Code / Continue)
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "papers": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "find-research-papers-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

🛠️ Tools & Capabilities

Tool NameParametersDescriptionReturn Type
search_papersquery (string), sources (list), limit (int)Unified multi-index search across arXiv, PubMed, OpenAlex, CrossRef, Semantic Scholar.JSON / Markdown
get_paperdoi (string) or id (string)Retrieves paper metadata, abstract, authors, publication date, and open-access PDF link.JSON
get_referencesdoi (string)Fetches complete bibliography and referenced papers via CrossRef.JSON
get_citationsdoi (string)Fetches citing papers and citation graph via OpenAlex.JSON
verify_paperdoi (string)HEAD-checks landing page accessibility and cross-checks retraction databases.JSON
list_sources(none)Returns live status and latency metrics for all 5 scholarly indexes.JSON
skill_readskill_name (string)Dynamically loads research methodology skills from GitHub.Markdown
skills_list(none)Lists all available scientific research skills.JSON

🔒 Telemetry & Privacy

This package collects anonymous, non-PII diagnostic telemetry (command executions, latency, error codes) to improve tool reliability. No research queries, paper results, personal data, source code, or environment variables are ever collected or stored.

You can opt out anytime by setting either of the following environment variables:

export DO_NOT_TRACK=1
# or
export MCP_TELEMETRY_OPT_OUT=1

📄 License

MIT License. See LICENSE for details.

Frequently asked questions

What is Find Research Papers?

Search open-source research papers across arXiv, OpenAlex, Crossref, PubMed, Semantic Scholar.

How do I install Find Research Papers?

It runs on your machine. In Claude Code: claude mcp add find-research-papers -e 'FIND_RESEARCH_PAPERS_MCP_S2_API_KEY=<your find_research_papers_mcp_s2_api_key>' -- npx -y find-research-papers-mcp@0.1.0. For other clients, paste the JSON configuration from this page into their MCP settings.

Does Find Research Papers need an API key?

Yes. It expects FIND_RESEARCH_PAPERS_MCP_S2_API_KEY, which you set in its configuration.

Is Find Research Papers open source?

Yes. Its code is on GitHub under the MIT license.

Who maintains Find Research Papers?

It is published by surendranb. AI.tn lists it but does not maintain or endorse it.

From the official MCP Registry. Listing is not an endorsement: review a server's code and permissions before giving it access to your data.