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io.github.penny4nonsense/mcp-scholaris

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

Open source Open in the app JSON README (API)

About

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

Details

Kind
MCP servers
Topic
Government & public data
Publisher
penny4nonsense
Origin
official
Category
ferramentas
Transport
local
Version
0.1.4
Last push
2026-06-26T19:45:43Z
Repository state
ativo
Language
Python
License
MIT
Added
2026-08-29 04:01:00
Updated
2026-08-29 04:01:00
Origin id
io.github.penny4nonsense/mcp-scholaris

README

# mcp-scholaris

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.

## Installation

``````bash
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](https://www.semanticscholar.org/product/api).

## Usage with an MCP client

Add to your MCP client configuration:

``````json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "scholaris": {
      "command": "scholaris"
    }
  }
}
``````

Or run directly:

``````bash
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

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