MCP Semantic Scholar
MCP server for Semantic Scholar to search for papers
What is MCP Semantic Scholar?
MCP Semantic Scholar is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that allows AI assistants like Claude, Cursor, and VS Code to mcp server for semantic scholar to search for papers
MCP server for Semantic Scholar to search for papers
This server falls under the Search & Data Extraction category on MCPgee, the world's largest MCP server directory with 33,000+ servers.
Features
- MCP server for Semantic Scholar to search for papers
Use Cases
Maintainer
Works with
Installation
Manual Installation
npx mcp-semantic-scholarConfiguration
Configuration Details
claude_desktop_config.json
Performance
Response Metrics
Resource Usage
How to Set Up and Use MCP Semantic Scholar
MCP Semantic Scholar Server provides an MCP interface to the Semantic Scholar academic paper search API, allowing AI assistants to search millions of research papers across all scientific disciplines. It exposes a single well-designed tool, search_papers_via_semanticscholar, that accepts keywords, optional year range filters, and a result limit, then returns formatted results with titles, authors, abstracts, citation counts, and direct URLs. Researchers, students, and developers can use it to perform literature searches, find highly-cited papers, and explore academic topics without leaving their AI assistant.
Prerequisites
- Python 3.10 or higher installed
- uv or pip package manager
- The mcp Python package installed (pip install mcp or uv add mcp)
- httpx and pydantic installed (pip install httpx pydantic)
- An MCP-compatible client such as Claude Desktop (a Semantic Scholar API key is optional but recommended for higher rate limits)
Clone the repository
Clone the server repository to your local machine.
git clone https://github.com/benhaotang/mcp-semantic-scholar-server.git
cd mcp-semantic-scholar-serverInstall dependencies
Install the required Python packages listed in requirements.txt.
pip install -r requirements.txtObtain an optional API key
For higher rate limits, request a free Semantic Scholar API key at https://www.semanticscholar.org/product/api and set it as an environment variable.
export SEMANTIC_SCHOLAR_API_KEY="your_api_key_here"Test the server with MCP dev tools
Run the server in development mode to confirm it starts correctly and lists its tools.
mcp dev /path/to/mcp-semantic-scholar-server/semantic-scholar-plugin.pyAdd to your MCP client configuration
Register the server with Claude Desktop or another MCP client using either the uv or direct mcp run invocation.
MCP Semantic Scholar Examples
Client configuration
Add this block to your claude_desktop_config.json. Set SEMANTIC_SCHOLAR_API_KEY to increase rate limits from the free anonymous tier.
{
"mcpServers": {
"semantic-scholar": {
"command": "uv",
"args": [
"run",
"--with",
"mcp",
"mcp",
"run",
"/absolute/path/to/mcp-semantic-scholar-server/semantic-scholar-plugin.py"
],
"env": {
"SEMANTIC_SCHOLAR_API_KEY": "your_api_key_here"
}
}
}
}Prompts to try
Use these prompts to search academic literature through Claude.
- "Search for recent papers on retrieval-augmented generation published after 2022"
- "Find the top 10 most cited papers on transformer architectures"
- "Search for papers about CRISPR gene editing from 2020 to 2023"
- "Find academic papers on federated learning privacy and return up to 15 results"
- "Search for papers about large language model alignment and summarize the abstracts"Troubleshooting MCP Semantic Scholar
Rate limit errors (HTTP 429) when searching without an API key
Request a free Semantic Scholar API key at https://www.semanticscholar.org/product/api and set SEMANTIC_SCHOLAR_API_KEY in your MCP client's env block. This significantly increases rate limits.
uv run command fails or mcp module not found
If uv is unavailable, use the alternative config with the absolute path to the mcp binary: set command to the output of 'which mcp' and args to ["run", "/path/to/semantic-scholar-plugin.py"].
Console log noise about ListToolsRequest appearing in the client
This is a known cosmetic issue with the Python MCP SDK and does not affect functionality. The tool calls work correctly; the INFO lines in the output are debug messages from the SDK.
Frequently Asked Questions about MCP Semantic Scholar
What is MCP Semantic Scholar?
MCP Semantic Scholar is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that mcp server for semantic scholar to search for papers It connects AI assistants to external tools and data sources through a standardized interface.
How do I install MCP Semantic Scholar?
Follow the installation instructions on the MCP Semantic Scholar GitHub repository. Clone the repo, install dependencies, and add the server config to your AI client.
Which AI clients work with MCP Semantic Scholar?
MCP Semantic Scholar works with all major MCP-compatible AI clients including Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code (GitHub Copilot), Windsurf, and Cline.
Is MCP Semantic Scholar free to use?
Yes, MCP Semantic Scholar is open source and available under the MIT license. You can use it freely in both personal and commercial projects.
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Set Up MCP Semantic Scholar in Your Editor
Choose your AI client for step-by-step setup instructions.
Quick Config Preview
Add this to your claude_desktop_config.json or .cursor/mcp.json
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