mcp-scholarly

MCP.Pizza Chef: adityak74

mcp-scholarly is a dedicated MCP server designed to enable accurate and efficient searching of academic articles. Initially integrating with arXiv, it allows users to query scholarly articles by keyword, providing structured access to research papers. The server is built to expand its coverage by adding more scholarly vendors, enhancing the breadth and depth of academic content accessible through the MCP ecosystem. This makes it an essential tool for researchers, students, and developers seeking reliable academic data within AI-enhanced workflows.

Use This MCP server To

Search academic articles by keyword from arXiv Integrate scholarly article search into AI workflows Provide real-time academic research context to LLMs Expand academic data sources with additional vendors Enable citation and reference retrieval for research Support academic literature review automation

README

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mcp-scholarly MCP server

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A MCP server to search for accurate academic articles. More scholarly vendors will be added soon.

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image

Scholarly Server MCP server

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Components

Tools

The server implements one tool:

  • search-arxiv: Search arxiv for articles related to the given keyword.
    • Takes "keyword" as required string arguments

Quickstart

Install

Claude Desktop

On MacOS: ~/Library/Application\ Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json On Windows: %APPDATA%/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

Development/Unpublished Servers Configuration ``` "mcpServers": { "mcp-scholarly": { "command": "uv", "args": [ "--directory", "/Users/adityakarnam/PycharmProjects/mcp-scholarly/mcp-scholarly", "run", "mcp-scholarly" ] } } ```
Published Servers Configuration ``` "mcpServers": { "mcp-scholarly": { "command": "uvx", "args": [ "mcp-scholarly" ] } } ```

or if you are using Docker

Published Docker Servers Configuration ``` "mcpServers": { "mcp-scholarly": { "command": "docker", "args": [ "run", "--rm", "-i", "mcp/scholarly" ] } } ```

Installing via Smithery

To install mcp-scholarly for Claude Desktop automatically via Smithery:

npx -y @smithery/cli install mcp-scholarly --client claude

Development

Building and Publishing

To prepare the package for distribution:

  1. Sync dependencies and update lockfile:
uv sync
  1. Build package distributions:
uv build

This will create source and wheel distributions in the dist/ directory.

  1. Publish to PyPI:
uv publish

Note: You'll need to set PyPI credentials via environment variables or command flags:

  • Token: --token or UV_PUBLISH_TOKEN
  • Or username/password: --username/UV_PUBLISH_USERNAME and --password/UV_PUBLISH_PASSWORD

Debugging

Since MCP servers run over stdio, debugging can be challenging. For the best debugging experience, we strongly recommend using the MCP Inspector.

You can launch the MCP Inspector via npm with this command:

npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector uv --directory /Users/adityakarnam/PycharmProjects/mcp-scholarly/mcp-scholarly run mcp-scholarly

Upon launching, the Inspector will display a URL that you can access in your browser to begin debugging.

mcp-scholarly FAQ

How do I install the mcp-scholarly server?
Installation instructions are provided in the GitHub repository README, typically involving standard MCP server setup steps.
What scholarly sources does mcp-scholarly support?
Currently, it supports searching articles on arXiv, with plans to add more scholarly vendors soon.
How does the search-arxiv tool work?
It takes a keyword as input and returns relevant academic articles from the arXiv database.
Can mcp-scholarly be integrated with different LLM providers?
Yes, it is provider-agnostic and can work with OpenAI, Anthropic Claude, and Google Gemini models.
Is the data returned by mcp-scholarly verified for accuracy?
The server sources articles from reputable academic repositories like arXiv, ensuring high-quality and accurate scholarly content.
How can I contribute additional scholarly sources to mcp-scholarly?
Contributions can be made via pull requests on the GitHub repository, following the contribution guidelines.
Does mcp-scholarly support advanced search filters?
Currently, it supports keyword-based search; advanced filters may be added in future updates.
Is there a demo available to test mcp-scholarly?
Yes, demo images and badges are available on the GitHub page and associated MCP hosting platforms.