cern-inspire-mcp-server

Search INSPIRE literature

cern_inspire_search_literature

Read-onlyIdempotent

Search INSPIRE-HEP papers with INSPIRE query syntax or free text, filtered by document type, subject, and year, sorted by relevance, recency, or citations. Returns one page of papers with recid, title, first author, date, citation counts, arXiv ID, DOI, publication, and an abstract snippet; pass a recid to cern_inspire_get_paper for the full record or to cern_inspire_export_citations ("recid:N") for BibTeX. Empty recognized field clauses are invalid; other malformed syntax can widen or empty the match, so check an unexpectedly broad or empty result against cern_inspire_list_reference topic search_syntax. Only the first 10,000 results of a query are reachable.

Input Schema

Name	Required	Description	Default
`page`	No	Page number, starting at 1. page × effective size (after clamping) may not exceed 10,000.
`size`	No	Papers per page (positive integer, default 10; above 100 uses 100).
`sort`	No	Result order: relevance (default), mostrecent, or mostcited.	relevance
`query`	Yes	INSPIRE query syntax or free text. Common operators: "a Jane.Doe.1" or "a Doe, J" (author), "t higgs boson" (title words), "cn atlas" or "collaboration:atlas" (collaboration), "date > 2015", "topcite 500+" (cited 500+ times), "refersto:recid:451647" (papers citing a record), "citedby:recid:451647" (its references), "j Phys.Rev.Lett." (journal), "eprint 1207.7214"; combine with and/or/not. Bare words search all fields. Empty recognized field clauses such as a: or a:"" (including whitespace-only quoted values) are invalid; other syntax is passed to INSPIRE without complete grammar validation. See cern_inspire_list_reference topic search_syntax.
`year_to`	No	Latest year to include (1900–2100, inclusive), matched on the earliest date INSPIRE records for the paper. Omit for no upper bound.
`subjects`	No	Restrict to INSPIRE subject categories (up to 4). Multiple values must ALL hold, not either. Values: Astrophysics, Phenomenology-HEP, Theory-HEP, Quantum Physics, Unknown, Gravitation and Cosmology, Experiment-HEP, Theory-Nucl, Accelerators, Instrumentation, General Physics, Experiment-Nucl, Math and Math Physics, Condensed Matter, Computing, Lattice, Other, Data Analysis and Statistics.
`year_from`	No	Earliest year to include (1900–2100, inclusive), matched on the earliest date INSPIRE records for the paper. Omit for no lower bound.
`document_types`	No	Restrict to INSPIRE document types (up to 4). Multiple values must ALL hold (published + review = published reviews), not either. Values: article, published, conference paper, thesis, review, note, proceedings, lectures, book chapter, book, introductory, activity report, report.

Output Schema

Name	Required	Description
`cap`	No	The page size applied.
`page`	No	The page returned.
`size`	No	The effective page size after clamping.
`error`	No	Present when the call failed. Absent on success.
`shown`	No	Number of papers on this page.
`notice`	No	Guidance on an empty, very broad, or paged result.
`papers`	No	The papers on this page, in the requested order.
`hasMore`	No	True when INSPIRE has a further page of results.
`nextPage`	No	The page number to request next, when one exists within the 10,000-result window.
`truncated`	No	True when more results exist beyond this page.
`totalCount`	No	Total literature records the query matched.
`appliedFilters`	No	Sort and filters applied, e.g. "sort=mostcited; years=2012–2015", or "none".

Schema Changelog

Changes observed during successful MCP inspections.

Changed6 schema fields changedOct 26, 2026

changedInput schema / properties / page / description

Previous value: -"Page number, starting at 1. page × size may not exceed 10,000."New value: +"Page number, starting at 1. page × effective size (after clamping) may not exceed 10,000."

changedInput schema / properties / query / description

Previous value: -"INSPIRE query syntax or free text. Common operators: \"a Jane.Doe.1\" or \"a Doe, J\" (author), \"t higgs boson\" (title words), \"cn atlas\" or \"collaboration:atlas\" (collaboration), \"date > 2015\", \"topcite 500+\" (cited 500+ times), \"refersto:recid:451647\" (papers citing a record), \"citedby:recid:451647\" (its references), \"j Phys.Rev.Lett.\" (journal), \"eprint 1207.7214\"; combine with and/or/not. Bare words search all fields. Empty recognized field clauses such as \"a:\" are invalid; other syntax is passed to INSPIRE without complete grammar validation. See cern_inspire_list_reference topic search_syntax."New value: +"INSPIRE query syntax or free text. Common operators: \"a Jane.Doe.1\" or \"a Doe, J\" (author), \"t higgs boson\" (title words), \"cn atlas\" or \"collaboration:atlas\" (collaboration), \"date > 2015\", \"topcite 500+\" (cited 500+ times), \"refersto:recid:451647\" (papers citing a record), \"citedby:recid:451647\" (its references), \"j Phys.Rev.Lett.\" (journal), \"eprint 1207.7214\"; combine with and/or/not. Bare words search all fields. Empty recognized field clauses such as a: or a:\"\" (including whitespace-only quoted values) are invalid; other syntax is passed to INSPIRE without complete grammar validation. See cern_inspire_list_reference topic search_syntax."

changedInput schema / properties / size / description

Previous value: -"Papers per page (1–100, default 10)."New value: +"Papers per page (positive integer, default 10; above 100 uses 100)."

changedInput schema / properties / size / maximum

Previous value: -100New value: +9007199254740991

changedOutput schema / properties / error / properties / data / properties / reason / description

Previous value: -"Machine-readable failure mode. Declared by this tool: `beyond_result_window`: page × size exceeds the 10,000 results INSPIRE serves for one query. `invalid_year_range`: year_from is later than year_to. `invalid_query`: A recognized field clause has no value, or INSPIRE answered 400 to a parameter value it refuses. `inspire_rate_limited`: INSPIRE returned 429 after the pacer and retries. `pacer_shed`: The server's outbound INSPIRE queue could not start the request within the call's remaining budget. `upstream_unreadable`: The INSPIRE body exceeded the byte ceiling, was HTML where JSON was expected, or was invalid JSON. Other values are possible when a failure originates below the handler."New value: +"Machine-readable failure mode. Declared by this tool: `beyond_result_window`: page × effective size (after clamping) exceeds the 10,000 results INSPIRE serves for one query. `invalid_year_range`: year_from is later than year_to. `invalid_query`: A recognized field clause has no value, or INSPIRE answered 400 to a parameter value it refuses. `inspire_rate_limited`: INSPIRE returned 429 after the pacer and retries. `pacer_shed`: The server's outbound INSPIRE queue could not start the request within the call's remaining budget. `upstream_unreadable`: The INSPIRE body exceeded the byte ceiling, was HTML where JSON was expected, or was invalid JSON. Other values are possible when a failure originates below the handler."

changedOutput schema / properties / size / description

Previous value: -"The page size requested."New value: +"The effective page size after clamping."

Changed2 schema fields changedOct 16, 2026

changedInput schema / properties / query / description

Previous value: -"INSPIRE query syntax or free text. Common operators: \"a Jane.Doe.1\" or \"a Doe, J\" (author), \"t higgs boson\" (title words), \"cn atlas\" or \"collaboration:atlas\" (collaboration), \"date > 2015\", \"topcite 500+\" (cited 500+ times), \"refersto:recid:451647\" (papers citing a record), \"citedby:recid:451647\" (its references), \"j Phys.Rev.Lett.\" (journal), \"eprint 1207.7214\"; combine with and/or/not. Bare words search all fields. INSPIRE does not reject malformed syntax; see cern_inspire_list_reference topic search_syntax for the rest."New value: +"INSPIRE query syntax or free text. Common operators: \"a Jane.Doe.1\" or \"a Doe, J\" (author), \"t higgs boson\" (title words), \"cn atlas\" or \"collaboration:atlas\" (collaboration), \"date > 2015\", \"topcite 500+\" (cited 500+ times), \"refersto:recid:451647\" (papers citing a record), \"citedby:recid:451647\" (its references), \"j Phys.Rev.Lett.\" (journal), \"eprint 1207.7214\"; combine with and/or/not. Bare words search all fields. Empty recognized field clauses such as \"a:\" are invalid; other syntax is passed to INSPIRE without complete grammar validation. See cern_inspire_list_reference topic search_syntax."

changedOutput schema / properties / error / properties / data / properties / reason / description

Previous value: -"Machine-readable failure mode. Declared by this tool: `beyond_result_window`: page × size exceeds the 10,000 results INSPIRE serves for one query. `invalid_year_range`: year_from is later than year_to. `invalid_query`: INSPIRE answered 400 to a parameter value it refuses. `inspire_rate_limited`: INSPIRE returned 429 after the pacer and retries. `pacer_shed`: The server's outbound INSPIRE queue could not start the request within the call's remaining budget. `upstream_unreadable`: The INSPIRE body exceeded the byte ceiling, was HTML where JSON was expected, or was invalid JSON. Other values are possible when a failure originates below the handler."New value: +"Machine-readable failure mode. Declared by this tool: `beyond_result_window`: page × size exceeds the 10,000 results INSPIRE serves for one query. `invalid_year_range`: year_from is later than year_to. `invalid_query`: A recognized field clause has no value, or INSPIRE answered 400 to a parameter value it refuses. `inspire_rate_limited`: INSPIRE returned 429 after the pacer and retries. `pacer_shed`: The server's outbound INSPIRE queue could not start the request within the call's remaining budget. `upstream_unreadable`: The INSPIRE body exceeded the byte ceiling, was HTML where JSON was expected, or was invalid JSON. Other values are possible when a failure originates below the handler."

First observedOct 2, 2026

TDQS

A4.7/5.0

Behavior5/5

Does the description disclose side effects, auth requirements, rate limits, or destructive behavior?

Beyond the read-only/idempotent annotations, it discloses the return shape, the effect of malformed syntax, the risk of broad or empty results, and the hard pagination reachability limit. These are meaningful operational details not captured by the annotations.

Agents need to know what a tool does to the world before calling it. Descriptions should go beyond structured annotations to explain consequences.

Conciseness5/5

Is the description appropriately sized, front-loaded, and free of redundancy?

The description is dense but front-loaded: search behavior comes first, return fields next, then routing and syntax caveats. Every sentence carries useful information, with no filler.

Shorter descriptions cost fewer tokens and are easier for agents to parse. Every sentence should earn its place.

Completeness5/5

Given the tool's complexity, does the description cover enough for an agent to succeed on first attempt?

For a search tool with a rich schema, full annotations, and an output schema, the description supplies the remaining context an agent needs: return fields, sibling handoffs, syntax failure modes, and result limits.

Complex tools with many parameters or behaviors need more documentation. Simple tools need less. This dimension scales expectations accordingly.

Parameters3/5

Does the description clarify parameter syntax, constraints, interactions, or defaults beyond what the schema provides?

Schema description coverage is 100%, so parameters such as page, size, sort, filters, and query syntax are already well documented. The description reinforces query syntax and pagination limits but adds little parameter-level meaning beyond the schema.

Input schemas describe structure but not intent. Descriptions should explain non-obvious parameter relationships and valid value ranges.

Purpose5/5

Does the description clearly state what the tool does and how it differs from similar tools?

The description states a specific verb and resource: searching INSPIRE-HEP papers, with filters, sorting, and a clear summary of returned fields. It also distinguishes this broad literature search from siblings like get_paper and export_citations.

Agents choose between tools based on descriptions. A clear purpose with a specific verb and resource helps agents select the right tool.

Usage Guidelines5/5

Does the description explain when to use this tool, when not to, or what alternatives exist?

It explicitly says to pass a recid to cern_inspire_get_paper for full records or to cern_inspire_export_citations for BibTeX, and directs agents to cern_inspire_list_reference when syntax behaves unexpectedly. The 10,000-result reachability limit is also stated clearly.

Agents often have multiple tools that could apply. Explicit usage guidance like "use X instead of Y when Z" prevents misuse.

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