📚 Academic MCP

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🔬 academic-mcp is a Python-based MCP server that enables users to search, download, and read academic papers from various platforms. It provides three main tools:

• 🔎 paper_search: Search papers across multiple academic databases

• 📥 paper_download: Download paper PDFs, return paths of downloaded files

• 📖 paper_read: Extract and read text content from papers

📑 Table of Contents

• 🎬 Screenshot

• 📝 TODO

• ✨ Features

• 📦 Installation

  • ⚡ Quick Start

  • 🛠️ For Development

• 🚀 Usage

  • 🔎 Search Papers

  • 📥 Download Papers

  • 📖 Read Papers

  • ⚙️ Environment Variables

• 🤝 Contributing

• 📄 License

✨ Features

• 🌐 Multi-Source Support: Search and download papers from arXiv, PubMed, bioRxiv, medRxiv, Google Scholar, IACR ePrint Archive, Semantic Scholar, and CrossRef.

• 🎯 Unified Interface: All platforms accessible through consistent paper_search, paper_download, and paper_read tools.

• 📊 Standardized Output: Papers are returned in a consistent dictionary format via the Paper class.

• ⚡ Asynchronous Operations: Efficiently handles concurrent searches and downloads using httpx and async/await.

• 🔌 MCP Integration: Compatible with MCP clients for LLM context enhancement.

• 🧩 Extensible Design: Easily add new academic platforms by extending the sources module.

🎬 Screenshot

📝 TODO

Planned Academic Platforms

• arXiv

• PubMed

• bioRxiv

• medRxiv

• Google Scholar

• IACR ePrint Archive

• Semantic Scholar

• CrossRef

• PubMed Central (PMC)

• Science Direct

• Springer Link

• IEEE Xplore

• ACM Digital Library

• Web of Science

• Scopus

• JSTOR

• ResearchGate

• CORE

• Microsoft Academic

📦 Installation

academic-mcp can be installed using uv or pip. Below are two approaches: a quick start for immediate use and a detailed setup for development.

⚡ Quick Start

For users who want to quickly run the server:

1. Install Package:

   pip install academic-mcp

2. Configure Claude Desktop: Add this configuration to ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json (Mac) or %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json (Windows):

   { "mcpServers": { "academic-mcp": { "command": "python", "args": [ "-m", "academic_mcp" ], "env": { "SEMANTIC_SCHOLAR_API_KEY": "", "ACADEMIC_MCP_DOWNLOAD_PATH": "./downloads" } } } }

   Note: The SEMANTIC_SCHOLAR_API_KEY is optional and only required for enhanced Semantic Scholar features.

🛠️ For Development

For developers who want to modify the code or contribute:

1. Setup Environment:

   # Install uv if not installed curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh # Clone repository git clone https://github.com/LinXueyuanStdio/academic-mcp.git cd academic-mcp # Create and activate virtual environment uv venv source .venv/bin/activate # On Windows: .venv\Scripts\activate

2. Install Dependencies:

   # Install dependencies (recommended) uv pip install -e . # Add development dependencies (optional) uv pip install pytest flake8

🚀 Usage

Once configured, academic-mcp provides three main tools accessible through Claude Desktop or any MCP-compatible client:

1. Search Papers (paper_search)

Search for academic papers across multiple sources:

2. Download Papers (paper_download)

Download paper PDFs using their identifiers:

3. Read Papers (paper_read)

Extract and read text content from papers:

Environment Variables

• SEMANTIC_SCHOLAR_API_KEY: Optional API key for enhanced Semantic Scholar features

• ACADEMIC_MCP_DOWNLOAD_PATH: Directory for downloaded PDFs (default: ./downloads)

🤝 Contributing

We welcome contributions! Here's how to get started:

1. Fork the Repository: Click "Fork" on GitHub.

2. Clone and Set Up:

   git clone https://github.com/yourusername/academic-mcp.git cd academic-mcp uv pip install -e . # Install in development mode

3. Make Changes:

   • Add new platforms in academic_mcp/sources/.

   • Update tests in tests/.

4. Submit a Pull Request: Push changes and create a PR on GitHub.

📄 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License. See the LICENSE file for details.

Happy researching with academic-mcp! If you encounter issues, open a GitHub issue.