Semantic Scholar MCP Server

Instructions

Get the context in which one paper cites another.

Args:
    paper_id: ID of the paper being cited
    citing_paper_id: ID of the paper doing the citing

Returns:
    Citation context information

Implementation Reference

• src/semantic_scholar_mcp/server.py:537-576 (handler)

  The handler function for the 'get_citation_context' tool, decorated with @mcp.tool() which also serves as its registration in the FastMCP server. It fetches citation context from the Semantic Scholar API endpoint /paper/{paper_id}/citations/{citing_paper_id}, extracts contexts, paper titles, and formats a response string with the citation snippets.

  @mcp.tool()
  async def get_citation_context(paper_id: str, citing_paper_id: str) -> str:
      """
      Get the context in which one paper cites another.
  
      Args:
          paper_id: ID of the paper being cited
          citing_paper_id: ID of the paper doing the citing
  
      Returns:
          Citation context information
      """
      encoded_paper_id = quote(paper_id, safe="")
      encoded_citing_id = quote(citing_paper_id, safe="")
  
      result = await make_api_request(
          f"paper/{encoded_paper_id}/citations/{encoded_citing_id}"
      )
  
      if result is None:
          return "Error: Failed to fetch citation context"
  
      if "error" in result:
          return f"Error: {result['error']}"
  
      contexts = result.get("contexts", [])
      citing_paper = result.get("citingPaper", {})
      cited_paper = result.get("citedPaper", {})
  
      if not contexts:
          return "No citation context found."
  
      result_text = "Citation context:\n\n"
      result_text += f"Cited paper: {cited_paper.get('title', 'Unknown')}\n"
      result_text += f"Citing paper: {citing_paper.get('title', 'Unknown')}\n\n"
  
      for i, context in enumerate(contexts, 1):
          result_text += f"{i}. {context}\n"
  
      return result_text