search_papers
Search NASA ADS for astronomy and astrophysics papers using natural language or field-specific queries to find relevant research with publication details and citation metrics.
Instructions
Search NASA ADS for astronomy/astrophysics papers. Returns bibcodes, titles, authors, years, and citation counts. Use natural language queries or specific field searches. Examples: 'stellar populations', 'author:Coelho', 'year:2020-2024'
Input Schema
TableJSON Schema
| Name | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| query | Yes | Search query (e.g., 'stellar populations in elliptical galaxies') | |
| max_results | No | Maximum number of results to return (default: 10, max: 50) | |
| sort | No | Sort order: 'date' (newest first), 'citation_count' (most cited), or 'relevance' | date |
Implementation Reference
- src/nasa_ads_mcp/server.py:317-366 (handler)The handler function that executes the search_papers tool. It queries the NASA ADS using the ads library, formats the results with titles, authors, years, citations, and bibcodes, and returns them as TextContent.async def search_papers(query: str, max_results: int, sort: str) -> list[TextContent]: """Search ADS for papers.""" try: # Prepare sort parameter for ADS sort_map = { "date": "date desc", "citation_count": "citation_count desc", "relevance": "score desc", } # Perform search papers = ads.SearchQuery( q=query, fl=["bibcode", "title", "author", "year", "citation_count", "pubdate"], rows=min(max_results, 50), sort=sort_map.get(sort, "date desc"), ) # Format results results = [] for i, paper in enumerate(papers, 1): authors = paper.author[:3] if paper.author else ["Unknown"] author_str = ", ".join(authors) if paper.author and len(paper.author) > 3: author_str += f" et al. ({len(paper.author)} authors)" results.append( f"{i}. {paper.title[0] if paper.title else 'No title'}\n" f" Authors: {author_str}\n" f" Year: {paper.year}\n" f" Citations: {paper.citation_count or 0}\n" f" Bibcode: {paper.bibcode}\n" ) if not results: return [TextContent( type="text", text=f"No papers found for query: {query}" )] response = f"Found {len(results)} papers for '{query}':\n\n" + "\n".join(results) return [TextContent(type="text", text=response)] except Exception as e: logger.error(f"Error searching papers: {e}") return [TextContent( type="text", text=f"Error searching papers: {str(e)}" )]
- src/nasa_ads_mcp/server.py:56-76 (schema)Pydantic-like input schema defining parameters for the search_papers tool: query (required string), max_results (int, default 10), sort (enum: date, citation_count, relevance, default date).inputSchema={ "type": "object", "properties": { "query": { "type": "string", "description": "Search query (e.g., 'stellar populations in elliptical galaxies')", }, "max_results": { "type": "integer", "description": "Maximum number of results to return (default: 10, max: 50)", "default": 10, }, "sort": { "type": "string", "description": "Sort order: 'date' (newest first), 'citation_count' (most cited), or 'relevance'", "enum": ["date", "citation_count", "relevance"], "default": "date", }, }, "required": ["query"], },
- src/nasa_ads_mcp/server.py:48-77 (registration)Registers the search_papers tool in the MCP server's list_tools() function, providing name, description, and input schema.Tool( name="search_papers", description=( "Search NASA ADS for astronomy/astrophysics papers. " "Returns bibcodes, titles, authors, years, and citation counts. " "Use natural language queries or specific field searches. " "Examples: 'stellar populations', 'author:Coelho', 'year:2020-2024'" ), inputSchema={ "type": "object", "properties": { "query": { "type": "string", "description": "Search query (e.g., 'stellar populations in elliptical galaxies')", }, "max_results": { "type": "integer", "description": "Maximum number of results to return (default: 10, max: 50)", "default": 10, }, "sort": { "type": "string", "description": "Sort order: 'date' (newest first), 'citation_count' (most cited), or 'relevance'", "enum": ["date", "citation_count", "relevance"], "default": "date", }, }, "required": ["query"], }, ),
- src/nasa_ads_mcp/server.py:265-270 (handler)Tool dispatching logic in the call_tool handler that routes search_papers calls to the implementation function with parsed arguments.if name == "search_papers": return await search_papers( query=arguments["query"], max_results=arguments.get("max_results", 10), sort=arguments.get("sort", "date"), )