README.md•5.47 kB
# 🔬 Semantic Scholar MCP Server
[](https://pypi.org/project/semantic-scholar-mcp/)
[](https://opensource.org/licenses/MIT)
[](https://modelcontextprotocol.io)
[](https://www.python.org/downloads/)
**The most comprehensive MCP server for academic research.** Direct access to 200M+ papers from [Semantic Scholar](https://www.semanticscholar.org/) within Claude Desktop.
---
## 🚀 Features
| Tool | Description |
|------|-------------|
| `semantic_scholar_search_papers` | Advanced paper search with filters (year, field, citations, open access) |
| `semantic_scholar_get_paper` | Full paper details with optional citations and references |
| `semantic_scholar_search_authors` | Find researchers by name |
| `semantic_scholar_get_author` | Author profiles with h-index, publications, affiliations |
| `semantic_scholar_recommendations` | AI-powered related paper discovery |
| `semantic_scholar_bulk_papers` | Batch retrieval of up to 500 papers |
**Supported ID Formats:**
- Semantic Scholar ID
- DOI (`DOI:10.1038/...`)
- ArXiv (`ARXIV:2106.15928`)
- PubMed (`PMID:32908142`)
- ACL (`ACL:P19-1285`)
- CorpusId (`CorpusId:215416146`)
---
## 📦 Installation
### Option 1: pip (Recommended)
```bash
pip install semantic-scholar-mcp
```
### Option 2: From Source
```bash
git clone https://github.com/smaniches/semantic-scholar-mcp.git
cd semantic-scholar-mcp
pip install -e .
```
---
## 🔑 Get Your API Key
1. Go to [Semantic Scholar API](https://www.semanticscholar.org/product/api)
2. Sign up for a free API key
3. Note your rate limit (typically 1-100 requests/second depending on tier)
---
## ⚙️ Configuration
### Claude Desktop Setup
Add to your Claude Desktop config file:
**Windows:** `%APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json`
**macOS:** `~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json`
**Linux:** `~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json`
```json
{
"mcpServers": {
"semantic_scholar": {
"command": "python",
"args": ["-m", "semantic_scholar_mcp"],
"env": {
"SEMANTIC_SCHOLAR_API_KEY": "your-api-key-here"
}
}
}
}
```
Then **restart Claude Desktop**.
---
## 💡 Usage Examples
### Search Papers
```
Search for "transformer attention mechanism" papers from 2023 with at least 100 citations
```
### Get Paper Details
```
Get details for DOI:10.1038/s41586-021-03819-2 including its top 20 citations
```
### Find Related Papers
```
Get recommendations based on paper 649def34f8be52c8b66281af98ae884c09aef38b
```
### Author Search
```
Find author "Yoshua Bengio" and list their recent publications
```
### Bulk Retrieval
```
Retrieve these papers: DOI:10.1038/nature12373, ARXIV:2106.15928, PMID:32908142
```
---
## 📊 Rate Limits
| Tier | Requests/Second | How to Get |
|------|-----------------|------------|
| No API Key | 1 req/sec | Default |
| Free API Key | 1 req/sec | [Sign up](https://www.semanticscholar.org/product/api) |
| Academic Partner | 10-100 req/sec | Apply via S2 |
---
## 🏗️ Architecture
```
┌─────────────────┐ ┌──────────────────────┐ ┌─────────────────┐
│ Claude Desktop │────▶│ semantic-scholar-mcp │────▶│ Semantic Scholar│
│ (MCP Client) │◀────│ (This Server) │◀────│ API │
└─────────────────┘ └──────────────────────┘ └─────────────────┘
│ │ │
│ stdio (JSON-RPC) │ Your API Key │ HTTPS
│ Local process │ Local machine │ 200M+ papers
```
**Your API key never leaves your machine.** The MCP server runs locally.
---
## 🛠️ Development
```bash
# Clone
git clone https://github.com/smaniches/semantic-scholar-mcp.git
cd semantic-scholar-mcp
# Install dev dependencies
pip install -e ".[dev]"
# Run tests
pytest
# Type checking
mypy src/
```
---
## 📄 License
MIT License - see [LICENSE](LICENSE) file.
---
## 👤 Author
**Santiago Maniches**
- 🏢 Founder & CEO, [TOPOLOGICA LLC](https://topologica.ai)
- 🔬 ORCID: [0009-0005-6480-1987](https://orcid.org/0009-0005-6480-1987)
- 💼 LinkedIn: [santiago-maniches](https://www.linkedin.com/in/santiago-maniches/)
- 🌐 Website: [topologica.ai](https://topologica.ai)
---
## 🤝 Contributing
Contributions welcome! Please read our [Contributing Guidelines](CONTRIBUTING.md).
---
## 📬 Support
- 🐛 Issues: [GitHub Issues](https://github.com/smaniches/semantic-scholar-mcp/issues)
- 💬 Discussions: [GitHub Discussions](https://github.com/smaniches/semantic-scholar-mcp/discussions)
- 📧 Contact: santiago@topologica.ai
---
## ⭐ Star History
If this tool helps your research, please star the repo!
---
<p align="center">
<b>Built with ❤️ by <a href="https://topologica.ai">TOPOLOGICA LLC</a></b><br>
<i>Advancing computational research through topological intelligence</i>
</p>