InspireHEP MCP Server
Server Configuration
Describes the environment variables required to run the server.
| Name | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| INSPIREHEP_CACHE_TTL | No | Cache TTL in seconds (24h) | 86400 |
| INSPIREHEP_LOG_LEVEL | No | Logging level | INFO |
| INSPIREHEP_API_TIMEOUT | No | HTTP request timeout (seconds) | 30 |
| INSPIREHEP_CACHE_DB_PATH | No | SQLite cache file path | inspirehep_cache.db |
| INSPIREHEP_CACHE_MAX_SIZE | No | Max cached entries | 512 |
| INSPIREHEP_CACHE_PERSISTENT | No | Enable SQLite persistent cache | false |
| INSPIREHEP_REQUESTS_PER_SECOND | No | API rate limit | 1.5 |
Instructions
Guidance the server publishes about itself, which clients place ahead of the tool catalog so the model reads it before choosing anything.
This server publishes no instructions, or was last inspected before Glama recorded them.
Capabilities
Features and capabilities supported by this server
Protocol revision2025-11-25
| Capability | Details |
|---|---|
| tools | {
"listChanged": false
} |
| prompts | {
"listChanged": false
} |
| resources | {
"subscribe": false,
"listChanged": false
} |
| experimental | {} |
Tools
Functions exposed to the LLM to take actions
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| pingA | Check that the InspireHEP MCP server is running. |
| search_papersA | Search InspireHEP for papers matching a query. Supports free-text and field-specific queries such as:
Args: query: Search query string. sort: Sort order — "bestmatch", "mostrecent", or "mostcited". size: Number of results to return (1-100, default 10). |
| get_paper_detailsA | Retrieve detailed metadata for a specific paper. Provide at least one identifier. Accepts multiple formats:
Returns title, authors, abstract, citations, references count, publication info, keywords, URLs, and more. |
| get_paper_figuresA | Retrieve figures for a specific paper. Provide at least one identifier. Accepts multiple formats:
Returns title, inspire url, and a list of figures with their captions, descriptions and direct download URLs. |
| get_author_papersA | Retrieve publication history and citation metrics for an author. Provide either author_name or author_id:
Returns a list of papers plus aggregate metrics including total citations, h-index, and average citations per paper. Args: author_name: Author name in "Last, First" format. author_id: InspireHEP author identifier (BAI). sort: Sort order — "mostrecent" or "mostcited". size: Number of papers to return (1-100, default 20). |
| get_citationsA | Retrieve citation graph data for a paper. Args: inspire_id: InspireHEP record ID (numeric). direction: "citing" (papers that cite this) or "cited_by" (papers this cites). size: Number of results to return (1–250, default 50). Returns citation list with metadata, total count, and a year-by-year citation timeline. |
| search_by_collaborationA | Find publications from a specific experimental collaboration. Handles common name variations (e.g. "lhcb" → "LHCb"). Args: collaboration_name: Collaboration name (e.g. "ATLAS", "CMS", "LHCb", "Belle-II"). sort: Sort order — "mostrecent" or "mostcited". size: Number of results to return (1–100, default 20). year: Optional year filter (e.g. 2024). Returns publication list, year distribution, total citations, and top-cited papers from the returned set. |
| get_referencesA | Generate a formatted reference list for a paper. Args: inspire_id: InspireHEP record ID (numeric). format: Output format — "bibtex", "json", "latex-us", or "latex-eu". Returns the reference list in the requested format along with total reference count and paper title. |
| get_bibtexA | Retrieve the BibTeX citation entry for a paper. Accepts any common identifier format:
Args: identifier: A DOI, arXiv ID, or InspireHEP record ID. Returns the BibTeX entry along with paper title, texkey, and the resolved Inspire record ID. |
Prompts
Interactive templates invoked by user choice
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
No prompts | |
Resources
Contextual data attached and managed by the client
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
No resources | |
TDQS
Scored across 9 tools
Most tools are clearly distinct, targeting specific resources like papers, authors, figures, or citations. However, search_papers and search_by_collaboration both return publication lists and could be confused, though their scopes are described clearly enough to guide an agent.
The majority of tools follow a consistent get_/search_ prefix pattern. Minor deviations include the standalone 'ping' and the prepositional 'search_by_collaboration', which break the otherwise uniform verb_noun convention without causing confusion.
With 9 tools, the server is well-scoped for a literature database API. Each tool serves a meaningful purpose—searching, retrieving metadata, figures, citations, references, and BibTeX—without redundant bloat or excessive granularity.
The tool surface covers the core workflows for interacting with InspireHEP: general search, collaboration-filtered search, paper details, figures, author publication history, citation graphs, references, and BibTeX export. No significant gaps are apparent for a read-only literature search service.