Click on "Deploy Server".
Wait a few minutes for the server to deploy. Once ready, it will show a "Started" state.
In the chat, type @ followed by the MCP server name and your instructions, e.g., "@OpenAlex MCP Server search for recent CRISPR papers with open access"
That's it! The server will respond to your query, and you can continue using it as needed.
Here is a step-by-step guide with screenshots.
An MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that provides access to OpenAlex, a free and open catalog of the world's scholarly works, authors, institutions, and more.
Search 250M+ scholarly works with full-text search and powerful filters
Author discovery with publication metrics (h-index, i10-index, citations)
Institution profiles for universities, research labs, and companies
Citation network traversal — find what cites a paper and what it cites
Multiple ID format support — OpenAlex IDs, DOIs, PMIDs, ORCIDs, RORs
Related MCP server: OpenAlex MCP Server
# Clone or copy the project
cd openalex-mcp-server
# Install dependencies
npm install
# Build the TypeScript
npm run buildVariable | Description | Default |
| Email for polite pool (higher rate limits) |
|
| Transport type: |
|
| Port for HTTP transport |
|
Set your email to get into OpenAlex's "polite pool" with higher rate limits:
export OPENALEX_EMAIL="your.email@example.com"Add to your Claude Desktop configuration (~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json on macOS):
{
"mcpServers": {
"openalex": {
"command": "node",
"args": ["/path/to/openalex-mcp-server/dist/index.js"],
"env": {
"OPENALEX_EMAIL": "your.email@example.com"
}
}
}
}claude mcp add openalex node /path/to/openalex-mcp-server/dist/index.jsTRANSPORT=http PORT=3000 npm startTool | Description |
| Search works with full-text queries and filters |
| Get a single work by OpenAlex ID, DOI, or PMID |
| Get works that cite a given work |
| Get works cited by a given work |
Tool | Description |
| Search authors by name |
| Get author profile by OpenAlex ID or ORCID |
| Get an author's publications |
Tool | Description |
| Search institutions by name |
| Get institution profile by OpenAlex ID or ROR |
| Get an institution's publications |
openalex_search_works(
query: "CRISPR gene therapy",
filter: "publication_year:2023,open_access.is_oa:true",
sort: "cited_by_count:desc"
)openalex_search_works(
query: "climate change",
filter: "cited_by_count:>1000,type:review"
)// Get the paper
openalex_get_work(id: "10.1038/s41586-020-2649-2")
// Get papers that cite it
openalex_get_citations(id: "10.1038/s41586-020-2649-2")
// Get papers it cites
openalex_get_references(id: "10.1038/s41586-020-2649-2")openalex_search_authors(query: "Fei-Fei Li")
openalex_get_author(id: "A5023888391")
openalex_get_author_works(id: "A5023888391", sort: "cited_by_count:desc")openalex_search_institutions(query: "Northwestern University")
openalex_get_institution(id: "I111979921")
openalex_get_institution_works(
id: "I111979921",
filter: "publication_year:2024",
sort: "cited_by_count:desc"
)OpenAlex supports powerful filtering. Common filters:
Filter | Examples |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Combine multiple filters with commas:
filter: "publication_year:2023,open_access.is_oa:true,cited_by_count:>50"All tools support two response formats:
markdown (default): Human-readable formatted output
json: Structured data for programmatic use
Without email: ~10 requests/second
With email (polite pool): ~100 requests/second
Always set OPENALEX_EMAIL for production use.
# Watch mode for development
npm run dev
# Build for production
npm run build
# Run the server
npm startMIT
This server cannot be deployed
Academic literature search, retrieval, and private library management on top of OpenAlex.
Access the OpenAlex academic research catalog — 270M+ publications.
Scholarly search: OpenAlex, Crossref, arXiv, OpenCitations and PubMed in one endpoint.
OpenAlex MCP — wraps the OpenAlex API (scholarly works, free, no auth)
