OpenAlex MCP Server
Server Configuration
Describes the environment variables required to run the server.
| Name | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| ABSTRACT_MODE | No | Abstract processing mode (quick/deep) | quick |
| CACHE_ENABLED | No | Whether to enable local cache | true |
| OPENALEX_API_KEY | No | OpenAlex API key (optional, but recommended for higher rate limits) |
Capabilities
Features and capabilities supported by this server
| Capability | Details |
|---|---|
| tools | {} |
Tools
Functions exposed to the LLM to take actions
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| openalex_searchB | Search for academic papers in OpenAlex database by keywords. Returns simplified paper metadata with title, authors, publication venue, year, citation count, and open access status. |
| openalex_get_workA | Get detailed information about a specific paper by its OpenAlex ID, DOI, or PMID. Includes full abstract, author information, topics, and references count. |
| openalex_batch_get_worksA | Get information for multiple papers in one request. More efficient than calling get_work multiple times. |
| openalex_detect_fulltextA | Check if full text is available for a paper and get the open access URL if available. |
| openalex_download_fulltextA | Download full text PDF for an open access paper. Returns the cached file path on success. |
| openalex_get_fulltext_sectionsA | Get extracted sections (abstract, introduction, methods, results, discussion, etc.) from a downloaded paper. Will trigger download if not cached. |
| openalex_cache_statsC | Get cache statistics or clear the cache. Shows number of cached papers, total size, and cache directory. |
| openalex_system_checkA | Check system status and API connectivity. Returns health status, API reachability, cache status, and version info. |
Prompts
Interactive templates invoked by user choice
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
No prompts | |
Resources
Contextual data attached and managed by the client
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
No resources | |
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