semanticscholar-mcp-server
Server Configuration
Describes the environment variables required to run the server.
| Name | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| SEMANTIC_SCHOLAR_API_KEY | No | Optional API key for dedicated rate limit. Sent to Semantic Scholar as the x-api-key header. | |
| SEMANTIC_SCHOLAR_API_URL | No | API origin override, primarily for tests and compatible proxies. | https://api.semanticscholar.org |
| SEMANTIC_SCHOLAR_TIMEOUT | No | Request timeout in seconds. | 30 |
| SEMANTIC_SCHOLAR_MAX_RETRIES | No | Retries for HTTP 429 and transient 5xx responses. | 3 |
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 |
|---|---|
| batch_get_semantic_scholar_authorsB | Get multiple authors by Semantic Scholar author ID (maximum 1,000). |
| search_semantic_scholar_authorsB | Search authors by name, with offset pagination. |
| get_semantic_scholar_author_detailsB | Get one author by Semantic Scholar author ID. |
| get_semantic_scholar_author_papersA | List an author's papers, optionally filtering by publication date/year. |
| autocomplete_semantic_scholar_papersA | Suggest paper-title query completions for a partial query. |
| batch_get_semantic_scholar_papersA | Get multiple papers by S2, CorpusId, DOI, arXiv, ACL, MAG, PMID, or URL ID. |
| search_semantic_scholar_papersC | Run relevance-ranked paper search with filters and offset pagination. |
| bulk_search_semantic_scholar_papersA | Run high-volume paper search; pass the returned token for the next page. |
| match_semantic_scholar_paperB | Find the paper whose title best matches a supplied title. |
| get_semantic_scholar_paper_detailsA | Get one paper by S2, CorpusId, DOI, arXiv, ACL, MAG, PMID, or URL ID. |
| get_semantic_scholar_paper_authorsC | List the authors of a paper with offset pagination. |
| get_semantic_scholar_paper_citationsA | List papers citing a paper, including contexts, intents, and influence. |
| get_semantic_scholar_paper_referencesA | List a paper's references, including contexts, intents, and influence. |
| search_semantic_scholar_snippetsB | Search relevant passages from paper titles, abstracts, and full text. |
| recommend_semantic_scholar_papers_for_paperC | Recommend papers similar to one positive example paper. |
| recommend_semantic_scholar_papersB | Recommend papers from positive examples and optional negative examples. |
| list_semantic_scholar_dataset_releasesA | List all available Semantic Scholar dataset release IDs. |
| get_semantic_scholar_dataset_releaseA | List datasets and metadata in a release; |
| get_semantic_scholar_dataset_download_linksA | Get temporary download links for one dataset in a release. |
| get_semantic_scholar_dataset_diffsC | Get incremental update/delete files between two dataset releases. |
| search_semantic_scholarC | Legacy paper search returning only the result list. |
| get_semantic_scholar_citations_and_referencesB | Legacy helper returning the first page of citations and references. |
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 22 tools
The tools are mostly distinct but there are overlapping pairs: the two recommendation tools differ only by one accepting negative examples, and the legacy tools (search_semantic_scholar, get_semantic_scholar_citations_and_references) duplicate existing search and citation/reference functionality. Descriptions help clarify, but an agent could easily pick the wrong tool.
All tools share the 'semantic_scholar' prefix, but the verb patterns are inconsistent: autocomplete, batch_get, search, bulk_search, match, recommend, list, and get are used in various orders and forms. Object naming also varies (author, author_details, author_papers, paper_details, papers), and the two legacy tools break the pattern entirely.
22 tools is on the heavy side, within the 16-25 borderline range. The server covers multiple subdomains (papers, authors, datasets, recommendations, snippets), so the count is defensible, but redundant legacy tools and overlapping recommendation helpers inflate it unnecessarily.
The tool set provides broad coverage of the Semantic Scholar API: paper and author search/retrieval, citations/references, recommendations, dataset access, and snippet search. Minor gaps exist—such as no direct tool for getting author citations or a more explicit 'get paper by DOI' separate from batch/get—but the core workflows are well-supported.