Skip to main content
Glama
cyanheads

pubmed-mcp-server

by cyanheads

Pubmed Europepmc Search

pubmed_europepmc_search
Read-only

Search Europe PMC for biomedical literature, including preprints, patents, Agricola, and PubMed/PMC records, to expand coverage beyond PubMed alone.

Instructions

Search Europe PMC, a broad open-access biomedical corpus. Surfaces preprints (source: PPR), patents (source: PAT), Agricola (source: AGR), plus everything in PubMed (MED) and PMC. Use when additional coverage is needed — preprints and EPMC-only OA records are the typical recovery. Paginate via cursorMark. Defaults to MED, PMC, and PPR; pass sources to include PAT / AGR. Abstracts arrive as a bounded abstractSnippet with abstractTruncated marking the cut ones — pass a hit’s source and epmcId to pubmed_europepmc_fetch for the complete abstract.

Input Schema

TableJSON Schema
NameRequiredDescriptionDefault
sortNoOptional EPMC sort: `<field> asc|desc`, or several comma-separated keys applied in order (`PUB_YEAR desc, CITED desc`). Documented sortable fields: `P_PDATE_D` (publication date), `CITED` (citation count), `AUTH_FIRST` (first author surname), `PUB_YEAR` (publication year). Examples: `P_PDATE_D desc` (newest first), `CITED desc` (most cited). Omit for relevance ranking. Field and direction match case-insensitively. A field outside the documented set may be honored, silently ignored, or rejected, and a sort using one — or a key without `asc`/`desc` — can fail with `europepmc_invalid_input` naming it, even when Europe PMC honors the field. Note: `P_PDATE_D` is ignored for preprint-only (`sources: ["PPR"]`) result sets — preprints have no populated publication date, so use `PUB_YEAR` to order preprints by date.
queryYesEurope PMC search query. Supports field tokens like `AUTH:"<name>"`, `JOURNAL:"<title>"`, `TITLE:"<words>"`, `PUB_YEAR:[2020 TO 2024]`, `DOI:"..."`, `EXT_ID:<pmid> AND SRC:MED`, `PMCID:PMC<digits>`. Identifier tokens may be quoted or unquoted — this tool wraps every query with its `sources` filter, and Europe PMC honors a quoted identifier inside that wrapper. A PubMed-indexed article resolves under `SRC:MED`, not `SRC:PMC`, whichever identifier is used. Free text is matched broadly across abstract/title/keywords. A query with no search term — blank once HTML entities are decoded and markup, parentheses, and invisible characters are disregarded, such as `()` or `<b></b>` — is rejected; any other query is sent as written.
sourcesNoFilter to specific EPMC sources. Defaults to MED, PMC, PPR when omitted. Pass an explicit array including PAT or AGR to broaden coverage. Allowed values: MED, PMC, PPR, PAT, AGR.
pageSizeNoResults per page. Max 100 per EPMC API.
cursorMarkNoPagination cursor. Use `*` (default) for the first page; pass the previous response's `nextCursorMark` verbatim for subsequent pages. A whitespace-only cursor, invisible characters included, is rejected before the request, and a cursor Europe PMC cannot read fails with `europepmc_invalid_input` once a retry of it fails again while the first page of the same query is served.*
resultTypeNo`core` returns abstract, IDs, dates, license; `lite` is a smaller payload with IDs and titles only.core

Output Schema

TableJSON Schema
NameRequiredDescriptionDefault
hitsNoMatching Europe PMC records, in the order EPMC returned them
errorNoPresent when the call failed. Absent on success.
queryNoEffective query string echoed by Europe PMC
noticeNoOptional guidance when results are empty or paging overshot
searchUrlNoEurope PMC's website search URL for this query
cursorMarkNoCursor used for this response (echoed from the request)
totalCountNoTotal matching records across all pages
appliedSourcesNoSources the query was filtered against (defaults applied)
nextCursorMarkNoCursor to pass back as `cursorMark` for the next page. Absent on the final page.

Schema Changelog

Changes observed during successful MCP inspections.

  1. Changed4 schema fields changedv2.10.19
    • changedInput schema / properties / cursorMark / description
      Previous value: -"Pagination cursor. Use `*` (default) for the first page; pass the previous response's `nextCursorMark` for subsequent pages."New value: +"Pagination cursor. Use `*` (default) for the first page; pass the previous response's `nextCursorMark` verbatim for subsequent pages. A whitespace-only cursor, invisible characters included, is rejected before the request, and a cursor Europe PMC cannot read fails with `europepmc_invalid_input` once a retry of it fails again while the first page of the same query is served."
    • changedInput schema / properties / query / description
      Previous value: -"Europe PMC search query. Supports field tokens like `AUTH:\"<name>\"`, `JOURNAL:\"<title>\"`, `TITLE:\"<words>\"`, `PUB_YEAR:[2020 TO 2024]`, `DOI:\"...\"`, `EXT_ID:<pmid> AND SRC:MED`, `PMCID:PMC<digits>`. Identifier tokens may be quoted or unquoted — this tool wraps every query with its `sources` filter, and Europe PMC honors a quoted identifier inside that wrapper. A PubMed-indexed article resolves under `SRC:MED`, not `SRC:PMC`, whichever identifier is used. Free text is matched broadly across abstract/title/keywords."New value: +"Europe PMC search query. Supports field tokens like `AUTH:\"<name>\"`, `JOURNAL:\"<title>\"`, `TITLE:\"<words>\"`, `PUB_YEAR:[2020 TO 2024]`, `DOI:\"...\"`, `EXT_ID:<pmid> AND SRC:MED`, `PMCID:PMC<digits>`. Identifier tokens may be quoted or unquoted — this tool wraps every query with its `sources` filter, and Europe PMC honors a quoted identifier inside that wrapper. A PubMed-indexed article resolves under `SRC:MED`, not `SRC:PMC`, whichever identifier is used. Free text is matched broadly across abstract/title/keywords. A query with no search term — blank once HTML entities are decoded and markup, parentheses, and invisible characters are disregarded, such as `()` or `<b></b>` — is rejected; any other query is sent as written."
    • changedOutput schema / properties / error / properties / data / properties / reason / description
      Previous value: -"Machine-readable failure mode. Declared by this tool: `europepmc_unreachable`: Europe PMC failed on every retry attempt — unreachable, an HTTP 404 or 5xx other than a 504 timeout from its search endpoint, or an empty response with no results. `europepmc_invalid_response`: Europe PMC returned a body that could not be parsed (invalid JSON or XML). `europepmc_invalid_input`: Europe PMC rejected the request input — an error message such as an empty query, an empty response to a sort with an undocumented field or no asc/desc direction, or an empty response to a pagination cursor on every attempt. `europepmc_disabled`: Europe PMC service is disabled via EUROPEPMC_ENABLED=false. Other values are possible when a failure originates below the handler."New value: +"Machine-readable failure mode. Declared by this tool: `europepmc_unreachable`: Europe PMC failed on every retry attempt — unreachable, an HTTP 404 or 5xx other than a 504 timeout from its search endpoint, or an empty response with no results. `europepmc_invalid_response`: Europe PMC returned a body that could not be parsed (invalid JSON or XML). `europepmc_invalid_input`: Europe PMC rejected the request input — an error message in place of results, an empty response to a sort with an undocumented field or no asc/desc direction, or a pagination cursor it cannot read (an empty response on the last attempt the retry budget allows, or a second HTTP 503 when the first page of the same query is served). `blank_query`: The query contains no search term: nothing is left once whitespace and invisible characters such as a zero-width space are disregarded. pubmed_search_articles and pubmed_europepmc_search first decode HTML entities and also disregard markup and parentheses, so `()`, `<b></b>`, and `&nbsp;` hold no term there; pubmed_search_articles also disregards bracketed field tags such as `[pdat]`. `blank_cursor`: The `cursorMark` holds only whitespace or invisible characters such as a zero-width space. Europe PMC cannot read it and answers with the HTTP 503 it also uses for an outage. `europepmc_disabled`: Europe PMC service is disabled via EUROPEPMC_ENABLED=false. Other values are possible when a failure originates below the handler."
    • changedOutput schema / properties / error / properties / data / properties / reason / examples
      Previous value: -[
      -  "europepmc_unreachable",
      -  "europepmc_invalid_response",
      -  "europepmc_invalid_input",
      -  "europepmc_disabled"
      -]New value: +[
      +  "europepmc_unreachable",
      +  "europepmc_invalid_response",
      +  "europepmc_invalid_input",
      +  "blank_query",
      +  "blank_cursor",
      +  "europepmc_disabled"
      +]
  2. Changed4 schema fields changedv2.10.18
    • changedInput schema / properties / query / description
      Previous value: -"Europe PMC search query. Supports field tokens like `AUTH:\"<name>\"`, `JOURNAL:\"<title>\"`, `TITLE:\"<words>\"`, `PUB_YEAR:[2020 TO 2024]`, `DOI:\"...\"`, `EXT_ID:<pmid> AND SRC:MED`, `PMCID:PMC<digits>`. Identifier tokens combined with `AND SRC:` must be unquoted — the quoted form matches nothing. Free text is matched broadly across abstract/title/keywords."New value: +"Europe PMC search query. Supports field tokens like `AUTH:\"<name>\"`, `JOURNAL:\"<title>\"`, `TITLE:\"<words>\"`, `PUB_YEAR:[2020 TO 2024]`, `DOI:\"...\"`, `EXT_ID:<pmid> AND SRC:MED`, `PMCID:PMC<digits>`. Identifier tokens may be quoted or unquoted — this tool wraps every query with its `sources` filter, and Europe PMC honors a quoted identifier inside that wrapper. A PubMed-indexed article resolves under `SRC:MED`, not `SRC:PMC`, whichever identifier is used. Free text is matched broadly across abstract/title/keywords."
    • changedInput schema / properties / sort / description
      Previous value: -"Optional EPMC sort: `<field> asc|desc`. Documented sortable fields: `P_PDATE_D` (publication date), `CITED` (citation count), `AUTH_FIRST` (first author surname), `PUB_YEAR` (publication year). Examples: `P_PDATE_D desc` (newest first), `CITED desc` (most cited). Omit for relevance ranking. Fields outside the documented set are rejected by EPMC. Note: `P_PDATE_D` is ignored for preprint-only (`sources: [\"PPR\"]`) result sets — preprints have no populated publication date, so use `PUB_YEAR` to order preprints by date."New value: +"Optional EPMC sort: `<field> asc|desc`, or several comma-separated keys applied in order (`PUB_YEAR desc, CITED desc`). Documented sortable fields: `P_PDATE_D` (publication date), `CITED` (citation count), `AUTH_FIRST` (first author surname), `PUB_YEAR` (publication year). Examples: `P_PDATE_D desc` (newest first), `CITED desc` (most cited). Omit for relevance ranking. Field and direction match case-insensitively. A field outside the documented set may be honored, silently ignored, or rejected, and a sort using one — or a key without `asc`/`desc` — can fail with `europepmc_invalid_input` naming it, even when Europe PMC honors the field. Note: `P_PDATE_D` is ignored for preprint-only (`sources: [\"PPR\"]`) result sets — preprints have no populated publication date, so use `PUB_YEAR` to order preprints by date."
    • changedOutput schema / anyOf
      Previous value: -[
      -  {
      -    "not": {
      -      "required": [
      -        "error"
      -      ]
      -    },
      -    "required": [
      -      "hits",
      -      "cursorMark",
      -      "searchUrl",
      -      "query",
      -      "totalCount",
      -      "appliedSources"
      -    ]
      -  },
      -  {
      -    "required": [
      -      "error"
      -    ]
      -  }
      -]New value: +[
      +  {
      +    "not": {
      +      "required": [
      +        "error"
      +      ]
      +    },
      +    "required": [
      +      "hits",
      +      "cursorMark",
      +      "searchUrl",
      +      "totalCount",
      +      "query",
      +      "appliedSources"
      +    ]
      +  },
      +  {
      +    "required": [
      +      "error"
      +    ]
      +  }
      +]
    • changedOutput schema / properties / error / properties / data / properties / reason / description
      Previous value: -"Machine-readable failure mode. Declared by this tool: `europepmc_unreachable`: Europe PMC was unreachable after all retry attempts. `europepmc_invalid_response`: Europe PMC returned a body that could not be parsed (invalid JSON or XML). `europepmc_invalid_input`: Europe PMC rejected the request input (empty query, unknown sort field, malformed parameter). `europepmc_disabled`: Europe PMC service is disabled via EUROPEPMC_ENABLED=false. Other values are possible when a failure originates below the handler."New value: +"Machine-readable failure mode. Declared by this tool: `europepmc_unreachable`: Europe PMC failed on every retry attempt — unreachable, an HTTP 404 or 5xx other than a 504 timeout from its search endpoint, or an empty response with no results. `europepmc_invalid_response`: Europe PMC returned a body that could not be parsed (invalid JSON or XML). `europepmc_invalid_input`: Europe PMC rejected the request input — an error message such as an empty query, an empty response to a sort with an undocumented field or no asc/desc direction, or an empty response to a pagination cursor on every attempt. `europepmc_disabled`: Europe PMC service is disabled via EUROPEPMC_ENABLED=false. Other values are possible when a failure originates below the handler."
  3. Changed3 schema fields changedv2.10.8
    • changedOutput schema / properties / hits / items / properties / authors / description
      Previous value: -"Formatted author string"New value: +"Formatted author string as display-ready plain text — JATS/HTML markup stripped and HTML entities decoded."
    • changedOutput schema / properties / hits / items / properties / journal / description
      Previous value: -"Journal title"New value: +"Journal title as display-ready plain text — JATS/HTML markup stripped and HTML entities decoded."
    • changedOutput schema / properties / hits / items / properties / title / description
      Previous value: -"Article title"New value: +"Article title as display-ready plain text — JATS/HTML markup stripped and HTML entities decoded."
  4. Changed6 schema fields changedv2.10.4
    • changedInput schema / $schema
      Previous value: -"http://json-schema.org/draft-07/schema#"New value: +"https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema"
    • addedInput schema / additionalProperties
      Added value: +false
    • changedOutput schema / $schema
      Previous value: -"http://json-schema.org/draft-07/schema#"New value: +"https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema"
    • addedOutput schema / anyOf
      Added value: +[
      +  {
      +    "not": {
      +      "required": [
      +        "error"
      +      ]
      +    },
      +    "required": [
      +      "hits",
      +      "cursorMark",
      +      "searchUrl",
      +      "query",
      +      "totalCount",
      +      "appliedSources"
      +    ]
      +  },
      +  {
      +    "required": [
      +      "error"
      +    ]
      +  }
      +]
    • addedOutput schema / properties / error
      Added value: +{
      +  "additionalProperties": {},
      +  "description": "Present when the call failed. Absent on success.",
      +  "properties": {
      +    "code": {
      +      "description": "JSON-RPC error code for this failure.",
      +      "maximum": 9007199254740991,
      +      "minimum": -9007199254740991,
      +      "type": "integer"
      +    },
      +    "data": {
      +      "additionalProperties": {},
      +      "properties": {
      +        "reason": {
      +          "description": "Machine-readable failure mode. Declared by this tool: `europepmc_unreachable`: Europe PMC was unreachable after all retry attempts. `europepmc_invalid_response`: Europe PMC returned a body that could not be parsed (invalid JSON or XML). `europepmc_invalid_input`: Europe PMC rejected the request input (empty query, unknown sort field, malformed parameter). `europepmc_disabled`: Europe PMC service is disabled via EUROPEPMC_ENABLED=false. Other values are possible when a failure originates below the handler.",
      +          "examples": [
      +            "europepmc_unreachable",
      +            "europepmc_invalid_response",
      +            "europepmc_invalid_input",
      +            "europepmc_disabled"
      +          ],
      +          "type": "string"
      +        },
      +        "recovery": {
      +          "additionalProperties": {},
      +          "description": "Actionable next step for the caller.",
      +          "properties": {
      +            "hint": {
      +              "type": "string"
      +            }
      +          },
      +          "required": [
      +            "hint"
      +          ],
      +          "type": "object"
      +        },
      +        "retryable": {
      +          "description": "Whether retrying may succeed.",
      +          "type": "boolean"
      +        }
      +      },
      +      "type": "object"
      +    },
      +    "message": {
      +      "description": "Human-readable description of what went wrong.",
      +      "type": "string"
      +    }
      +  },
      +  "required": [
      +    "code",
      +    "message"
      +  ],
      +  "type": "object"
      +}
    • removedOutput schema / required
      Removed value: -[
      -  "hits",
      -  "cursorMark",
      -  "searchUrl",
      -  "query",
      -  "totalCount",
      -  "appliedSources"
      -]
  5. Changed5 schema fields changedv2.10.2
    • changedInput schema / properties / query / description
      Previous value: -"Europe PMC search query. Supports field tokens like `AUTH:\"<name>\"`, `JOURNAL:\"<title>\"`, `TITLE:\"<words>\"`, `PUB_YEAR:[2020 TO 2024]`, `DOI:\"...\"`, `EXT_ID:\"<pmid>\" AND SRC:MED`. Free text is matched broadly across abstract/title/keywords."New value: +"Europe PMC search query. Supports field tokens like `AUTH:\"<name>\"`, `JOURNAL:\"<title>\"`, `TITLE:\"<words>\"`, `PUB_YEAR:[2020 TO 2024]`, `DOI:\"...\"`, `EXT_ID:<pmid> AND SRC:MED`, `PMCID:PMC<digits>`. Identifier tokens combined with `AND SRC:` must be unquoted — the quoted form matches nothing. Free text is matched broadly across abstract/title/keywords."
    • changedOutput schema / properties / hits / items / properties / abstractSnippet / description
      Previous value: -"First few hundred characters of the abstract as display-ready plain text — JATS/HTML markup stripped and HTML entities decoded — when `resultType: \"core\"` is requested"New value: +"First 400 characters of the abstract as display-ready plain text — JATS/HTML markup stripped and HTML entities decoded — when `resultType: \"core\"` is requested, with a trailing … appended when the abstract was cut. Check `abstractTruncated` before treating it as the whole abstract."
    • addedOutput schema / properties / hits / items / properties / abstractTruncated
      Added value: +{
      +  "description": "Whether `abstractSnippet` was cut short of the full abstract. Retrieve the complete text with `pubmed_europepmc_fetch` using this record’s `source` and `epmcId`. Present whenever `abstractSnippet` is; omitted when Europe PMC carries no abstract.",
      +  "type": "boolean"
      +}
    • changedOutput schema / properties / hits / items / properties / doi / description
      Previous value: -"DOI when present"New value: +"DOI when present, cased as Europe PMC reports it. DOIs are case-insensitive by spec and no case normalization is applied here, so the same DOI can arrive in a different case from `pubmed_fetch_articles` (Europe PMC `10.1056/nejmoa2212948`, NCBI `10.1056/NEJMoa2212948`) — a byte-for-byte comparison across the two reports a false mismatch."
    • changedOutput schema / properties / hits / items / properties / epmcId / description
      Previous value: -"Europe PMC's internal record id; key for `fullTextXML` lookup"New value: +"Europe PMC's internal record id. Pass it with this hit's `source` to `pubmed_europepmc_fetch` for the complete record. Europe PMC's `fullTextXML` is keyed on `pmcId`, not on this id, so records without a PMC counterpart have no full text to fetch."
  6. Changed1 schema field changedv2.9.6
    • changedOutput schema / properties / hits / items / properties / abstractSnippet / description
      Previous value: -"First few hundred characters of the abstract when `resultType: \"core\"` is requested"New value: +"First few hundred characters of the abstract as display-ready plain text — JATS/HTML markup stripped and HTML entities decoded — when `resultType: \"core\"` is requested"
  7. Changed3 schema fields changedv2.9.4
    • removedOutput schema / properties / hitCount
      Removed value: -{
      -  "description": "Total matching records across all pages",
      -  "type": "number"
      -}
    • addedOutput schema / properties / totalCount
      Added value: +{
      +  "description": "Total matching records across all pages",
      +  "type": "number"
      +}
    • changedOutput schema / required
      Previous value: -[
      -  "hits",
      -  "cursorMark",
      -  "searchUrl",
      -  "query",
      -  "hitCount",
      -  "appliedSources"
      -]New value: +[
      +  "hits",
      +  "cursorMark",
      +  "searchUrl",
      +  "query",
      +  "totalCount",
      +  "appliedSources"
      +]
  8. Changed1 schema field changedv2.9.1
    • changedInput schema / properties / sort / description
      Previous value: -"Optional EPMC sort: `<field> asc|desc`. Documented sortable fields: `P_PDATE_D` (publication date), `CITED` (citation count), `AUTH_FIRST` (first author surname), `PUB_YEAR` (publication year). Examples: `P_PDATE_D desc` (newest first), `CITED desc` (most cited). Omit for relevance ranking. Fields outside the documented set are rejected by EPMC."New value: +"Optional EPMC sort: `<field> asc|desc`. Documented sortable fields: `P_PDATE_D` (publication date), `CITED` (citation count), `AUTH_FIRST` (first author surname), `PUB_YEAR` (publication year). Examples: `P_PDATE_D desc` (newest first), `CITED desc` (most cited). Omit for relevance ranking. Fields outside the documented set are rejected by EPMC. Note: `P_PDATE_D` is ignored for preprint-only (`sources: [\"PPR\"]`) result sets — preprints have no populated publication date, so use `PUB_YEAR` to order preprints by date."
  9. Changed1 schema field changedv2.7.8
    • changedOutput schema / required
      Previous value: -[
      -  "query",
      -  "hits",
      -  "hitCount",
      -  "cursorMark",
      -  "appliedSources",
      -  "searchUrl"
      -]New value: +[
      +  "hits",
      +  "cursorMark",
      +  "searchUrl",
      +  "query",
      +  "hitCount",
      +  "appliedSources"
      +]
  10. Addedv2.7.6

TDQS

A4.6/5.0
Behavior5/5

Does the description disclose side effects, auth requirements, rate limits, or destructive behavior?

Annotations cover only readOnly/openWorld; the description adds substantive behavior beyond them: default source set (MED, PMC, PPR), how to broaden with PAT/AGR, cursor-based pagination via cursorMark, and the fact that abstracts are returned bounded with abstractTruncated marking the cut ones. It also points to the fetch tool for full abstracts — genuinely useful disclosure not derivable from structured fields.

Agents need to know what a tool does to the world before calling it. Descriptions should go beyond structured annotations to explain consequences.

Conciseness4/5

Is the description appropriately sized, front-loaded, and free of redundancy?

Dense but front-loaded: corpus scope, then sources, then pagination, then abstract handling. Every sentence carries information, though the sources default (MED/PMC/PPR) is stated twice — once in prose and once again in the same list — a minor redundancy.

Shorter descriptions cost fewer tokens and are easier for agents to parse. Every sentence should earn its place.

Completeness5/5

Given the tool's complexity, does the description cover enough for an agent to succeed on first attempt?

An output schema exists, so return-value explanation is not owed, yet the description appropriately explains the one non-obvious output trait (bounded abstractSnippet / abstractTruncated) and supplies the recovery path to pubmed_europepmc_fetch. Combined with rich schema descriptions, an agent has everything needed to call this correctly.

Complex tools with many parameters or behaviors need more documentation. Simple tools need less. This dimension scales expectations accordingly.

Parameters4/5

Does the description clarify parameter syntax, constraints, interactions, or defaults beyond what the schema provides?

Schema coverage is 100%, so the baseline is 3; the description still adds value by restating the sources default and the pattern for broadening coverage, plus the cursorMark pagination workflow (use '*' first, pass nextCursorMark verbatim). It does not explain sort or resultType semantics beyond the schema, so it is above baseline but not exhaustive.

Input schemas describe structure but not intent. Descriptions should explain non-obvious parameter relationships and valid value ranges.

Purpose5/5

Does the description clearly state what the tool does and how it differs from similar tools?

States a specific verb+resource ('Search Europe PMC, a broad open-access biomedical corpus') and immediately scopes it against siblings by enumerating the sources it spans (PPR, PAT, AGR, MED, PMC). An agent can distinguish it from pubmed_search_articles (PubMed-only) without opening either schema.

Agents choose between tools based on descriptions. A clear purpose with a specific verb and resource helps agents select the right tool.

Usage Guidelines4/5

Does the description explain when to use this tool, when not to, or what alternatives exist?

Gives a clear usage condition — 'Use when additional coverage is needed — preprints and EPMC-only OA records are the typical recovery' — which implicitly routes agents here after pubmed_search_articles. It does not name the alternative sibling explicitly by tool name, so it stops short of a full when/when-not statement.

Agents often have multiple tools that could apply. Explicit usage guidance like "use X instead of Y when Z" prevents misuse.