IEEE Xplore MCP Server
# IEEE Xplore MCP Server
MCP server that wraps the [IEEE Xplore API](https://developer.ieee.org/), letting you search and retrieve academic papers from Claude Code.
## Setup
1. Get a free API key at https://developer.ieee.org
2. Install and build:
```bash
npm install
npm run build
```
3. Add to `~/.claude.json`:
```json
{
"mcpServers": {
"ieee-xplore": {
"command": "node",
"args": ["/home/danieltyukov/workspace/personal/ieee-mcp/dist/index.js"],
"env": {
"IEEE_API_KEY": "your-api-key-here"
}
}
}
}
```
## Environment Variables
| Variable | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
| `IEEE_API_KEY` | Yes | API key from developer.ieee.org |
| `IEEE_AUTH_TOKEN` | No | Auth token for paywalled full-text access |
## Tools
| Tool | Description |
|---|---|
| `search_papers` | Full-text search with Boolean operators and filters (author, year, content type, etc.) |
| `get_paper_details` | Get verbose metadata for a paper by article number or DOI |
| `get_paper_citations` | Get citation counts (papers + patents) for a paper |
| `get_full_text` | Retrieve full text (Open Access or with auth token) |
| `search_by_author` | Search papers by author name |
| `search_by_publication` | Search papers within a journal or conference |
## Rate Limits
The free IEEE API tier allows ~200 calls/day with up to 200 results per call.
TDQS
Scored across 6 tools
Each tool has a clearly distinct purpose: get_full_text retrieves full text, get_paper_citations gets citation counts, get_paper_details fetches metadata, search_papers performs general searches, and search_by_author and search_by_publication are specialized search wrappers. The descriptions explicitly differentiate them, with no overlap in functionality that could cause misselection.
All tool names follow a consistent verb_noun pattern using snake_case: get_full_text, get_paper_citations, get_paper_details, search_by_author, search_by_publication, and search_papers. The naming is predictable and readable throughout, with no deviations or mixed conventions.
With 6 tools, the count is well-scoped for an IEEE Xplore server, covering core operations like retrieving papers, getting details, and searching. Each tool earns its place by addressing specific needs without being too thin or overwhelming, fitting typical server scopes of 3-15 tools.
The tool set provides strong coverage for searching and retrieving IEEE papers, including metadata, citations, and full text. Minor gaps exist, such as no explicit tools for updating or deleting data (though likely not needed for this read-heavy domain) or advanced features like filtering by date or citation trends, but agents can work around these with the available search capabilities.