search_authors

Instructions

Search for authors by name.

Args:
    query: Author name or search query
    limit: Maximum number of results (default: 10, max: 1000)
    offset: Number of results to skip (default: 0)
    fields: Comma-separated list of fields to return

Returns:
    Formatted author search results

Implementation Reference

• src/semantic_scholar_mcp/server.py:289-333 (handler)

  The core handler function for the 'search_authors' tool. It is decorated with @mcp.tool(), which registers it with the MCP server and generates schema from the signature and docstring. Performs API search for authors, formats results using format_author helper, and returns a formatted string of results.

  @mcp.tool()
  async def search_authors(
      query: str, limit: int = 10, offset: int = 0, fields: Optional[str] = None
  ) -> str:
      """
      Search for authors by name.
  
      Args:
          query: Author name or search query
          limit: Maximum number of results (default: 10, max: 1000)
          offset: Number of results to skip (default: 0)
          fields: Comma-separated list of fields to return
  
      Returns:
          Formatted author search results
      """
      params = {"query": query, "limit": min(limit, 1000), "offset": offset}
  
      if fields:
          params["fields"] = fields
      else:
          params["fields"] = "authorId,name,paperCount,citationCount,hIndex"
  
      result = await make_api_request("author/search", params)
  
      if result is None:
          return "Error: Failed to fetch authors"
  
      if "error" in result:
          return f"Error: {result['error']}"
  
      authors = result.get("data", [])
      total = result.get("total", 0)
  
      if not authors:
          return "No authors found matching your query."
  
      formatted_authors = []
      for i, author in enumerate(authors, 1):
          formatted_authors.append(f"{i}. {format_author(author)}")
  
      result_text = f"Found {total} total authors (showing {len(authors)}):\n\n"
      result_text += "\n\n".join(formatted_authors)
  
      return result_text

• src/semantic_scholar_mcp/server.py:94-102 (helper)

  Helper function used by search_authors to format individual author data into a readable string.

  def format_author(author: Dict[str, Any]) -> str:
      """Format an author for display."""
      name = author.get("name", "Unknown Name")
      author_id = author.get("authorId", "")
      paper_count = author.get("paperCount", 0)
      citation_count = author.get("citationCount", 0)
      h_index = author.get("hIndex", 0)
  
      return f"Name: {name}\nAuthor ID: {author_id}\nPapers: {paper_count}\nCitations: {citation_count}\nH-Index: {h_index}"

• src/semantic_scholar_mcp/server.py:24-70 (helper)

  Shared helper function that makes HTTP requests to the Semantic Scholar API, handles errors, and is called by search_authors to fetch author search results.

  async def make_api_request(
      endpoint: str, params: Optional[Dict[str, Any]] = None, method: str = "GET"
  ) -> Optional[Dict[str, Any]]:
      """Make a request to the Semantic Scholar API."""
      url = f"{BASE_URL}/{endpoint.lstrip('/')}"
  
      headers = {
          "Accept": "application/json",
          "User-Agent": f"semantic-scholar-mcp/{USER_AGENT_VERSION}",
      }
  
      if API_KEY:
          headers["x-api-key"] = API_KEY
  
      try:
          async with httpx.AsyncClient(timeout=API_TIMEOUT) as client:
              if method == "GET":
                  response = await client.get(url, headers=headers, params=params)
              elif method == "POST":
                  response = await client.post(url, headers=headers, json=params)
              else:
                  raise ValueError(f"Unsupported HTTP method: {method}")
  
              response.raise_for_status()
              return response.json()
  
      except httpx.HTTPStatusError as e:
          if e.response.status_code == 403:
              if not API_KEY:
                  return {
                      "error": "Rate limit exceeded. The shared public rate limit (1000 req/sec) may be exceeded. Get a free API key from https://www.semanticscholar.org/product/api for dedicated limits."
                  }
              else:
                  return {
                      "error": f"API key may be invalid or rate limit exceeded: {str(e)}"
                  }
          elif e.response.status_code == 429:
              return {
                  "error": "Rate limit exceeded. Please wait a moment and try again, or get an API key for dedicated higher limits."
              }
          else:
              return {"error": f"HTTP error: {str(e)}"}
      except httpx.HTTPError as e:
          return {"error": f"HTTP error: {str(e)}"}
      except Exception as e:
          return {"error": f"Request failed: {str(e)}"}