scipdf-mcp
Server Configuration
Describes the environment variables required to run the server.
| Name | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| SCIPDF_DEBUG | No | Set to '1' to enable debug logging. | |
| SCIPDF_MIRRORS | No | Comma-separated list of HTML mirrors (overrides built-in list). | |
| SCIPDF_PDF_HOSTS | No | Comma-separated list of direct PDF hosts. | sci.bban.top/pdf/ |
| SCIPDF_PREFER_OA | No | Set to 'true' to prefer Open Access over Sci-Hub. | false |
| SCIPDF_ALLOW_SCIHUB | No | Set to 'false' to disable Sci-Hub downloads. | true |
| SCIPDF_DOWNLOAD_DIR | No | Directory to save downloaded papers. | ~/Documents/Papers |
| SCIPDF_HEALTH_TTL_MS | No | Mirror health cache TTL in milliseconds (default 15 minutes). | 900000 |
| SCIPDF_FILENAME_STYLE | No | File naming style: 'doi' or 'author_year_title'. | doi |
| SCIPDF_UNPAYWALL_EMAIL | No | Optional email for Unpaywall API (required only if using OA). |
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": true
} |
| prompts | {
"listChanged": true
} |
| resources | {
"listChanged": true
} |
Tools
Functions exposed to the LLM to take actions
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| download_paperC | Download an academic paper PDF by DOI, title, URL, or citation. Default: Sci-Hub/pdfHosts. Optional Unpaywall OA only if SCIPDF_UNPAYWALL_EMAIL is set AND SCIPDF_PREFER_OA=true. Returns path, source (scihub|unpaywall|cache), citations. Use force=true to re-download. |
| download_papersA | Batch-download papers. Accepts list of DOIs/titles/URLs, or a single bib/ris/pasted bibliography blob. Dedupes DOIs, writes scipdf-manifest.json, returns indexed results. |
| resolve_doiA | Resolve title/URL/citation to DOI via Crossref + OpenAlex. Returns candidates when ambiguous (code AMBIGUOUS_DOI). |
| parse_referencesA | Extract DOIs/queries from BibTeX, RIS, or pasted reference list text. |
| list_mirrorsA | List configured Sci-Hub mirrors, PDF hosts, Unpaywall status, and settings (hot-reloads config). |
| lookup_unpaywallA | Query Unpaywall for Open Access status and PDF URL (does not download). Requires SCIPDF_UNPAYWALL_EMAIL. |
| check_mirrorsA | Probe Sci-Hub mirrors for availability (uses health cache; force_refresh ignores cache). Only configured public mirrors (or allowlisted public https hosts) are probed — private/localhost URLs are rejected. |
| list_papersC | List PDF files already in the download directory (most recent first). |
| open_paperA | Open a local PDF path with the system default viewer (macOS open / Windows start / xdg-open). |
| format_citationA | Format APA / GB/T 7714 / BibTeX from DOI (fetches Crossref metadata). |
| reload_configA | Hot-reload scipdf config from environment variables and config.json without restarting the process. |
Prompts
Interactive templates invoked by user choice
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| download_papers_batch |
Resources
Contextual data attached and managed by the client
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| papers-list | Recently downloaded PDFs in the configured download directory |