Skip to main content
Glama
Sign In
Primo MCP Server

Primo MCP Server

by geheharidas
OverviewSchemaSourceRelated ServersDiscussionsAdmin
Python
Remote

primo-mcp-server

MCP server for Ex Libris Primo library discovery -- search university catalogues and subscribed databases (ProQuest, Elsevier, Crossref, Gale, Springer, IEEE, etc.) via the Model Context Protocol.

Features

  • Search the full university catalogue and Primo Central Index (millions of records)

  • Get record details including abstract, authors, identifiers, and availability

  • Autocomplete search suggestions

  • Generate citations in APA 7th, Harvard, Chicago, IEEE, and Vancouver styles

  • Export to BibTeX, RIS, or CSV for import into reference managers

Related MCP server: academic-search-mcp

Installation

git clone https://github.com/geheharidas/primo-mcp-server.git
cd primo-mcp-server
pip install -e .

Register in Claude Code

Add to ~/.claude/settings.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "primo": {
      "command": "python",
      "args": ["-m", "primo_mcp_server"]
    }
  }
}

Restart Claude Code. The tools will appear as mcp__primo__primo_search, etc.

Tools

Tool

Description

primo_search

Search the library catalogue with filters (type, date, peer-reviewed)

primo_get_record

Get full details for a record by ID

primo_suggest

Autocomplete search suggestions

primo_cite

Generate formatted citations (APA7, Harvard, Chicago, IEEE, Vancouver)

primo_export

Export records as BibTeX, RIS, or CSV

Usage Examples

From a Claude Code conversation:

  • "Search the library for articles about machine learning in entrepreneurship published after 2020"

  • "Get the full details for record cdi_crossref_primary_10_1234"

  • "Generate APA7 citations for these records"

  • "Export the search results as BibTeX"

Configuration

Defaults are set for UWA (University of Western Australia). Override via environment variables:

Variable

Default

Description

PRIMO_BASE_URL

https://onesearch.library.uwa.edu.au/primaws/rest/pub

Primo API base URL

PRIMO_VID

61UWA_INST:NDE_UWA

Primo View ID

PRIMO_INSTITUTION_NAME

UWA

Display name

PRIMO_REQUEST_TIMEOUT

30.0

HTTP timeout in seconds

PRIMO_MAX_RESULTS_PER_REQUEST

50

Maximum results per search

PRIMO_DEFAULT_RESULTS

10

Default results per search

See .env.example for the full list.

Running Tests

pip install -e ".[dev]"
pytest tests/ -v

Licence

MIT

Available Tools

5 tools
primo_citeA

Generate formatted citations for library records.

Args: record_ids: List of Primo record IDs to cite. style: Citation style -- "apa7" (default), "harvard", "chicago", "ieee", "vancouver".

Returns: Formatted citations. Note: always verify generated citations before submission.

NameRequiredDescriptionDefault
styleNoapa7
record_idsYes

Output Schema

NameRequiredDescription
resultYes
primo_exportA

Export library records to reference manager formats.

Args: record_ids: List of Primo record IDs to export. format: Export format -- "bibtex" (default), "ris", "csv".

Returns: Formatted export data ready for import into reference managers (Zotero, Mendeley, EndNote).

NameRequiredDescriptionDefault
formatNobibtex
record_idsYes

Output Schema

NameRequiredDescription
resultYes
primo_get_recordA

Get full details for a single library record.

Use the record ID from primo_search results to fetch complete metadata including abstract, all authors, subjects, identifiers, and availability.

Args: record_id: The Primo record ID (from search results, e.g. "alma991234567890" or "cdi_crossref_primary_10_1234").

Returns: Full record details including title, authors, abstract, identifiers, and availability.

NameRequiredDescriptionDefault
record_idYes

Output Schema

NameRequiredDescription
resultYes
primo_searchA

Search the university library catalogue and subscribed databases.

Args: query: Search terms (e.g. "machine learning entrepreneurship"). field: Search field -- "any" (default), "title", "creator", "sub" (subject), "isbn", "oclcnum". scope: "everything" for local catalogue + subscribed databases, "catalogue" for local only. sort_by: "rank" (relevance, default), "date" (newest first), "title" (alphabetical). limit: Number of results to return (1-50, default 10). offset: Pagination offset (default 0). Use to get the next page of results. resource_type: Filter by type -- "books", "articles", "journals", "dissertations", "conference_proceedings". date_from: Start year filter (YYYY format, e.g. "2020"). date_to: End year filter (YYYY format, e.g. "2025"). peer_reviewed: Set to true to show only peer-reviewed items.

Returns: Formatted search results with title, authors, year, identifiers, and availability.

NameRequiredDescriptionDefault
fieldNoany
limitNo
queryYes
scopeNoeverything
offsetNo
date_toNo
sort_byNorank
date_fromNo
peer_reviewedNo
resource_typeNo

Output Schema

NameRequiredDescription
resultYes
primo_suggestA

Get autocomplete suggestions for a search term.

Useful for refining searches, checking subject headings, or exploring related terms before running a full search.

Args: query: Partial search term (e.g. "entrepre" or "machine lear").

Returns: List of suggested search terms.

NameRequiredDescriptionDefault
queryYes

Output Schema

NameRequiredDescription
resultYes

Tool Schema Changelog

Recent tool additions, removals, and schema changes observed during successful MCP inspections.

  1. 5 tool updatesv0.1.0
    • First observedprimo_cite
    • First observedprimo_export
    • First observedprimo_get_record
    • First observedprimo_search
    • First observedprimo_suggest
Deploy Server
One endpoint for every MCP toolRayrun runs every MCP server behind one URL and holds the credentials. Each call is decided per client, tool, and argument, then recorded.ray.runAd

TDQS

A4.2/5.0

Scored across 5 tools

Disambiguation5/5

Each tool has a distinct purpose: search, get details, cite, export, and suggest. No overlapping functionality.

Naming Consistency5/5

All tool names follow a consistent 'primo_verb' pattern, making them predictable and easy to distinguish.

Tool Count5/5

5 tools cover the core library catalog operations without being excessive or insufficient.

Completeness5/5

The set covers search, retrieval, citation, export, and suggestion, which are the key interactions for a library catalog.

Resources

Related MCP Connectors

Related MCP Servers

  • scholar-toolkit-mcp

    czwziy
    A
    license
    A
    quality
    C
    maintenance
    Comprehensive MCP server for academic research workflows, enabling paper searching across multiple sources, manuscript processing with citation placeholders, search caching, and citation export.
    11
    MIT

  • sru-mcp

    codefzer
    F
    license
    Not graded
    quality
    D
    maintenance
    An MCP server that searches library catalogs worldwide using the SRU protocol, enabling bibliographic search without API keys.
    1
    -

  • research-mcp

    niol-zh
    A
    license
    A
    quality
    B
    maintenance
    An MCP server for academic literature research that integrates Scopus, CrossRef, OpenAlex, and Unpaywall to search documents, get abstracts, author profiles, citing papers, and open-access PDF links.
    9
    MIT