SciDraw MCP

⚠ Non-official project: This is a community-maintained, unofficial MCP server and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or officially associated with SciDraw.io or its maintainers. All illustration data and content are served from and owned by SciDraw.io.

An MCP (Model Context Protocol) server for searching and downloading scientific illustrations from SciDraw.io.

中文文档 | English

Overview

SciDraw.io is a free, open repository of high-quality scientific illustrations for publications, posters, and presentations. All illustrations are licensed under Creative Commons (CC-BY 4.0 or CC0) and are free to use and remix.

SciDraw MCP is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that exposes SciDraw's public REST API as a set of tools that AI assistants (such as Claude, Cursor, and other MCP-compatible clients) can call directly. This allows you to search for scientific illustrations, view their metadata, and download image files — all through natural-language conversation with your AI assistant.

Key Features

• 🔍 Search Illustrations — Search by keyword, category, author, file type, and sort order.

• 📋 View Details — Get full metadata for any drawing, including all authors, DOI, file size, and license.

• ⬇️ Download Files — Download the actual SVG/PNG image file, returned as a viewable image.

• 🏷️ Browse Categories — List all illustration categories with drawing counts.

Available Tools

Related MCP server: openalex-mcp

Quick Start

Prerequisites

• Node.js ≥ 18.0.0 (for built-in fetch support)

• An MCP-compatible client (e.g., Claude Desktop, Cursor, or any other MCP client)

Installation

Option A: Use directly with npx (recommended)

No installation needed — npx will fetch and run the server automatically:

npx scidraw-mcp

Option B: Install globally

npm install -g scidraw-mcp
scidraw-mcp

Option C: Build from source

git clone https://github.com/scidraw-mcp/scidraw-mcp.git
cd scidraw-mcp
npm install
npm run build
node dist/index.js

Configuration

Claude Desktop

Add the following to your Claude Desktop configuration file:

• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

• Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "scidraw": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["scidraw-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

If you installed globally:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "scidraw": {
      "command": "scidraw-mcp"
    }
  }
}

If you built from source:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "scidraw": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/path/to/scidraw-mcp/dist/index.js"]
    }
  }
}

Cursor

Add to Cursor's MCP settings (Settings → MCP):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "scidraw": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["scidraw-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Other MCP Clients

This server uses the stdio transport, which is the standard MCP transport. Any MCP-compatible client that supports stdio transport can connect to it. Start the server with:

npx scidraw-mcp

Usage Examples

Once connected to your AI assistant, you can use natural language to interact with SciDraw:

Example 1: Search for illustrations

"Search SciDraw for brain illustrations"

The assistant will call the search_drawings tool with search: "brain" and return a list of matching illustrations with their metadata.

Example 2: Browse by category

"Show me all mouse illustrations on SciDraw"

The assistant will call search_drawings with category: "mouse".

Example 3: Get details of a specific drawing

"Get details for the drawing with slug 'mouse-ded16e1d'"

The assistant will call get_drawing and return full metadata including authors, DOI, file size, and license.

Example 4: Download an illustration

"Download the mouse illustration"

The assistant will call download_drawing and return the SVG file as a displayable image.

Example 5: List categories

"What categories are available on SciDraw?"

The assistant will call list_categories and return all categories with their drawing counts.

API Reference

SciDraw API

This server wraps the public SciDraw REST API at https://scidraw.io/api/v1/. The following endpoints are used:

Categories

SciDraw organizes illustrations into the following categories:

Sort Orders

When searching, the following sort orders are available:

Project Structure

scidraw-mcp/
├── src/
│   ├── index.ts        # Server entry point — creates and starts the MCP server
│   ├── client.ts       # SciDraw API client (fetch wrapper)
│   ├── tools.ts        # MCP tool definitions and handlers
│   └── types.ts        # TypeScript type definitions for API responses
├── package.json
├── tsconfig.json
├── LICENSE
├── README.md           # English documentation (this file)
└── README_zh.md        # Chinese documentation

Development

Build

npm run build

Run in development mode

npm run dev    # Watch mode — rebuilds on file changes

Manual testing

Start the server and send MCP messages via stdin (for debugging):

npm run build && node dist/index.js

Licensing

This MCP Server

This MCP server project is licensed under the MIT License. See LICENSE for details.

Note: This is an unofficial, community-maintained project. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by SciDraw.io.

SciDraw Illustrations

All illustrations accessible through this tool are hosted by SciDraw.io and are licensed under:

• Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC-BY 4.0) — most illustrations

• Creative Commons Zero (CC0) — some illustrations

When using downloaded illustrations, please:

1. Cite the authors — Use the DOI provided with each drawing.

2. Acknowledge SciDraw.io — Include the SciDraw logo in your work.

3. Respect the license — CC-BY requires attribution; CC0 does not.

For more information, see SciDraw's licensing page.

Acknowledgements

• SciDraw.io — The open repository of scientific illustrations that makes this MCP server possible. Created and maintained by Alex Harston.

• Model Context Protocol — The protocol specification that enables AI assistants to interact with external tools.

• All the scientists and illustrators who have contributed their drawings to SciDraw for the community to use.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

1. Fork the repository

2. Create your feature branch (git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature)

3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add amazing feature')

4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/amazing-feature)

5. Open a Pull Request

Troubleshooting

Server fails to start

• Ensure Node.js ≥ 18 is installed: node --version

• If using npx, try clearing the npx cache: npx clear-npx-cache

• If building from source, ensure dependencies are installed: npm install

Connection issues in Claude Desktop

• Restart Claude Desktop after editing the configuration file

• Check the logs: ~/Library/Logs/Claude/mcp-server-scidraw.log (macOS)

• Verify the server path is correct (use absolute paths)

API errors

• The SciDraw API is a public service and may occasionally be unavailable

• Check your internet connection

• If you receive HTTP 429 (Too Many Requests), wait a moment and try again