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NASA ADS MCP Server

NASA ADS MCP Server

by prtc
OverviewSchemaSourceRelated ServersDiscussionsAdmin
Python
Remote

Get author papers

get_author_papers
Read-onlyIdempotent

Find papers by an author and return titles, years, publication details, citations, and bibcodes. Use ORCID or filters to disambiguate same-name researchers.

Instructions

Find papers by an author. Returns titles, years, publication details, citations and bibcodes. Searches the astronomy collection unless told otherwise. Matches names, not people: the result lists the ORCID iDs recorded on this name's first-author papers; confirm one with the user before passing it as orcid.

Input Schema

NameRequiredDescriptionDefault
sortNoSort by 'date' or 'citation_count'date
orcidNoOptional ORCID iD (e.g. '0000-0003-1846-4826'), the best way to tell apart people with the same name. Only papers with this ORCID recorded in ADS (from the publisher or claimed by the author) are included, so unclaimed older papers are left out.
authorYesAuthor name, 'Lastname, F' or 'Lastname, First' (e.g. 'Coelho, P' matches every first name starting with P)
offsetNoNumber of results to skip, for the next page (default: 0)
positionNoOptional author position: '1' (first author), '2' (second), or a range such as '1-3'. Uses ADS's pos() operator on the author list.
collectionNoADS collection to search. 'astronomy' (default): astronomy and astrophysics, including planetary science and heliophysics. 'astronomy+physics': adds physics-only papers, such as laboratory atomic and molecular data, opacities and oscillator strengths; good for topics, but for author names it brings in physicists who share the name. 'physics', 'earthscience', 'general' (biology, medicine, chemistry and everything else), or 'all' for no filter, as on ADS's web page. The result states how many papers the filter left out and names the most cited of them: read those before changing the collection, and widen it only when they are relevant.astronomy
affiliationNoOptional affiliation words (e.g. 'Sao Paulo'). Matches the affiliation of any author on the paper, and affiliations change over a career, so best combined with a year range.
max_authorsNoOptional: only papers with at most this many authors (e.g. 20), to leave out large collaboration papers. The result states how many papers this removed.
max_resultsNoMaximum number of results (default: 20, max: 100)
refereed_onlyNoOptional: only refereed papers (default: false).

Schema Changelog

Changes observed during successful MCP inspections.

  1. Changed12 schema fields changedv0.8.0
    • addedInput schema / properties / affiliation
      Added value: +{
+  "default": null,
+  "description": "Optional affiliation words (e.g. 'Sao Paulo'). Matches the affiliation of any author on the paper, and affiliations change over a career, so best combined with a year range.",
+  "title": "Affiliation",
+  "type": "string"
+}
    • changedInput schema / properties / author / description
      Previous value: -"Author name (e.g., 'Coelho, P.' or 'Coelho, Paula')"New value: +"Author name, 'Lastname, F' or 'Lastname, First' (e.g. 'Coelho, P' matches every first name starting with P)"
    • addedInput schema / properties / author / title
      Added value: +"Author"
    • addedInput schema / properties / collection
      Added value: +{
+  "default": "astronomy",
+  "description": "ADS collection to search. 'astronomy' (default): astronomy and astrophysics, including planetary science and heliophysics. 'astronomy+physics': adds physics-only papers, such as laboratory atomic and molecular data, opacities and oscillator strengths; good for topics, but for author names it brings in physicists who share the name. 'physics', 'earthscience', 'general' (biology, medicine, chemistry and everything else), or 'all' for no filter, as on ADS's web page. The result states how many papers the filter left out and names the most cited of them: read those before changing the collection, and widen it only when they are relevant.",
+  "enum": [
+    "astronomy",
+    "astronomy+physics",
+    "physics",
+    "earthscience",
+    "general",
+    "all"
+  ],
+  "title": "Collection",
+  "type": "string"
+}
    • addedInput schema / properties / max_authors
      Added value: +{
+  "default": null,
+  "description": "Optional: only papers with at most this many authors (e.g. 20), to leave out large collaboration papers. The result states how many papers this removed.",
+  "minimum": 1,
+  "title": "Max Authors",
+  "type": "integer"
+}
    • addedInput schema / properties / max_results / title
      Added value: +"Max Results"
    • addedInput schema / properties / offset
      Added value: +{
+  "default": 0,
+  "description": "Number of results to skip, for the next page (default: 0)",
+  "minimum": 0,
+  "title": "Offset",
+  "type": "integer"
+}
    • addedInput schema / properties / orcid
      Added value: +{
+  "default": null,
+  "description": "Optional ORCID iD (e.g. '0000-0003-1846-4826'), the best way to tell apart people with the same name. Only papers with this ORCID recorded in ADS (from the publisher or claimed by the author) are included, so unclaimed older papers are left out.",
+  "title": "Orcid",
+  "type": "string"
+}
    • addedInput schema / properties / position
      Added value: +{
+  "default": null,
+  "description": "Optional author position: '1' (first author), '2' (second), or a range such as '1-3'. Uses ADS's pos() operator on the author list.",
+  "title": "Position",
+  "type": "string"
+}
    • addedInput schema / properties / refereed_only
      Added value: +{
+  "default": false,
+  "description": "Optional: only refereed papers (default: false).",
+  "title": "Refereed Only",
+  "type": "boolean"
+}
    • addedInput schema / properties / sort / title
      Added value: +"Sort"
    • addedInput schema / title
      Added value: +"get_author_papersArguments"
  2. Changed2 schema fields changedv0.4.1
    • addedInput schema / properties / max_results / maximum
      Added value: +100
    • addedInput schema / properties / max_results / minimum
      Added value: +1
  3. First observedv1.0.0

TDQS

A4.7/5.0
Behavior5/5

Does the description disclose side effects, auth requirements, rate limits, or destructive behavior?

Annotations already cover readOnly, idempotent, openWorld and non-destructive, but the description adds behavior they cannot express: names match strings rather than people, the returned ORCID iDs are only those recorded on first-author papers, and the result reports how many papers a filter excluded plus the most cited of them. These are non-obvious traits that materially change how an agent should interpret and act on the response.

Agents need to know what a tool does to the world before calling it. Descriptions should go beyond structured annotations to explain consequences.

Conciseness5/5

Is the description appropriately sized, front-loaded, and free of redundancy?

Three sentences, front-loaded with purpose, then scope, then the name-versus-person caveat that is the most likely source of error. No filler, no repetition of the title, and the truncation-reporting hint is packed into the same clause as the collection default.

Shorter descriptions cost fewer tokens and are easier for agents to parse. Every sentence should earn its place.

Completeness5/5

Given the tool's complexity, does the description cover enough for an agent to succeed on first attempt?

Ten parameters with no output schema, yet the description names the return fields, explains the default collection, warns about name collisions, and tells the agent that excluded papers are summarized in the result. Nothing an agent needs in order to call this correctly or interpret the response is missing.

Complex tools with many parameters or behaviors need more documentation. Simple tools need less. This dimension scales expectations accordingly.

Parameters4/5

Does the description clarify parameter syntax, constraints, interactions, or defaults beyond what the schema provides?

Schema coverage is 100%, so the baseline is 3; the description goes beyond it by explaining the name-matching semantics of `author` and by prescribing a confirmation workflow before `orcid` is used. The collection and affiliation guidance largely restates what the schema descriptions already contain, so it is a modest rather than substantial addition.

Input schemas describe structure but not intent. Descriptions should explain non-obvious parameter relationships and valid value ranges.

Purpose5/5

Does the description clearly state what the tool does and how it differs from similar tools?

States a specific verb and resource ('Find papers by an author') and immediately delimits the scope with 'Searches the astronomy collection unless told otherwise.' An agent can tell this apart from search_papers (topical search) and get_author_metrics (metrics) without opening any schema, and the return fields (titles, years, publication details, citations, bibcodes) are named explicitly.

Agents choose between tools based on descriptions. A clear purpose with a specific verb and resource helps agents select the right tool.

Usage Guidelines4/5

Does the description explain when to use this tool, when not to, or what alternatives exist?

Gives real when/when-not guidance for the collection parameter ('read those before changing the collection, and widen it only when they are relevant') and a workflow precondition for orcid ('confirm one with the user before passing it as orcid'). It does not, however, name sibling tools such as search_papers or get_author_metrics as alternatives, so routing between siblings is left to inference.

Agents often have multiple tools that could apply. Explicit usage guidance like "use X instead of Y when Z" prevents misuse.

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