NASA ADS MCP Server

Instructions

Implementation Reference

• src/nasa_ads_mcp/server.py:417-461 (handler)

  The main handler function that executes the tool logic: queries the NASA ADS API for papers by the given author, formats the results with titles, years, citations, and bibcodes, and returns them as TextContent.

  async def get_author_papers(author: str, max_results: int, sort: str) -> list[TextContent]:
      """Get papers by a specific author."""
      try:
          # Prepare sort parameter
          sort_param = "date desc" if sort == "date" else "citation_count desc"
          
          # Search for author
          papers = ads.SearchQuery(
              author=author,
              fl=["bibcode", "title", "year", "citation_count", "pubdate"],
              rows=min(max_results, 100),
              sort=sort_param,
          )
          
          # Format results
          results = []
          total_citations = 0
          for i, paper in enumerate(papers, 1):
              citations = paper.citation_count or 0
              total_citations += citations
              results.append(
                  f"{i}. {paper.title[0] if paper.title else 'No title'} ({paper.year})\n"
                  f"   Citations: {citations} | Bibcode: {paper.bibcode}\n"
              )
          
          if not results:
              return [TextContent(
                  type="text",
                  text=f"No papers found for author: {author}"
              )]
          
          response = (
              f"Found {len(results)} papers by '{author}' "
              f"(Total citations: {total_citations}):\n\n"
              + "\n".join(results)
          )
          return [TextContent(type="text", text=response)]
      
      except Exception as e:
          logger.error(f"Error getting author papers: {e}")
          return [TextContent(
              type="text",
              text=f"Error getting author papers: {str(e)}"
          )]

• src/nasa_ads_mcp/server.py:101-121 (schema)

  Pydantic/JSON schema defining the input parameters for the get_author_papers tool: author (required), max_results (default 20), sort (date or citation_count, default date). Defines validation and documentation.

  inputSchema={
      "type": "object",
      "properties": {
          "author": {
              "type": "string",
              "description": "Author name (e.g., 'Coelho, P.' or 'Coelho, Paula')",
          },
          "max_results": {
              "type": "integer",
              "description": "Maximum number of results (default: 20, max: 100)",
              "default": 20,
          },
          "sort": {
              "type": "string",
              "description": "Sort by 'date' or 'citation_count'",
              "enum": ["date", "citation_count"],
              "default": "date",
          },
      },
      "required": ["author"],
  },

• src/nasa_ads_mcp/server.py:95-122 (registration)

  Registration of the get_author_papers tool in the MCP server's list_tools() function, including name, description, and input schema.

  Tool(
      name="get_author_papers",
      description=(
          "Find all papers by a specific author. "
          "Returns list of papers with citations and publication details."
      ),
      inputSchema={
          "type": "object",
          "properties": {
              "author": {
                  "type": "string",
                  "description": "Author name (e.g., 'Coelho, P.' or 'Coelho, Paula')",
              },
              "max_results": {
                  "type": "integer",
                  "description": "Maximum number of results (default: 20, max: 100)",
                  "default": 20,
              },
              "sort": {
                  "type": "string",
                  "description": "Sort by 'date' or 'citation_count'",
                  "enum": ["date", "citation_count"],
                  "default": "date",
              },
          },
          "required": ["author"],
      },
  ),