Skip to main content
Glama
SourceShift

OSF MCP Server

by SourceShift
OverviewSchemaRelated ServersScoreDiscussions
Python
Remote

OSF MCP Server

An MCP (Model Context Protocol) server for interacting with the Open Science Framework (OSF). Search projects, registrations, preprints, manage files, and more.

Features

  • Search OSF Content

    • Projects (public and private with authentication)

    • Registrations (pre-registered studies)

    • Preprints (from OSF Preprints and partner services)

  • File Management

    • List project files

    • Download files with PDF-to-Markdown conversion

    • Read cached file content

  • Project Management (requires authentication)

    • Create new projects

    • Update project metadata

    • Access wiki content

  • DOI Resolution

    • Resolve OSF DOIs to resources

Related MCP server: mcp-zenodo

Installation

# Clone the repository
cd tools/osf-mcp-server

# Create virtual environment
uv venv
source .venv/bin/activate

# Install with dependencies
uv pip install -e ".[test]"

Configuration

Environment Variables

Variable

Description

Default

OSF_TOKEN

Personal Access Token for authenticated access

None (public only)

OSF_STORAGE_PATH

Path for downloaded files

~/.osf-mcp-server/files

OSF_MAX_RESULTS

Maximum search results

50

OSF_REQUEST_TIMEOUT

API timeout in seconds

60

Getting an OSF Token

  1. Log in to osf.io

  2. Go to Settings → Personal Access Tokens

  3. Create a new token with required scopes

  4. Set OSF_TOKEN environment variable

export OSF_TOKEN="your_token_here"

Usage

Running the Server

# Run directly
python -m osf_mcp_server

# Or via entry point
osf-mcp-server

# With custom storage path
osf-mcp-server --storage-path /path/to/storage

Claude Desktop Integration

Add to your Claude Desktop config (claude_desktop_config.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "osf": {
      "command": "python",
      "args": ["-m", "osf_mcp_server"],
      "env": {
        "OSF_TOKEN": "your_token_here"
      }
    }
  }
}

Or with uv:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "osf": {
      "command": "uv",
      "args": [
        "--directory", "/path/to/osf-mcp-server",
        "run", "osf-mcp-server"
      ],
      "env": {
        "OSF_TOKEN": "your_token_here"
      }
    }
  }
}

Available Tools

Search Tools

Tool

Description

search_projects

Search for OSF projects by title, tags, category

search_registrations

Search for pre-registered studies

search_preprints

Search for preprints from OSF and partner services

Project Tools

Tool

Description

get_project

Get detailed project information

create_project

Create a new project (auth required)

update_project

Update project metadata (auth required)

File Tools

Tool

Description

list_files

List files and folders in a project

download_file

Download and cache a file locally

read_file

Read content of a downloaded file

Other Tools

Tool

Description

get_wiki

List or get wiki page content

resolve_doi

Resolve an OSF DOI to a resource

Examples

Search for Psychology Projects

Search for projects related to "cognitive bias":
- query: "cognitive bias"
- tags: ["psychology"]
- max_results: 20

Download a Research Paper

1. Search for preprints: query="machine learning"
2. List project files: project_id="abc12"
3. Download PDF: file_id="xyz789"
4. Read content: file_id="xyz789"

Create a New Project

Create project:
- title: "My Research Project"
- description: "A study on..."
- public: false
- tags: ["experiment", "2024"]

Development

Running Tests

# Run all tests
python -m pytest

# Run with coverage
python -m pytest --cov=osf_mcp_server

# Run specific test file
python -m pytest tests/test_search.py -v

Code Formatting

# Format with black
black src/

# Lint with ruff
ruff check src/

Architecture

osf-mcp-server/
├── src/osf_mcp_server/
│   ├── __init__.py          # Entry point
│   ├── server.py             # MCP server implementation
│   ├── config.py             # Configuration settings
│   ├── osf_client.py         # OSF API client
│   ├── tools/                # MCP tools
│   │   ├── search_*.py       # Search tools
│   │   ├── *_file.py         # File tools
│   │   └── ...
│   ├── resources/            # Resource management
│   │   └── osf_manager.py
│   └── prompts/              # Research prompts
│       └── research_prompts.py
└── tests/

OSF API Reference

This server uses the OSF API v2. Key endpoints:

  • /nodes/ - Projects and components

  • /registrations/ - Pre-registered studies

  • /preprints/ - Preprints

  • /files/ - File operations

  • /wikis/ - Wiki pages

License

MIT License

Contributing

Contributions welcome! Please:

  1. Fork the repository

  2. Create a feature branch

  3. Add tests for new functionality

  4. Submit a pull request

This server cannot be installed

A
license - permissive license
-
quality - not tested
D
maintenance

How are these scores calculated?

Maintenance

–Maintainers
–Response time
–Release cycle
–Releases (12mo)
Commit activity

Resources

Unclaimed servers have limited discoverability.

Looking for Admin?

If you are the server author, to access and configure the admin panel.

Latest Blog Posts

MCP directory API

We provide all the information about MCP servers via our MCP API.

curl -X GET 'https://glama.ai/api/mcp/v1/servers/SourceShift/osf-mcp-server'

If you have feedback or need assistance with the MCP directory API, please join our Discord server