pubmed-search-mcp

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get_article_figures

Read-onlyIdempotent

Extract structured figure metadata, captions, image URLs, and PDF links from PMC Open Access articles using a PMID or PMCID; optionally include subfigures and tables.

Instructions

Get structured figure metadata (label, caption, image URL) and PDF links from a PMC Open Access article.

Returns all figures with their captions and direct image URLs, plus PDF download links for the complete article.

source is a discriminated identifier object, so the schema itself requires exactly one explicit PMID or PMCID.

Args: source: {"kind":"pmcid","value":"PMC12086443"} or {"kind":"pmid","value":"40384072"}. include_subfigures: Parse sub-figures (e.g., Figure 3A, 3B) as separate entries. include_tables: Also extract tables rendered as images.

Returns: Structured figure data with image URLs, captions, and PDF links.

Example: get_article_figures(source={"kind":"pmcid","value":"PMC12086443"})

Input Schema

TableJSON Schema

Name	Required	Default
`source`	Yes
`output_format`	No	markdown
`include_tables`	No
`include_subfigures`	No

Schema Changelog

Changes observed during successful MCP inspections.

Changed30 schema fields changedv0.7.7Oct 7, 2026

addedInput schema / $defs / PMCIDSource / properties / kind / anyOf

Added value: +[
+  {
+    "const": "pmcid",
+    "title": "Kind",
+    "type": "string"
+  },
+  {
+    "pattern": "^[ \\t\\r\\n]*(?:[pP][mM][cC][iI][dD])[ \\t\\r\\n]*$",
+    "type": "string"
+  }
+]

removedInput schema / $defs / PMCIDSource / properties / kind / const
```
Removed value: -"pmcid"
```
removedInput schema / $defs / PMCIDSource / properties / kind / type
```
Removed value: -"string"
```

addedInput schema / $defs / PMCIDSource / properties / value / description

Added value: +"Complete identifier string; optional identifier prefix, official article URL, or inline backticks. No numbers, foreign hosts, URL queries/fragments or partial identifiers."

addedInput schema / $defs / PMCIDSource / properties / value / examples

Added value: +[
+  "PMC12345",
+  "https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12345/"
+]

addedInput schema / $defs / PMCIDSource / properties / value / format
```
Added value: +"pubmed-pmcid"
```
changedInput schema / $defs / PMCIDSource / properties / value / maxLength
```
Previous value: -23New value: +512
```
addedInput schema / $defs / PMCIDSource / properties / value / minLength
```
Added value: +1
```
removedInput schema / $defs / PMCIDSource / properties / value / pattern
```
Removed value: -"^PMC[1-9][0-9]{0,19}$"
```
addedInput schema / $defs / PMCIDSource / properties / value / x-pubmed-input
```
Added value: +"pmcid"
```

addedInput schema / $defs / PMIDSource / properties / kind / anyOf

Added value: +[
+  {
+    "const": "pmid",
+    "title": "Kind",
+    "type": "string"
+  },
+  {
+    "pattern": "^[ \\t\\r\\n]*(?:[pP][mM][iI][dD])[ \\t\\r\\n]*$",
+    "type": "string"
+  }
+]

removedInput schema / $defs / PMIDSource / properties / kind / const
```
Removed value: -"pmid"
```
removedInput schema / $defs / PMIDSource / properties / kind / type
```
Removed value: -"string"
```

addedInput schema / $defs / PMIDSource / properties / value / description

Added value: +"Complete identifier string; optional identifier prefix, official article URL, or inline backticks. No numbers, foreign hosts, URL queries/fragments or partial identifiers."

addedInput schema / $defs / PMIDSource / properties / value / examples

Added value: +[
+  "33053718",
+  "PMID:33053718",
+  "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33053718/"
+]

addedInput schema / $defs / PMIDSource / properties / value / format
```
Added value: +"pubmed-pmid"
```
changedInput schema / $defs / PMIDSource / properties / value / maxLength
```
Previous value: -20New value: +512
```
addedInput schema / $defs / PMIDSource / properties / value / minLength
```
Added value: +1
```
removedInput schema / $defs / PMIDSource / properties / value / pattern
```
Removed value: -"^[1-9][0-9]{0,19}$"
```
addedInput schema / $defs / PMIDSource / properties / value / x-pubmed-input
```
Added value: +"pmid"
```

addedInput schema / properties / include_subfigures / anyOf

Added value: +[
+  {
+    "default": false,
+    "title": "Include Subfigures",
+    "type": "boolean"
+  },
+  {
+    "description": "Explicit true/false text, ignoring ASCII case and surrounding whitespace.",
+    "pattern": "^[ \\t\\r\\n]*(?:[tT][rR][uU][eE]|[fF][aA][lL][sS][eE])[ \\t\\r\\n]*$",
+    "type": "string"
+  }
+]

removedInput schema / properties / include_subfigures / type
```
Removed value: -"boolean"
```

addedInput schema / properties / include_tables / anyOf

Added value: +[
+  {
+    "default": false,
+    "title": "Include Tables",
+    "type": "boolean"
+  },
+  {
+    "description": "Explicit true/false text, ignoring ASCII case and surrounding whitespace.",
+    "pattern": "^[ \\t\\r\\n]*(?:[tT][rR][uU][eE]|[fF][aA][lL][sS][eE])[ \\t\\r\\n]*$",
+    "type": "string"
+  }
+]

removedInput schema / properties / include_tables / type
```
Removed value: -"boolean"
```

addedInput schema / properties / output_format / anyOf

Added value: +[
+  {
+    "default": "markdown",
+    "enum": [
+      "markdown",
+      "json",
+      "toon"
+    ],
+    "title": "Output Format",
+    "type": "string"
+  },
+  {
+    "pattern": "^[ \\t\\r\\n]*(?:[mM][aA][rR][kK][dD][oO][wW][nN]|[jJ][sS][oO][nN]|[tT][oO][oO][nN])[ \\t\\r\\n]*$",
+    "type": "string"
+  }
+]

removedInput schema / properties / output_format / enum

Removed value: -[
-  "markdown",
-  "json",
-  "toon"
-]

removedInput schema / properties / output_format / type
```
Removed value: -"string"
```

addedInput schema / properties / source / anyOf

Added value: +[
+  {
+    "discriminator": {
+      "mapping": {
+        "pmcid": "#/$defs/PMCIDSource",
+        "pmid": "#/$defs/PMIDSource"
+      },
+      "propertyName": "kind"
+    },
+    "oneOf": [
+      {
+        "$ref": "#/$defs/PMIDSource"
+      },
+      {
+        "$ref": "#/$defs/PMCIDSource"
+      }
+    ],
+    "title": "Source"
+  },
+  {
+    "contentMediaType": "application/json",
+    "contentSchema": {
+      "discriminator": {
+        "mapping": {
+          "pmcid": "#/$defs/PMCIDSource",
+          "pmid": "#/$defs/PMIDSource"
+        },
+        "propertyName": "kind"
+      },
+      "oneOf": [
+        {
+          "$ref": "#/$defs/PMIDSource"
+        },
+        {
+          "$ref": "#/$defs/PMCIDSource"
+        }
+      ],
+      "title": "Source"
+    },
+    "description": "One JSON-encoded container; the decoded value must satisfy contentSchema.",
+    "maxLength": 1000000,
+    "type": "string"
+  },
+  {
+    "description": "One JSON code fence; after removing the fence, decode JSON and validate against x-pubmed-decodedSchema.",
+    "maxLength": 1000000,
+    "pattern": "^\\s*```(?:[jJ][sS][oO][nN])?[ \\t]*\\r?\\n[\\s\\S]*\\r?\\n```\\s*$",
+    "type": "string",
+    "x-pubmed-decodedSchema": {
+      "discriminator": {
+        "mapping": {
+          "pmcid": "#/$defs/PMCIDSource",
+          "pmid": "#/$defs/PMIDSource"
+        },
+        "propertyName": "kind"
+      },
+      "oneOf": [
+        {
+          "$ref": "#/$defs/PMIDSource"
+        },
+        {
+          "$ref": "#/$defs/PMCIDSource"
+        }
+      ],
+      "title": "Source"
+    },
+    "x-pubmed-encoding": "fenced-json"
+  }
+]

removedInput schema / properties / source / discriminator

Removed value: -{
-  "mapping": {
-    "pmcid": "#/$defs/PMCIDSource",
-    "pmid": "#/$defs/PMIDSource"
-  },
-  "propertyName": "kind"
-}

removedInput schema / properties / source / oneOf

Removed value: -[
-  {
-    "$ref": "#/$defs/PMIDSource"
-  },
-  {
-    "$ref": "#/$defs/PMCIDSource"
-  }
-]

Changed8 schema fields changedv0.7.2Sep 13, 2026

addedInput schema / $defs

Added value: +{
+  "PMCIDSource": {
+    "additionalProperties": false,
+    "description": "An explicit PubMed Central identifier.",
+    "properties": {
+      "kind": {
+        "const": "pmcid",
+        "title": "Kind",
+        "type": "string"
+      },
+      "value": {
+        "maxLength": 23,
+        "pattern": "^PMC[1-9][0-9]{0,19}$",
+        "title": "Value",
+        "type": "string"
+      }
+    },
+    "required": [
+      "kind",
+      "value"
+    ],
+    "title": "PMCIDSource",
+    "type": "object"
+  },
+  "PMIDSource": {
+    "additionalProperties": false,
+    "description": "An explicit PubMed identifier.",
+    "properties": {
+      "kind": {
+        "const": "pmid",
+        "title": "Kind",
+        "type": "string"
+      },
+      "value": {
+        "maxLength": 20,
+        "pattern": "^[1-9][0-9]{0,19}$",
+        "title": "Value",
+        "type": "string"
+      }
+    },
+    "required": [
+      "kind",
+      "value"
+    ],
+    "title": "PMIDSource",
+    "type": "object"
+  }
+}

addedInput schema / additionalProperties
```
Added value: +false
```

removedInput schema / properties / identifier

Removed value: -{
-  "anyOf": [
-    {
-      "type": "string"
-    },
-    {
-      "type": "null"
-    }
-  ],
-  "default": null,
-  "title": "Identifier"
-}

removedInput schema / properties / pmcid

Removed value: -{
-  "anyOf": [
-    {
-      "type": "string"
-    },
-    {
-      "type": "integer"
-    },
-    {
-      "type": "null"
-    }
-  ],
-  "default": null,
-  "title": "Pmcid"
-}

removedInput schema / properties / pmid

Removed value: -{
-  "anyOf": [
-    {
-      "type": "string"
-    },
-    {
-      "type": "integer"
-    },
-    {
-      "type": "null"
-    }
-  ],
-  "default": null,
-  "title": "Pmid"
-}

addedInput schema / properties / source

Added value: +{
+  "discriminator": {
+    "mapping": {
+      "pmcid": "#/$defs/PMCIDSource",
+      "pmid": "#/$defs/PMIDSource"
+    },
+    "propertyName": "kind"
+  },
+  "oneOf": [
+    {
+      "$ref": "#/$defs/PMIDSource"
+    },
+    {
+      "$ref": "#/$defs/PMCIDSource"
+    }
+  ],
+  "title": "Source"
+}

addedInput schema / required
```
Added value: +[
+  "source"
+]
```

changedOutput schema / (root)

Previous value: -{
-  "properties": {
-    "result": {
-      "title": "Result",
-      "type": "string"
-    }
-  },
-  "required": [
-    "result"
-  ],
-  "title": "get_article_figuresOutput",
-  "type": "object"
-}New value: +null

First observedv0.5.16Jun 19, 2026

TDQS

A4.2/5.0

Behavior4/5

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

Annotations already declare readOnlyHint, idempotentHint, destructiveHint=false and openWorldHint, so safety and repeatability are covered. The description adds real value beyond that by disclosing the return contents (figure labels, captions, image URLs, PDF links) and the open-access-only limitation, though it says nothing about failure modes for non-OA articles or result limits.

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?

Purpose is front-loaded in sentence one, then the Args/Returns/Example blocks are scannable and each line is actionable. There is minor duplication between the prose return sentence and the 'Returns:' block, but the structure is efficient for the amount of parameter complexity it must carry.

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

Completeness4/5

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

For a small read-only tool with no output schema, the description covers the identifier format, the two optional extraction flags, and the shape of the result, which is what an agent needs to call it. The unmentioned output_format parameter and the absence of any behavior note for non-open-access input are the only remaining gaps.

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?

With top-level schema coverage at 0%, the description carries the load and does so for three of four parameters: it explains the discriminated source object with concrete PMID/PMCID examples, and clarifies include_subfigures and include_tables. The gap is output_format (markdown/json/toon, default markdown), which is never mentioned in the description.

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?

The opening sentence gives a specific verb, resource, and scope: structured figure metadata (label, caption, image URL) plus PDF links from a PMC Open Access article. That scope cleanly separates it from siblings like get_fulltext, search_biomedical_images, and prepare_figure_search without needing to name them.

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

Usage Guidelines3/5

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

Usage is only implied through the 'PMC Open Access article' constraint, which tells the agent this won't work for closed-access papers. There is no explicit statement of when to choose this over get_fulltext or prepare_figure_search, and no stated preconditions such as whether a prior resolve/lookup step is needed.

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

Deploy Server

get_article_figures

Instructions

Input Schema

Schema Changelog

TDQS

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