BibTeX MCP Server
# BibTeX MCP Server
Multi-provider academic reference search with BibTeX generation. Searches arXiv, DBLP, Semantic Scholar, and OpenAlex concurrently.
## MCP Client Configuration
For Claude Desktop, ChatGPT, or other MCP clients:
- **Server URL**: `https://mcp.florianbrand.de/sse`
- **Transport**: SSE (Server-Sent Events)
- **Authentication**: None required
## Installation
### Remote Clients
This server is hosted publicly at: `https://mcp.florianbrand.de/sse`
**Important**: Use the URL exactly as shown above (without www subdomain)
### Local Clients
If you prefer to run the server locally, you can add it the following way:
```json
{
"mcpServers": {
"bibtex": {
"command": "uv",
"args": ["run", "--directory", "/path/to/bibtex-mcp", "python", "-m", "reference_mcp", "--stdio"],
"env": {
"SEMANTIC_SCHOLAR_API_KEY": "your_api_key_here"
}
}
}
}
```
A semantic scholar API key is optional but recommended for higher rate limits. It can be requested [here](https://www.semanticscholar.org/product/api).
TDQS
Scored across 4 tools
The search and search_reference tools both perform literature searches but with different output granularity. While search_reference returns full BibTeX and search returns lightweight snippets, the boundary is fuzzy and an agent might misselect them. fetch and fetch_multiple are clearly distinct in cardinality.
Tool names follow mixed patterns: search_reference uses verb_noun, while fetch, search, and fetch_multiple are bare verbs or verb_adjective. There is no consistent convention, and the verbs 'search' and 'fetch' could be seen as overlapping actions.
Four tools is well-scoped for a bibliographic reference server. Each tool serves a clear purpose in the search-fetch workflow, and the count is within the ideal range, neither too thin nor bloated.
The tool set covers the core search and retrieval lifecycle: lightweight browsing (search), bulk full retrieval (fetch_multiple), and direct full citation lookup (search_reference). Missing features like DOI lookup or format export are minor and not critical for the stated purpose.