# Paper Search MCP (MCP server)

> Paper Search MCP is an MCP server that adds tools to AI assistants such as Claude Desktop, Claude Code and Cursor. MCP, CLI, Skills for searching and downloading academic papers from multiple sources like arXiv, PubMed, bioRxiv, etc. It has 2,753 GitHub stars, is released under the MIT license and runs locally with uvx paper-search-mcp.

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for searching and downloading academic papers from multiple sources. The project follows a free-first strategy: prioritize open and public data sources, support optional API keys when they improve stability or coverage, and keep source-specific connectors extensible for advanced users.

## Key facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Repository | https://github.com/openags/paper-search-mcp |
| GitHub stars | 2,753 |
| License | MIT |
| Language | Python |
| Transport | stdio |
| Packages | pypi: paper-search-mcp |
| Remote URL | none |
| Needs API key | yes |
| Official | no |
| Works with | Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code |
| Category | Other |
| Latest release | none |
| Last commit | Oct 2, 2026 |

## Install

### Claude Desktop (claude_desktop_config.json)

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "paper-search-mcp": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "paper-search-mcp"
      ],
      "env": {
        "PAPER_SEARCH_MCP_CORE_API_KEY": "your-value",
        "PAPER_SEARCH_MCP_SEMANTIC_SCHOLAR_API_KEY": "your-value",
        "PAPER_SEARCH_MCP_ZENODO_ACCESS_TOKEN": "your-value",
        "PAPER_SEARCH_MCP_IEEE_API_KEY": "your-value"
      }
    }
  }
}
```

Settings > Developer > Edit Config. macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/, Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\. Restart Claude Desktop afterwards.

### Claude Code

```sh
claude mcp add --env PAPER_SEARCH_MCP_CORE_API_KEY=your-value --env PAPER_SEARCH_MCP_SEMANTIC_SCHOLAR_API_KEY=your-value --env PAPER_SEARCH_MCP_ZENODO_ACCESS_TOKEN=your-value --env PAPER_SEARCH_MCP_IEEE_API_KEY=your-value --transport stdio paper-search-mcp -- uvx paper-search-mcp
```

### Cursor (.cursor/mcp.json)

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "paper-search-mcp": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "paper-search-mcp"
      ],
      "env": {
        "PAPER_SEARCH_MCP_CORE_API_KEY": "your-value",
        "PAPER_SEARCH_MCP_SEMANTIC_SCHOLAR_API_KEY": "your-value",
        "PAPER_SEARCH_MCP_ZENODO_ACCESS_TOKEN": "your-value",
        "PAPER_SEARCH_MCP_IEEE_API_KEY": "your-value"
      }
    }
  }
}
```

Project file; use ~/.cursor/mcp.json to enable it in every project.

### VS Code (.vscode/mcp.json)

```json
{
  "inputs": [
    {
      "type": "promptString",
      "id": "paper_search_mcp_core_api_key",
      "description": "PAPER_SEARCH_MCP_CORE_API_KEY",
      "password": true
    },
    {
      "type": "promptString",
      "id": "paper_search_mcp_semantic_scholar_api_key",
      "description": "PAPER_SEARCH_MCP_SEMANTIC_SCHOLAR_API_KEY",
      "password": true
    },
    {
      "type": "promptString",
      "id": "paper_search_mcp_zenodo_access_token",
      "description": "PAPER_SEARCH_MCP_ZENODO_ACCESS_TOKEN",
      "password": true
    },
    {
      "type": "promptString",
      "id": "paper_search_mcp_ieee_api_key",
      "description": "PAPER_SEARCH_MCP_IEEE_API_KEY",
      "password": true
    }
  ],
  "servers": {
    "paper-search-mcp": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "paper-search-mcp"
      ],
      "env": {
        "PAPER_SEARCH_MCP_CORE_API_KEY": "${input:paper_search_mcp_core_api_key}",
        "PAPER_SEARCH_MCP_SEMANTIC_SCHOLAR_API_KEY": "${input:paper_search_mcp_semantic_scholar_api_key}",
        "PAPER_SEARCH_MCP_ZENODO_ACCESS_TOKEN": "${input:paper_search_mcp_zenodo_access_token}",
        "PAPER_SEARCH_MCP_IEEE_API_KEY": "${input:paper_search_mcp_ieee_api_key}"
      }
    }
  }
}
```

Config formats checked against the official docs on 2026-10-07.

## Environment variables

- `PAPER_SEARCH_MCP_UNPAYWALL_EMAIL`: Shown in the README's example configuration.
- `PAPER_SEARCH_MCP_CORE_API_KEY` (secret): Shown in the README's example configuration.
- `PAPER_SEARCH_MCP_SEMANTIC_SCHOLAR_API_KEY` (secret): Shown in the README's example configuration.
- `PAPER_SEARCH_MCP_ZENODO_ACCESS_TOKEN` (secret): Shown in the README's example configuration.
- `PAPER_SEARCH_MCP_GOOGLE_SCHOLAR_PROXY_URL`: Shown in the README's example configuration.
- `PAPER_SEARCH_MCP_IEEE_API_KEY` (secret): Shown in the README's example configuration.

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