How do I install the academia mcp server?

This profile does not contain a verified copy-paste launch configuration. Follow the current project documentation to confirm the runtime, entry point, transport and authentication before registering it in your client.

What credentials does it need?

It reads `ENABLE_AUTH`, `TOKENS_FILE`, `OPENROUTER_API_KEY`, `EXA_API_KEY`, `BRAVE_API_KEY`, `TAVILY_API_KEY`, `BASE_URL` from the environment. Store these in your client's env block or a secrets manager — never commit them to a repository — and grant the narrowest scope that still covers your use case.

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Academia MCP Server

MCP server with tools to search, fetch, analyze, and report on scientific papers and datasets.

Local serverstdioPython

What is the Academia MCP Server?

Academia MCP lets Claude, Cursor and other MCP clients work with Academia MCP directly. MCP server with tools to search, fetch, analyze, and report on scientific papers and datasets.

What Academia MCP does

MCP server with tools to search, fetch, analyze, and report on scientific papers and datasets.

Key capabilities

ArXiv search and download
ACL Anthology search
Hugging Face datasets search
Semantic Scholar citations and references
Web search via Exa, Brave, or Tavily
Web page crawler, LaTeX compilation, PDF reading
Optional LLM-powered tools for document QA and research proposal workflows

Requirements

Python 3.12+

Practical notes

Maintained by IlyaGusev, written in Python.

More MCP options

Compare MCP servers by category, or browse hosted MCP servers if you prefer an endpoint over a local process.

Maintainer setup documentation.

Recorded tools

Check the linked publisher documentation and your connected client's tool list. Names and availability can vary with the server version and account permissions.

Tool	What it does
arxiv_search	Query arXiv with field-specific queries and filters.
arxiv_download	Fetch a paper by ID and convert to structured text (HTML/PDF modes).
anthology_search	Search ACL Anthology with fielded queries and optional date filtering.
hf_datasets_search	Find Hugging Face datasets with filters and sorting.
s2_get_citations	List papers citing a given arXiv paper (Semantic Scholar Graph).
s2_get_references	List papers referenced by a given arXiv paper.
visit_webpage	Fetch and normalize a web page.
web_search	Unified search wrapper; available when at least one of Exa/Brave/Tavily keys is set.
compile_latex	Compile LaTeX to PDF in WORKSPACE_DIR.
read_pdf	Extract text per page from a PDF.
document_qa	Answer questions over provided document chunks (requires LLM).

How to install the Academia MCP Server

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "academia": {
      "command": "python3",
      "args": [
        "-m",
        "academia_mcp",
        "--transport",
        "stdio"
      ]
    }
  }
}

From the project documentation. Replace placeholders and example paths before connecting.

Configuration

Python 3.12+

Example prompts to try

“Use Academia MCP to arxiv search.”
“Use Academia MCP to arxiv download.”
“Use Academia MCP to anthology search.”

Frequently asked questions

MCP server with tools to search, fetch, analyze, and report on scientific papers and datasets. Confirm the tools offered by your installed version in the connected client. Tool availability and permissions depend on the server and account configuration.