CiteAssist MCP Server

Retrieves citation data in BibTeX format from CiteAs and Google Scholar.

Local serverstdio 13

What is the CiteAssist MCP server?

Retrieves citation data in BibTeX format from CiteAs and Google Scholar. That is what the citeassist mcp server brings to an AI assistant: the same capability, reachable through the Model Context Protocol rather than a separate app or dashboard.

The short version

A Model Context Protocol server that provides BibTeX-formatted citation data from CiteAs and Google Scholar. Enhance your research workflow by integrating citation retrieval directly into your applications.

The tools it exposes

The server publishes 4 tools. What each one is for:

  • get_citeas_data — Retrieve BibTeX-formatted citation for the specified resource from the CiteAs
  • get_scholar_data — Retrieve BibTeX-formatted citations from the Google Scholar
  • Tools — The Tools tool exposed by this server
  • Debugging — Since MCP servers run over stdio, debugging can be challenging. For the best debugging experience, we strongly recommend using the [MCP

What it needs from you

Configuration is passed through the environment: UV_PUBLISH_TOKEN. Treat anything key-shaped as a real credential — scope it to the minimum the server needs, and rotate it if it ever lands in a shared config.

Getting it running

The server ships on npm as @smithery/cli, so your MCP client can launch it on demand — there is no separate build step. Add the server block to your client's configuration, restart it, and the tools register themselves.

How it compares

Among the developer tooling options, the useful question is rarely "what can it do" but "what does it cost you to run" — permissions, credentials, and how much of your context its toolset consumes. CiteAssist's toolset — get_citeas_data, get_scholar_data, Tools and 1 more — is a fair guide to whether it matches your workflow. It is maintained by ndchikin; worth a glance at recent repository activity before you build anything load-bearing on it.

This entry was verified against CiteAssist's own documentation before publication; SyncDev keeps the directory reviewed rather than auto-generated.

Things to watch

  • It runs with your machine's permissions. That is convenient and also the reason to think about what you point it at before you approve a tool call.
  • Missing credentials fail quietly in some clients — if no tools show up, check the environment block first.
  • Keep per-call confirmation enabled while you learn its behaviour; it is the cheapest safeguard you have.

Available tools

ToolWhat it does
get_citeas_dataRetrieve BibTeX-formatted citation for the specified resource from the CiteAs
get_scholar_dataRetrieve BibTeX-formatted citations from the Google Scholar
ToolsThe Tools tool exposed by this server.
DebuggingSince MCP servers run over stdio, debugging can be challenging. For the best debugging experience, we strongly recommend using the [MCP Inspector](https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/inspector).

How to install the CiteAssist MCP server

"mcpServers": {
  "reference-mcp": {
    "command": "uv",
    "args": [
      "--directory",
      "/path/to/project/dir",
      "run",
      "reference-mcp"
    ]
  }
}

Configuration as documented by the project. Restart the client after saving.

Configuration

VariableDescriptionRequired
UV_PUBLISH_TOKENCredential the server authenticates with.Yes

Example prompts to try

  • Use CiteAssist to get citeas data.
  • Use CiteAssist to get scholar data.
  • Use CiteAssist to Tools.

Frequently asked questions

CiteAssist is a developer tool that retrieves citation data in BibTeX format from CiteAs and Google Scholar, simplifying research and citation management.