Add to `~/.gemini/settings.json` (user scope) or `.gemini/settings.json` (project scope):
Add to ~/.gemini/settings.json (user scope) or .gemini/settings.json (project scope):. The inspirehep mcp mcp server wraps that behind the Model Context Protocol, so an assistant can use it through 9 defined tools rather than through you.
Everything the assistant can do here goes through one of these:
search_papers — Search papers by topic, author, collaboration, or free textget_paper_details — Get full metadata for a paper by Inspire ID, arXiv ID, or DOIget_author_papers — Retrieve an author's publications and citation metricsget_citations — Explore citation graph — who cites a paper, or what it citessearch_by_collaboration — Find publications from ATLAS, CMS, LHCb, etcget_paper_figures — Retrieve figures and download URLs for a paperget_references — Generate BibTeX, LaTeX, or JSON reference listsget_bibtex — Retrieve BibTeX citation entry by DOI, arXiv ID, or Inspire IDserver_stats — Monitor cache hit rates and API performanceYou will need one environment variable: INSPIREHEP_CACHE_DB_PATH. Keep credentials in your client's env block or a secrets manager rather than in a file you might commit.
The server ships on PyPI as inspirehep-mcp, 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.
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. Inspirehep MCP's toolset — search_papers, get_paper_details, get_author_papers and 6 more — is a fair guide to whether it matches your workflow. It is maintained by mohamedelashri; worth a glance at recent repository activity before you build anything load-bearing on it.
This entry was verified against Inspirehep MCP's own documentation before publication; SyncDev keeps the directory reviewed rather than auto-generated.
| Tool | What it does |
|---|---|
| search_papers | Search papers by topic, author, collaboration, or free text |
| get_paper_details | Get full metadata for a paper by Inspire ID, arXiv ID, or DOI |
| get_author_papers | Retrieve an author's publications and citation metrics |
| get_citations | Explore citation graph — who cites a paper, or what it cites |
| search_by_collaboration | Find publications from ATLAS, CMS, LHCb, etc. |
| get_paper_figures | Retrieve figures and download URLs for a paper |
| get_references | Generate BibTeX, LaTeX, or JSON reference lists |
| get_bibtex | Retrieve BibTeX citation entry by DOI, arXiv ID, or Inspire ID |
| server_stats | Monitor cache hit rates and API performance |
{
"mcpServers": {
"inspirehep": {
"command": "uvx",
"args": ["inspirehep-mcp"],
"env": {
"INSPIREHEP_CACHE_DB_PATH": "your-value"
}
}
}
}Add to claude_desktop_config.json, then restart Claude Desktop.
| Variable | Description | Required |
|---|---|---|
| INSPIREHEP_CACHE_DB_PATH | Filesystem location the server is allowed to use. | Optional |
Kill hallucinated APIs — version-accurate, up-to-date library documentation injected straight into context.
Microsoft's official browser automation server — drive a real browser through the accessibility tree, no screenshots needed.
GitHub's official server — repos, issues, pull requests, Actions and code security, straight from your assistant.
Issue tracking at the speed of conversation — Linear's official hosted server with OAuth and zero install.
Local repository surgery — status, diffs, commits, branches and history for any repo on disk.
Timezone sanity for AI — current time anywhere and correct conversions, without the model doing date math.