What does the scholar mcp server do?

It connects Scholar to MCP-compatible AI assistants such as Claude and Cursor. Instead of copying data back and forth by hand, the assistant works with Scholar directly.

How do I install the scholar mcp server?

Run it through your MCP client's configuration using `uvx scholar-academic-mcp`. Add the server block to Claude Desktop's config file (or use `claude mcp add` for Claude Code), restart the client, and the tools appear automatically. Full snippets are on this page.

What credentials does it need?

It reads `SCOPUS_API_KEY`, `S2_API_KEY`, `SCIHUB_MIRRORS`, `LIBGEN_MIRRORS`, `SCOPUS_INST_TOKEN`, `CONTACT_EMAIL`, `SCOPUS_ID` 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.

Scholar MCP Server — Features, Setup & Tools

Name: Scholar MCP Server
Author: mlintangmz2765

What is the Scholar MCP server?

Hardened Scholar MCP for deep academic research (Scopus, OpenAlex, Unpaywall) with PDF vision. That is what the scholar 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 (MCP) server providing structured access to scientific literature databases. It serves as a unified interface for Scopus, OpenAlex, Semantic Scholar, and Unpaywall, enabling AI agents to perform systematic paper discovery, author disambiguation, citation lineage tracking, and multimodal Content extraction.

Getting it running

The server ships on PyPI as scholar-academic-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.

What it needs from you

Configuration is passed through the environment: SCOPUS_API_KEY, S2_API_KEY, SCIHUB_MIRRORS, LIBGEN_MIRRORS, SCOPUS_INST_TOKEN, CONTACT_EMAIL, SCOPUS_ID. 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.

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.

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. It is maintained by mlintangmz2765; worth a glance at recent repository activity before you build anything load-bearing on it.

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

How to install the Scholar MCP server

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "scholar-academic-mcp": {
      "command": "scholar-academic-mcp",
      "env": {
        "SCOPUS_API_KEY": "your_scopus_api_key",
        "S2_API_KEY": "your_s2_api_key",
        "SCIHUB_MIRRORS": "https://sci-hub.ru,https://sci-hub.st",
        "LIBGEN_MIRRORS": "https://libgen.la,http://libgen.li",
        "SCOPUS_INST_TOKEN": "your_optional_inst_token",
        "CONTACT_EMAIL": "your_email@domain.com"
      }
    }
  }
}

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

Configuration

Variable	Description	Required
SCOPUS_API_KEY	Credential the server authenticates with.	Yes
S2_API_KEY	Credential the server authenticates with.	Yes
SCIHUB_MIRRORS	Configuration value read at startup.	Optional
LIBGEN_MIRRORS	Configuration value read at startup.	Optional
SCOPUS_INST_TOKEN	Credential the server authenticates with.	Yes
CONTACT_EMAIL	Configuration value read at startup.	Optional
SCOPUS_ID	Configuration value read at startup.	Optional

Scholar MCP Server

What is the Scholar MCP server?

The short version

Getting it running

What it needs from you

Things to watch

How it compares

How to install the Scholar MCP server

Configuration

Frequently asked questions

Alternatives to the Scholar MCP server

Context7

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GitHub

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