Scholar MCP server

by pvliesdonk·io.github.pvliesdonk/scholar-mcp·v3.1.1·2 stars

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Scholarly papers, patents, books, standards and PDF conversion

B83/100grade B

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B83/100

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2 stars114 downloads/wk

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Scholar MCP tools

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How Scholar MCP compares

Against every graded MCP server, from our own scans and uptime checks. Updated after each scan run.

Safety score: 83/100; higher than 65% of 48,255 servers
GitHub stars: 2; more than 75% of 28,688 servers
Downloads a week: 114; more than 66% of 12,191 servers with a package

Release history: 2 versions in the registry since 2026-09-11, latest 2026-11-03, typically one every 53 days.

Install Scholar MCP in Claude Code, Cursor or VS Code

claude mcp add scholar-mcp -- uvx pvliesdonk-scholar-mcp

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What the publisher says

From the Scholar MCP repository's README, as published. We do not edit it. Read it on GitHub

Scholar MCP

Scholarly papers, patents, books, standards and PDF conversion

Documentation | Config wizard | PyPI | Docker

Features

29 tools, organised by scholarly source type.

Source domains

Shortened. The full README is on GitHub.

Nothing above is checked by us. What we check is on the safety report.

Scholar MCP: common questions

Is Scholar MCP server safe?: Mostly: it is graded B (83/100). Read the Scholar MCP safety report
How do I install Scholar MCP?: It runs on your machine. Copy the Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code or Claude Desktop config from the install section.
Does Scholar MCP need an API key?: Yes. The registry entry asks for SCHOLAR_GITHUB_TOKEN, SCHOLAR_MCP_S2_API_KEY, SCHOLAR_MCP_VLM_API_KEY, SCHOLAR_MCP_EPO_CONSUMER_SECRET and 4 more.
Is Scholar MCP maintained?: The last commit was 22 days ago (2026-10-13). The latest release is v3.1.1.
How does Scholar MCP compare with other MCP servers?: safety score 83/100 (higher than 65% of 48,255 servers); github stars 2 (more than 75% of 28,688 servers); downloads a week 114 (more than 66% of 12,191 servers with a package). Full comparison.

Run it through the gateway

Local package. It runs on your machine, not through the gateway.

Rating: —
Safety grade: B · 83/100
Stars: 2
Downloads/wk: 114
Price: Free
Licence: MIT
Transport: Local · mixed
Version: 3.1.1
Category: Everything else
Last release: 2026-10-13

Credentials it needs

SCHOLAR_MCP_KV_STORE_URLPersistent-state backend URL shared by every pvl-core subsystem that needs state. `memory://` is in-process and lost on restart; `file:///path` persists on one server; `redis://`, `dynamodb://` and `mongodb://` each need their matching extra. When unset, defaults to `file:///data/state` (the volume family Docker images mount), or to `memory://` (with a warning) on a host where that directory is not usable.
SCHOLAR_MCP_TOOLS_ALLOWComma-separated explicit tool names this instance exposes; every other tool is hidden from listings and cannot be invoked. Names matching no registered tool are inert. Mutually exclusive with `tools_deny`. Takes effect through `apply_tool_visibility`.
SCHOLAR_MCP_TOOLS_DENYComma-separated explicit tool names hidden from this instance (absent from listings, cannot be invoked). Names matching no registered tool are inert. Mutually exclusive with `tools_allow`. Takes effect through `apply_tool_visibility`.
SCHOLAR_MCP_SERVER_NAMERename this server instance; defaults to the project name.
SCHOLAR_MCP_INSTANCE_DESCRIPTIONConcise routing context that distinguishes this deployment's material or responsibility.
SCHOLAR_MCP_INSTRUCTIONS_EXTRADeployment-specific behavioral policy added to the generated MCP instructions.
SCHOLAR_MCP_INSTRUCTIONSLegacy: replaces all generated MCP instructions (deprecated; use _INSTANCE_DESCRIPTION for routing and _INSTRUCTIONS_EXTRA for policy).
SCHOLAR_MCP_LOG_LEVELLog level for every logger in the process, FastMCP's included (DEBUG / INFO / WARNING / ERROR / CRITICAL). The -v CLI flag overrides to DEBUG. The unprefixed FASTMCP_LOG_LEVEL still works for one major version and logs a deprecation warning.
SCHOLAR_MCP_LOG_FORMATLog rendering. rich is one colour event key=value line per record, for a terminal; json is one JSON object per record, for a collector. Unset picks rich when stderr is a terminal and json everywhere else, so a container or journald gets JSON with no configuration.
SCHOLAR_GITHUB_TOKENsecretGitHub token used to raise rate limits when fetching standards documents from GitHub. Optional; unauthenticated requests work at reduced limits.
SCHOLAR_MCP_READ_ONLYWhen true, write-tagged tools (PDF download and conversion cache writes) are hidden. Set false to enable them.
SCHOLAR_MCP_S2_API_KEYsecretSemantic Scholar API key. Optional but strongly recommended: a key has an introductory 1 req/s allowance; anonymous users share capacity and may be throttled. Request one at https://www.semanticscholar.org/product/api#api-key-form.
SCHOLAR_MCP_DOCLING_URLBase URL of a running docling-serve instance for PDF conversion (e.g. http://localhost:5001). When unset, PDF conversion tools return an error.
SCHOLAR_MCP_VLM_API_URLOpenAI-compatible VLM endpoint for formula and figure enrichment during PDF conversion.
SCHOLAR_MCP_VLM_API_KEYsecretAPI key for the VLM endpoint.
SCHOLAR_MCP_VLM_MODELModel name to use with the VLM endpoint.
SCHOLAR_MCP_CACHE_DIRDirectory for the SQLite cache database (cache.db) and downloaded PDFs (pdfs/, md/).
SCHOLAR_MCP_CONTACT_EMAILContact email for the OpenAlex polite pool (improves rate limits). Also enables Unpaywall lookups as a PDF fallback source.
SCHOLAR_MCP_EPO_CONSUMER_KEYEPO Open Patent Services consumer key. Optional; patent tools are hidden when unset. Register at https://developers.epo.org/user/register.
SCHOLAR_MCP_EPO_CONSUMER_SECRETsecretEPO Open Patent Services consumer secret. Optional; patent tools are hidden when unset.
SCHOLAR_MCP_GOOGLE_BOOKS_API_KEYsecretGoogle Books API key. Optional; book tools work unauthenticated at reduced rate limits.
SCHOLAR_MCP_ACCESS_LINKSLinks to a paper through your library, offered when no PDF can be fetched and with each paper lookup: a JSON list of objects with a label and an http(s) URL template, in priority order. Placeholders: {doi}, {doi_url} (the encoded doi.org URL, for wrapping), {openurl} (OpenURL 1.0), {openurl_0_1} and {openurl_hybrid}. Unset means one doi.org link; an empty list turns links off. The server never opens these links. See the PDF conversion guide for examples.
SCHOLAR_MCP_JOBS_SOFT_DEADLINE_SSeconds a long-running tool call may run in the foreground before it is promoted to a background job and a job handle is returned instead.
SCHOLAR_MCP_JOBS_RESULT_TTL_SSeconds a background-job record (working or finished) is retained for polling before it expires from the store.
SCHOLAR_MCP_JOBS_MAX_PER_SUBJECTMaximum live background jobs per calling subject; further promotions are rejected until older records expire.
SCHOLAR_MCP_SHUTDOWN_GRACE_SSeconds SIGTERM may spend draining in-flight requests before the HTTP server exits. Keep it at or below the termination grace period the orchestrator allows. `0` drops in-flight requests immediately.
SCHOLAR_MCP_BASE_URLPublic base URL of the deployed server, for example `https://mcp.example.com`. Required for OIDC. Also the fallback source of the MCP Apps domain when `app_domain` is unset.
SCHOLAR_MCP_BEARER_TOKENsecretSingle shared bearer token; enables bearer auth unless `bearer_tokens_file` is set, which takes precedence.
SCHOLAR_MCP_OIDC_CONFIG_URLOIDC discovery document URL, for example `https://auth.example.com/.well-known/openid-configuration`.
SCHOLAR_MCP_OIDC_CLIENT_IDOIDC client identifier registered with the provider.
SCHOLAR_MCP_OIDC_CLIENT_SECRETsecretOIDC client secret registered with the provider.
SCHOLAR_MCP_OIDC_AUDIENCEExpected `aud` claim; tokens issued for another audience are rejected.
SCHOLAR_MCP_OIDC_REQUIRED_SCOPESScopes a caller must present, space- or comma-separated. Defaults to `openid` in oidc-proxy mode.
SCHOLAR_MCP_OIDC_ADVERTISED_SCOPESScopes advertised to MCP clients in protected-resource metadata, space- or comma-separated. Overrides the default `openid offline_access`; `oidc_required_scopes` is always added on top. Set this when the registered client is not permitted `offline_access`, or to have clients request extra claim scopes (such as `groups`) without also requiring them in every token.
SCHOLAR_MCP_OIDC_JWT_SIGNING_KEYsecretSigning key for issued tokens; used in oidc-proxy mode only. When unset, the key is derived deterministically from `oidc_client_secret`, so tokens survive a restart. Rotating that secret then invalidates every issued token. Set this explicitly to decouple token validity from secret rotation. Generate with `openssl rand -hex 32`.
SCHOLAR_MCP_OIDC_VERIFY_ACCESS_TOKENValidate the access token instead of the id token.
SCHOLAR_MCP_KV_STORE_URLPersistent-state backend URL shared by every pvl-core subsystem that needs state. `memory://` is in-process and lost on restart; `file:///path` persists on one server; `redis://`, `dynamodb://` and `mongodb://` each need their matching extra. When unset, defaults to `file:///data/state` (the volume family Docker images mount), or to `memory://` (with a warning) on a host where that directory is not usable.
SCHOLAR_MCP_APP_DOMAINMCP Apps iframe domain, used for CSP sandboxing. Overrides the host derived from `base_url`.
SCHOLAR_MCP_TOOLS_ALLOWComma-separated explicit tool names this instance exposes; every other tool is hidden from listings and cannot be invoked. Names matching no registered tool are inert. Mutually exclusive with `tools_deny`. Takes effect through `apply_tool_visibility`.
SCHOLAR_MCP_TOOLS_DENYComma-separated explicit tool names hidden from this instance (absent from listings, cannot be invoked). Names matching no registered tool are inert. Mutually exclusive with `tools_allow`. Takes effect through `apply_tool_visibility`.
SCHOLAR_MCP_AUTH_MODEExplicit auth-mode override, accepting `remote` or `oidc-proxy` (case- and whitespace-insensitive). When unset the mode is auto-detected from which auth variables are set; the override exists because having all four OIDC variables set is ambiguous between those two modes. Other values are ignored with a warning.
SCHOLAR_MCP_BEARER_TOKENS_FILEPath to a TOML file mapping bearer tokens to subjects; overrides the single-token `bearer_token` mode.
SCHOLAR_MCP_BEARER_DEFAULT_SUBJECTSubject assigned to the single-token bearer mode; ignored when `bearer_tokens_file` is set, since mapped mode carries per-token subjects.
SCHOLAR_MCP_SERVER_NAMERename this server instance; defaults to the project name.
SCHOLAR_MCP_INSTANCE_DESCRIPTIONConcise routing context that distinguishes this deployment's material or responsibility.
SCHOLAR_MCP_INSTRUCTIONS_EXTRADeployment-specific behavioral policy added to the generated MCP instructions.
SCHOLAR_MCP_INSTRUCTIONSLegacy: replaces all generated MCP instructions (deprecated; use _INSTANCE_DESCRIPTION for routing and _INSTRUCTIONS_EXTRA for policy).
SCHOLAR_MCP_HTTP_PATHMount path for the MCP endpoint; the health routes derive their prefix from it.
SCHOLAR_MCP_HEALTH_DETAILHow much the unauthenticated /health and /health/ready bodies say: status, standard (adds name, version and per-check verdicts), or full (adds redacted reasons; trusted networks only).
PUIDRun the server process as this UID; the container entrypoint reassigns ownership of writable paths to match.
PGIDRun the server process as this GID; pair with PUID to match the owner of a mounted volume.
SCHOLAR_MCP_LOG_LEVELLog level for every logger in the process, FastMCP's included (DEBUG / INFO / WARNING / ERROR / CRITICAL). The -v CLI flag overrides to DEBUG. The unprefixed FASTMCP_LOG_LEVEL still works for one major version and logs a deprecation warning.
SCHOLAR_MCP_LOG_FORMATLog rendering. rich is one colour event key=value line per record, for a terminal; json is one JSON object per record, for a collector. Unset picks rich when stderr is a terminal and json everywhere else, so a container or journald gets JSON with no configuration.
SCHOLAR_GITHUB_TOKENsecretGitHub token used to raise rate limits when fetching standards documents from GitHub. Optional; unauthenticated requests work at reduced limits.
SCHOLAR_MCP_READ_ONLYWhen true, write-tagged tools (PDF download and conversion cache writes) are hidden. Set false to enable them.
SCHOLAR_MCP_S2_API_KEYsecretSemantic Scholar API key. Optional but strongly recommended: a key has an introductory 1 req/s allowance; anonymous users share capacity and may be throttled. Request one at https://www.semanticscholar.org/product/api#api-key-form.
SCHOLAR_MCP_DOCLING_URLBase URL of a running docling-serve instance for PDF conversion (e.g. http://localhost:5001). When unset, PDF conversion tools return an error.
SCHOLAR_MCP_VLM_API_URLOpenAI-compatible VLM endpoint for formula and figure enrichment during PDF conversion.
SCHOLAR_MCP_VLM_API_KEYsecretAPI key for the VLM endpoint.
SCHOLAR_MCP_VLM_MODELModel name to use with the VLM endpoint.
SCHOLAR_MCP_CACHE_DIRDirectory for the SQLite cache database (cache.db) and downloaded PDFs (pdfs/, md/).
SCHOLAR_MCP_CONTACT_EMAILContact email for the OpenAlex polite pool (improves rate limits). Also enables Unpaywall lookups as a PDF fallback source.
SCHOLAR_MCP_EPO_CONSUMER_KEYEPO Open Patent Services consumer key. Optional; patent tools are hidden when unset. Register at https://developers.epo.org/user/register.
SCHOLAR_MCP_EPO_CONSUMER_SECRETsecretEPO Open Patent Services consumer secret. Optional; patent tools are hidden when unset.
SCHOLAR_MCP_GOOGLE_BOOKS_API_KEYsecretGoogle Books API key. Optional; book tools work unauthenticated at reduced rate limits.
SCHOLAR_MCP_ACCESS_LINKSLinks to a paper through your library, offered when no PDF can be fetched and with each paper lookup: a JSON list of objects with a label and an http(s) URL template, in priority order. Placeholders: {doi}, {doi_url} (the encoded doi.org URL, for wrapping), {openurl} (OpenURL 1.0), {openurl_0_1} and {openurl_hybrid}. Unset means one doi.org link; an empty list turns links off. The server never opens these links. See the PDF conversion guide for examples.
SCHOLAR_MCP_JOBS_SOFT_DEADLINE_SSeconds a long-running tool call may run in the foreground before it is promoted to a background job and a job handle is returned instead.
SCHOLAR_MCP_JOBS_RESULT_TTL_SSeconds a background-job record (working or finished) is retained for polling before it expires from the store.
SCHOLAR_MCP_JOBS_MAX_PER_SUBJECTMaximum live background jobs per calling subject; further promotions are rejected until older records expire.

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