OokCite MCP server

OokCite MCP Server

Give MCP-capable tools the ability to validate DOIs, format citations, manage bibliography collections, and catch fabricated references. Returns citation metadata only -- not PDFs or full-text articles. Works with clients that support MCP servers over standard input and output.

Quick Start

One command to install and configure:

npx @turtletech/ookcite-mcp setup

This auto-detects supported MCP clients and writes the configuration for you. Connect an OokCite account for higher rate limits and collection tools without putting an API key in shell arguments or MCP configuration:

npx @turtletech/ookcite-mcp setup --connect

The command opens the TurtleTech dashboard, creates or activates the Free plan, stores the issued key in the platform credential store, and writes only a credential reference to detected clients. Use setup --connect --device on a headless machine.

An existing API key remains supported:

npx @turtletech/ookcite-mcp setup --key YOUR_API_KEY

No API key required for basic usage (20 lookups/day): formatcitation and a small plaintext importbibliography (omit collection, up to 8 items). Sign up for more.

Paste a list to BibTeX

importbibliography accepts a numbered or blank-line citation list, not only .bib / .ris. Omit collection for a small paste: the tool resolves the items and returns .bib text. With a key, pass collection to save the resolved entries. exportcollection can then emit .bib (format=bib) or CSL bibliography text (format=csl or a style id such as ieee). npx @turtletech/ookcite-mcp setup remains the installer. The server never fetches PDFs.

After changing MCP config, restart the client or reload its MCP servers. Many clients do not hot-reload environment-variable changes for already-running stdio servers.

Install (Alternative Methods)

npm (recommended):

npm install -g @turtletech/ookcite-mcp

cargo-binstall (fastest, no Node.js):

cargo binstall ookcite-mcp

cargo install (from source):

cargo install ookcite-mcp

Pre-built binaries: Download from GitHub Releases for Linux (x8664, aarch64), macOS (x8664, aarch64), and Windows.

Configure

If you used setup, you're done. Otherwise, add to your MCP client config:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ookcite": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@turtletech/ookcite-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

With an API key:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ookcite": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@turtletech/ookcite-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "OOKCITE_API_KEY": "your_key_here"
      }
    }
  }
}

If you installed globally (npm install -g or cargo install), you can use "command": "ookcite-mcp" directly instead of npx.

Keeping the key out of the config file

setup --connect uses the platform credential store by default. It refuses to replace an existing platform credential or named OokCite MCP configuration unless --replace-credential or --replace-config is given explicitly.

A generic credential manager can be used instead. The store command receives the new key on standard input; it must not expect the key in a command-line argument. The retrieval command prints the key on standard output when the MCP server starts:

npx @turtletech/ookcite-mcp setup --connect \
  --store-command "credential-cli store ookcite" \
  --retrieve-command "credential-cli read ookcite"

Shortened. The full README is on GitHub.