# Paper Search MCP

> Search and download academic papers from arXiv, PubMed, bioRxiv, Semantic Scholar and many more sources.

## Facts
- **Category:** [MCP Servers](https://agentsearchengine.app/category/mcp-servers)
- **Type:** MCP server
- **Pricing:** Open source
- **GitHub stars:** 2,683
- **Language:** Python
- **License:** MIT
- **Last repo activity:** today (Sep 22, 2026)
- **Official site:** https://github.com/openags/paper-search-mcp
- **Source code:** https://github.com/openags/paper-search-mcp
- **Listing on Agent Search Engine:** https://agentsearchengine.app/agents/paper-search-mcp
- **Data verified:** September 2026

## Best for
Literature searches that span several databases from one assistant.

## Avoid if
You'd enable its optional Sci-Hub fallback; the project leaves it off by default and makes its use the user's responsibility.

## About Paper Search MCP
Paper Search MCP searches and downloads papers from many sources, including arXiv, PubMed, bioRxiv, medRxiv, Google Scholar, Semantic Scholar, Crossref, OpenAlex, PubMed Central, CORE and Europe PMC, and extracts their text. It follows a free-first strategy that prefers open-access routes, with optional API keys for better coverage, and is also available as a CLI and agent skills.

## Connect to an MCP client
Launch command from the project's README: `uvx paper-search-mcp`

### Claude Code (Run in your terminal)

```shell
claude mcp add paper-search-mcp -- uvx paper-search-mcp
```

### Cursor (~/.cursor/mcp.json or .cursor/mcp.json)

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "paper-search-mcp": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["paper-search-mcp"]
    }
  }
}
```

### VS Code (.vscode/mcp.json)

```json
{
  "servers": {
    "paper-search-mcp": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["paper-search-mcp"]
    }
  }
}
```

### Claude Desktop (claude_desktop_config.json)

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "paper-search-mcp": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["paper-search-mcp"]
    }
  }
}
```

### Codex (~/.codex/config.toml)

```toml
[mcp_servers.paper-search-mcp]
command = "uvx"
args = ["paper-search-mcp"]
```

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