Scholar MCP Server

by pvliesdonkio.github.pvliesdonk/scholar-mcpv2.0.0

FastMCP server for scholarly papers, patents, books and standards with docling PDF conversion

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Active10d ago

Install Scholar MCP server

claude mcp add pvliesdonk-scholar -e SCHOLAR_GITHUB_TOKEN='<scholar-github-token>' -e SCHOLAR_MCP_S2_API_KEY='<scholar-mcp-s2-api-key>' -e SCHOLAR_MCP_VLM_API_KEY='<scholar-mcp-vlm-api-key>' -e SCHOLAR_MCP_EPO_CONSUMER_SECRET='<scholar-mcp-epo-consumer-secret>' -e SCHOLAR_MCP_GOOGLE_BOOKS_API_KEY='<scholar-mcp-google-books-api-key>' -- uvx pvliesdonk-scholar-mcp

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "pvliesdonk-scholar": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "pvliesdonk-scholar-mcp"
      ],
      "env": {
        "SCHOLAR_GITHUB_TOKEN": "<scholar-github-token>",
        "SCHOLAR_MCP_S2_API_KEY": "<scholar-mcp-s2-api-key>",
        "SCHOLAR_MCP_VLM_API_KEY": "<scholar-mcp-vlm-api-key>",
        "SCHOLAR_MCP_EPO_CONSUMER_SECRET": "<scholar-mcp-epo-consumer-secret>",
        "SCHOLAR_MCP_GOOGLE_BOOKS_API_KEY": "<scholar-mcp-google-books-api-key>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Add to ~/.cursor/mcp.json (global) or .cursor/mcp.json (project).

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "pvliesdonk-scholar": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "pvliesdonk-scholar-mcp"
      ],
      "env": {
        "SCHOLAR_GITHUB_TOKEN": "<scholar-github-token>",
        "SCHOLAR_MCP_S2_API_KEY": "<scholar-mcp-s2-api-key>",
        "SCHOLAR_MCP_VLM_API_KEY": "<scholar-mcp-vlm-api-key>",
        "SCHOLAR_MCP_EPO_CONSUMER_SECRET": "<scholar-mcp-epo-consumer-secret>",
        "SCHOLAR_MCP_GOOGLE_BOOKS_API_KEY": "<scholar-mcp-google-books-api-key>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Settings → Developer → Edit Config (claude_desktop_config.json), then restart.

{
  "servers": {
    "pvliesdonk-scholar": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "pvliesdonk-scholar-mcp"
      ],
      "env": {
        "SCHOLAR_GITHUB_TOKEN": "<scholar-github-token>",
        "SCHOLAR_MCP_S2_API_KEY": "<scholar-mcp-s2-api-key>",
        "SCHOLAR_MCP_VLM_API_KEY": "<scholar-mcp-vlm-api-key>",
        "SCHOLAR_MCP_EPO_CONSUMER_SECRET": "<scholar-mcp-epo-consumer-secret>",
        "SCHOLAR_MCP_GOOGLE_BOOKS_API_KEY": "<scholar-mcp-google-books-api-key>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Add to .vscode/mcp.json in your workspace.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "pvliesdonk-scholar": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "pvliesdonk-scholar-mcp"
      ],
      "env": {
        "SCHOLAR_GITHUB_TOKEN": "<scholar-github-token>",
        "SCHOLAR_MCP_S2_API_KEY": "<scholar-mcp-s2-api-key>",
        "SCHOLAR_MCP_VLM_API_KEY": "<scholar-mcp-vlm-api-key>",
        "SCHOLAR_MCP_EPO_CONSUMER_SECRET": "<scholar-mcp-epo-consumer-secret>",
        "SCHOLAR_MCP_GOOGLE_BOOKS_API_KEY": "<scholar-mcp-google-books-api-key>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Add to ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json.

Configuration

Variable	Required	Secret	Description
SCHOLAR_MCP_BASE_URL	—	—	Public 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_TOKEN	—	yes	Single shared bearer token; enables bearer auth unless `bearer_tokens_file` is set, which takes precedence.
SCHOLAR_MCP_OIDC_CONFIG_URL	—	—	OIDC discovery document URL, for example `https://auth.example.com/.well-known/openid-configuration`.
SCHOLAR_MCP_OIDC_CLIENT_ID	—	—	OIDC client identifier registered with the provider.
SCHOLAR_MCP_OIDC_CLIENT_SECRET	—	yes	OIDC client secret registered with the provider.
SCHOLAR_MCP_OIDC_AUDIENCE	—	—	Expected `aud` claim; tokens issued for another audience are rejected.
SCHOLAR_MCP_OIDC_REQUIRED_SCOPES	—	—	Scopes a caller must present, space- or comma-separated. Defaults to `openid` in oidc-proxy mode.
SCHOLAR_MCP_OIDC_ADVERTISED_SCOPES	—	—	Scopes 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_KEY	—	yes	Signing 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_TOKEN	—	—	Validate the access token instead of the id token.
SCHOLAR_MCP_KV_STORE_URL	—	—	Persistent-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_DOMAIN	—	—	MCP Apps iframe domain, used for CSP sandboxing. Overrides the host derived from `base_url`.
SCHOLAR_MCP_TOOLS_ALLOW	—	—	Comma-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_DENY	—	—	Comma-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_MODE	—	—	Explicit 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_FILE	—	—	Path to a TOML file mapping bearer tokens to subjects; overrides the single-token `bearer_token` mode.
SCHOLAR_MCP_BEARER_DEFAULT_SUBJECT	—	—	Subject assigned to the single-token bearer mode; ignored when `bearer_tokens_file` is set, since mapped mode carries per-token subjects.
SCHOLAR_MCP_SERVER_NAME	—	—	Rename this server instance; defaults to the project name.
SCHOLAR_MCP_INSTANCE_DESCRIPTION	—	—	Concise routing context that distinguishes this deployment's material or responsibility.
SCHOLAR_MCP_INSTRUCTIONS_EXTRA	—	—	Deployment-specific behavioral policy added to the generated MCP instructions.
SCHOLAR_MCP_INSTRUCTIONS	—	—	Legacy: replaces all generated MCP instructions (deprecated; use _INSTANCE_DESCRIPTION for routing and _INSTRUCTIONS_EXTRA for policy).
SCHOLAR_MCP_HTTP_PATH	—	—	Mount path for the MCP endpoint; the health routes derive their prefix from it.
SCHOLAR_MCP_HEALTH_DETAIL	—	—	How 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).
PUID	—	—	Run the server process as this UID; the container entrypoint reassigns ownership of writable paths to match.
PGID	—	—	Run the server process as this GID; pair with PUID to match the owner of a mounted volume.
FASTMCP_LOG_LEVEL	—	—	Log level for FastMCP internals and app loggers (DEBUG / INFO / WARNING / ERROR / CRITICAL). The -v CLI flag overrides to DEBUG.
FASTMCP_ENABLE_RICH_LOGGING	—	—	Set false for plain or structured JSON log output.
SCHOLAR_GITHUB_TOKEN	—	yes	GitHub token used to raise rate limits when fetching standards documents from GitHub. Optional; unauthenticated requests work at reduced limits.
SCHOLAR_MCP_READ_ONLY	—	—	When true, write-tagged tools (PDF download and conversion cache writes) are hidden. Set false to enable them.
SCHOLAR_MCP_S2_API_KEY	—	yes	Semantic Scholar API key. Optional but strongly recommended: unauthenticated requests are limited to ~1 req/s. Request one at https://www.semanticscholar.org/product/api#api-key-form.
SCHOLAR_MCP_DOCLING_URL	—	—	Base 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_URL	—	—	OpenAI-compatible VLM endpoint for formula and figure enrichment during PDF conversion.
SCHOLAR_MCP_VLM_API_KEY	—	yes	API key for the VLM endpoint.
SCHOLAR_MCP_VLM_MODEL	—	—	Model name to use with the VLM endpoint.
SCHOLAR_MCP_CACHE_DIR	—	—	Directory for the SQLite cache database (cache.db) and downloaded PDFs (pdfs/, md/).
SCHOLAR_MCP_CONTACT_EMAIL	—	—	Contact email for the OpenAlex polite pool (improves rate limits). Also enables Unpaywall lookups as a PDF fallback source.
SCHOLAR_MCP_EPO_CONSUMER_KEY	—	—	EPO Open Patent Services consumer key. Optional; patent tools are hidden when unset. Register at https://developers.epo.org/user/register.
SCHOLAR_MCP_EPO_CONSUMER_SECRET	—	yes	EPO Open Patent Services consumer secret. Optional; patent tools are hidden when unset.
SCHOLAR_MCP_GOOGLE_BOOKS_API_KEY	—	yes	Google Books API key. Optional; book tools work unauthenticated at reduced rate limits.
SCHOLAR_MCP_JOBS_SOFT_DEADLINE_S	—	—	Seconds 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_S	—	—	Seconds a background-job record (working or finished) is retained for polling before it expires from the store.
SCHOLAR_MCP_JOBS_MAX_PER_SUBJECT	—	—	Maximum live background jobs per calling subject; further promotions are rejected until older records expire.

Freshness

Active — last maintenance signal 10d ago. The newest of the signals below sets the band.

Last commit (default branch)
2026-09-30 · 10d ago · GitHub
Latest release
2026-09-11 · 29d ago · GitHub · v2.0.0
Package published
no data · npm/PyPI
Registry entry updated
2026-09-11 · 29d ago · official registry · v2.0.0

FAQ

›How do I install the Scholar MCP server in Claude Code?

Run: claude mcp add pvliesdonk-scholar -e SCHOLAR_GITHUB_TOKEN='<scholar-github-token>' -e SCHOLAR_MCP_S2_API_KEY='<scholar-mcp-s2-api-key>' -e SCHOLAR_MCP_VLM_API_KEY='<scholar-mcp-vlm-api-key>' -e SCHOLAR_MCP_EPO_CONSUMER_SECRET='<scholar-mcp-epo-consumer-secret>' -e SCHOLAR_MCP_GOOGLE_BOOKS_API_KEY='<scholar-mcp-google-books-api-key>' -- uvx pvliesdonk-scholar-mcp. For Cursor, VS Code, Claude Desktop and Windsurf, use the install tabs above.

›Does Scholar require an API key?

Yes. It expects SCHOLAR_MCP_BEARER_TOKEN, SCHOLAR_MCP_OIDC_CLIENT_SECRET, SCHOLAR_MCP_OIDC_JWT_SIGNING_KEY, SCHOLAR_GITHUB_TOKEN, SCHOLAR_MCP_S2_API_KEY, SCHOLAR_MCP_VLM_API_KEY, SCHOLAR_MCP_EPO_CONSUMER_SECRET, SCHOLAR_MCP_GOOGLE_BOOKS_API_KEY, of which 8 are secrets.

›Can I use Scholar as a remote (hosted) MCP server?

Yes — it offers both a hosted endpoint and a local stdio package.

›Is Scholar in the official MCP registry?

Yes, as io.github.pvliesdonk/scholar-mcp.