Scholar MCP Server

by liyux3io.github.Liyux3/scholar-mcpv0.8.5

Federated academic search across OpenAlex, Semantic Scholar, arXiv, PubMed and more, with citation graphs, full-text reading, PDFs and a local paper library.

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Active1d ago

Install Scholar MCP server

claude mcp add scholar -e S2_API_KEY='<s2-api-key>' -e OPENALEX_API_KEY='<openalex-api-key>' -e CORE_API_KEY='<core-api-key>' -e SCOPUS_API_KEY='<scopus-api-key>' -e DASHSCOPE_API_KEY='<dashscope-api-key>' -e SCHOLAR_RERANK_API_KEY='<scholar-rerank-api-key>' -e EXA_API_KEY='<exa-api-key>' -e ZOTERO_API_KEY='<zotero-api-key>' -e NOTION_API_KEY='<notion-api-key>' -- uvx scholar-mcp

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "scholar": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "scholar-mcp"
      ],
      "env": {
        "S2_API_KEY": "<s2-api-key>",
        "OPENALEX_API_KEY": "<openalex-api-key>",
        "CORE_API_KEY": "<core-api-key>",
        "SCOPUS_API_KEY": "<scopus-api-key>",
        "DASHSCOPE_API_KEY": "<dashscope-api-key>",
        "SCHOLAR_RERANK_API_KEY": "<scholar-rerank-api-key>",
        "EXA_API_KEY": "<exa-api-key>",
        "ZOTERO_API_KEY": "<zotero-api-key>",
        "NOTION_API_KEY": "<notion-api-key>"
      }
    }
  }
}

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

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "scholar": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "scholar-mcp"
      ],
      "env": {
        "S2_API_KEY": "<s2-api-key>",
        "OPENALEX_API_KEY": "<openalex-api-key>",
        "CORE_API_KEY": "<core-api-key>",
        "SCOPUS_API_KEY": "<scopus-api-key>",
        "DASHSCOPE_API_KEY": "<dashscope-api-key>",
        "SCHOLAR_RERANK_API_KEY": "<scholar-rerank-api-key>",
        "EXA_API_KEY": "<exa-api-key>",
        "ZOTERO_API_KEY": "<zotero-api-key>",
        "NOTION_API_KEY": "<notion-api-key>"
      }
    }
  }
}

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

{
  "servers": {
    "scholar": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "scholar-mcp"
      ],
      "env": {
        "S2_API_KEY": "<s2-api-key>",
        "OPENALEX_API_KEY": "<openalex-api-key>",
        "CORE_API_KEY": "<core-api-key>",
        "SCOPUS_API_KEY": "<scopus-api-key>",
        "DASHSCOPE_API_KEY": "<dashscope-api-key>",
        "SCHOLAR_RERANK_API_KEY": "<scholar-rerank-api-key>",
        "EXA_API_KEY": "<exa-api-key>",
        "ZOTERO_API_KEY": "<zotero-api-key>",
        "NOTION_API_KEY": "<notion-api-key>"
      }
    }
  }
}

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

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "scholar": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "scholar-mcp"
      ],
      "env": {
        "S2_API_KEY": "<s2-api-key>",
        "OPENALEX_API_KEY": "<openalex-api-key>",
        "CORE_API_KEY": "<core-api-key>",
        "SCOPUS_API_KEY": "<scopus-api-key>",
        "DASHSCOPE_API_KEY": "<dashscope-api-key>",
        "SCHOLAR_RERANK_API_KEY": "<scholar-rerank-api-key>",
        "EXA_API_KEY": "<exa-api-key>",
        "ZOTERO_API_KEY": "<zotero-api-key>",
        "NOTION_API_KEY": "<notion-api-key>"
      }
    }
  }
}

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

Configuration

Variable	Required	Secret	Description
SCHOLAR_DATA_DIR	—	—
SCHOLAR_MCP_EXTENSIONS	—	—
S2_API_KEY	—	yes
OPENALEX_API_KEY	—	yes
CORE_API_KEY	—	yes
SCOPUS_API_KEY	—	yes
DASHSCOPE_API_KEY	—	yes
DASHSCOPE_HTTP_BASE_URL	—	—	Alibaba workspace API host or /api/v1 base URL.
SCHOLAR_RERANK_MODEL	—	—	Alibaba or custom reranker model name.
SCHOLAR_RERANK_URL	—	—	Full custom rerank endpoint; overrides Alibaba routing.
SCHOLAR_RERANK_API_KEY	—	yes
EXA_API_KEY	—	yes
ZOTERO_API_KEY	—	yes
ZOTERO_LIBRARY_ID	—	—
NOTION_API_KEY	—	yes
NOTION_DATA_SOURCE_ID	—	—

Freshness

Active — last maintenance signal 1d ago. The newest of the signals below sets the band.

Last commit (default branch)
2026-10-08 · 1d ago · GitHub
Latest release
2026-10-07 · 2d ago · GitHub · v0.8.5
Package published
no data · npm/PyPI
Registry entry updated
2026-10-07 · 2d ago · official registry · v0.8.5

FAQ

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

Run: claude mcp add scholar -e S2_API_KEY='<s2-api-key>' -e OPENALEX_API_KEY='<openalex-api-key>' -e CORE_API_KEY='<core-api-key>' -e SCOPUS_API_KEY='<scopus-api-key>' -e DASHSCOPE_API_KEY='<dashscope-api-key>' -e SCHOLAR_RERANK_API_KEY='<scholar-rerank-api-key>' -e EXA_API_KEY='<exa-api-key>' -e ZOTERO_API_KEY='<zotero-api-key>' -e NOTION_API_KEY='<notion-api-key>' -- uvx scholar-mcp. For Cursor, VS Code, Claude Desktop and Windsurf, use the install tabs above.

›Does Scholar require an API key?

Yes. It expects S2_API_KEY, OPENALEX_API_KEY, CORE_API_KEY, SCOPUS_API_KEY, DASHSCOPE_API_KEY, SCHOLAR_RERANK_API_KEY, EXA_API_KEY, ZOTERO_API_KEY, NOTION_API_KEY, of which 9 are secrets.

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

No hosted endpoint is published; it runs locally over stdio.

›Is Scholar in the official MCP registry?

Yes, as io.github.Liyux3/scholar-mcp.