Scholar MCP

A FastMCP server for the scholarly citation landscape - papers, patents, books, and standards - giving LLMs a unified way to search, cross-reference, and retrieve prior art across all four source types via Semantic Scholar, EPO Open Patent Services, Open Library, and standards bodies (NIST, IETF, W3C, ETSI), with OpenAlex enrichment and optional docling-serve PDF/full-text conversion.

People connecting this server to Claude, Cursor, VS Code, or another MCP client. The project is written in Python.

VERIFIED ACTIVE

LAST COMMIT 2026-08-24 · ★ 2 · #358 OF 848 MAINTAINED OTHER · VERIFIED 2026-08-25

MIT · Python servers · how we verify → /methodology

01 · Install Scholar MCP

before you install - you'll need

SCHOLAR_MCP_S2_API_KEY is optional or environment-specific per the README.

Claude Code

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

Claude Desktop / Cursor / VS Code - add to config

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "pvliesdonk-scholar-mcp": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "pvliesdonk-scholar-mcp"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Same JSON for Cursor. For VS Code, rename the top-level key from `mcpServers` to `servers`.

Using another client? Same JSON, different key

Claude Desktop · mcpServers

Cursor · mcpServers

VS Code · servers

Windsurf · mcpServers

Zed · context_servers

Cline · mcpServers

Roo Code · mcpServers

Continue · mcpServers

LibreChat · mcpServers

Gemini CLI · mcpServers

Codex CLI · mcp_servers

Full setup guides: every client.

02 · Evidence

Security posture

What to check before giving this server access to your agent - from the registry, GitHub, and our own probes. We don't score safety; we show what's verifiable.

runs as local process (stdio) - runs on your machine with your user's permissions · container (OCI image) - can be sandboxed away from your filesystem

license MIT - declared in the repository

pypi package pvliesdonk-scholar-mcp - check the name against the project README before installing (PyPI has no namespace ownership)

registry namespace io.github.pvliesdonk is GitHub-verified and matches the repo owner

03 · What Scholar MCP can do

Prose above is summarized from the project's README and registry record - no invented capabilities.

Latest releases

v1.9.1 · 2026-08-22

A maintenance release with no user-facing features or fixes: it carries the · project's fastmcp-server-template baseline forward from v2.3.0 to v5.6.2. · Nothing to act on beyond the OIDC and bare-CLI notes below.…

v1.9.0 · 2026-07-19

v1.9.0 (2026-07-19) · _This release is published under the MIT License._ · Update copier template to v2.3.0 (config-wizard ownership redesign) (#219) (#219, 068b0a2) · S2 API key liveness (keepalive + distinguishable…

v1.8.2 · 2026-06-19

v1.8.2 (2026-06-19) · _This release is published under the MIT License._ · Correct S2ExternalIds.CorpusId type and drop unverified disclaimer · Update copier template to latest (#212) (#212, 432f23f) · Update copier…

04 · Who maintains Scholar MCP

Scholar MCP is maintained by pvliesdonk. We track 4 MCP servers from pvliesdonk - 4 actively maintained, 34 combined GitHub stars, oldest repo from Mar 2026. Full record: all servers from pvliesdonk.

  1. Markdown Vault MCP Markdown vault MCP server with FTS5 + semantic search and frontmatter indexing ★ 31

05 · Facts

repository
github.com/pvliesdonk/scholar-mcp
website
https://pvliesdonk.github.io/scholar-mcp/
category
other - ranked #358 of 848 actively-maintained other servers as of 2026-08-25.
release cadence
3 releases in the last 90 days (latest 2026-08-22)
registry
io.github.pvliesdonk/scholar-mcp (active, first published 2026-04-04 · 11 versions)
packages
pypi:pvliesdonk-scholar-mcp · oci:ghcr.io/pvliesdonk/scholar-mcp:v1.9.1

06 · Scholar MCP FAQ

What is Scholar MCP?

A FastMCP server for the scholarly citation landscape - papers, patents, books, and standards - giving LLMs a unified way to search, cross-reference, and retrieve prior art across all four source types via Semantic Scholar, EPO Open Patent Services, Open Library, and standards bodies (NIST, IETF, W3C, ETSI), with OpenAlex enrichment and optional docling-serve PDF/full-text conversion.

Is Scholar MCP still maintained?

Yes - as of 2026-08-25, its last commit was 2026-08-24 and it shipped 3 releases in the last 90 days. We re-verify nightly.

How do I install Scholar MCP?

Run `uvx pvliesdonk-scholar-mcp`. The README documents one environment variable (SCHOLAR_MCP_S2_API_KEY) to set first. SCHOLAR_MCP_S2_API_KEY is optional or environment-specific per the README. You can also paste the ready-made client config above.

Does Scholar MCP run locally?

Yes - it's a stdio server: it runs on your machine (via uvx) with your user's permissions. Your data stays local unless the server itself calls external APIs.

07 · Alternatives to Scholar MCP

Alternatives to Scholar MCP

Maintained other servers if Scholar MCP isn't the fit.

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  3. Zotero MCP (54yyyu) Search, read, annotate, and add to your Zotero research library, local or web. ★ 4,780 · 2026-08-25
  4. Firebase MCP Gives AI development tools Firebase-specific capabilities and expertise. ★ 4,460 · 2026-08-25
  5. Microsoft Fabric MCP Server MCP tools for interacting with Microsoft Fabric ★ 3,598 · 2026-08-21
  6. Ship Swift 40+ production-ready SwiftUI recipes for building full-stack iOS apps via MCP. ★ 2,968 · 2026-08-09

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