Semantic Scholar MCP Server

io.github.smaniches/semantic-scholar-mcp · v1.7.15

MCP server for the Semantic Scholar API: search 200M+ papers, citations, authors, recommendations.

Source code Set it up

Connect Runs on your machine

Terminal

claude mcp add semantic-scholar-mcp -e SEMANTIC_SCHOLAR_API_KEY=<SEMANTIC_SCHOLAR_API_KEY> -e SEMANTIC_SCHOLAR_MIN_SECONDS_BETWEEN_REQUESTS=<SEMANTIC_SCHOLAR_MIN_SECONDS_BETWEEN_REQUESTS> -- uvx s2-mcp-server==1.7.15

claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "semantic-scholar-mcp": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "s2-mcp-server==1.7.15"
      ],
      "env": {
        "SEMANTIC_SCHOLAR_API_KEY": "<SEMANTIC_SCHOLAR_API_KEY>",
        "SEMANTIC_SCHOLAR_MIN_SECONDS_BETWEEN_REQUESTS": "<SEMANTIC_SCHOLAR_MIN_SECONDS_BETWEEN_REQUESTS>"
      }
    }
  }
}

~/.cursor/mcp.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "semantic-scholar-mcp": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "s2-mcp-server==1.7.15"
      ],
      "env": {
        "SEMANTIC_SCHOLAR_API_KEY": "<SEMANTIC_SCHOLAR_API_KEY>",
        "SEMANTIC_SCHOLAR_MIN_SECONDS_BETWEEN_REQUESTS": "<SEMANTIC_SCHOLAR_MIN_SECONDS_BETWEEN_REQUESTS>"
      }
    }
  }
}

.vscode/mcp.json

{
  "servers": {
    "semantic-scholar-mcp": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "s2-mcp-server==1.7.15"
      ],
      "env": {
        "SEMANTIC_SCHOLAR_API_KEY": "<SEMANTIC_SCHOLAR_API_KEY>",
        "SEMANTIC_SCHOLAR_MIN_SECONDS_BETWEEN_REQUESTS": "<SEMANTIC_SCHOLAR_MIN_SECONDS_BETWEEN_REQUESTS>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Replace the values in angle brackets with your own. Keys stay on your machine; we never see them.

Tools

This server runs locally, so its tools are listed by your MCP client once it starts.

Environment variables

Name	Description
`SEMANTIC_SCHOLAR_API_KEY` Optional, secret	Semantic Scholar API key; introductory keys are currently assigned 1 request/second across all endpoints
`SEMANTIC_SCHOLAR_MIN_SECONDS_BETWEEN_REQUESTS` Optional	Minimum seconds between authenticated requests. Default 1.1; lower only when Semantic Scholar has explicitly assigned the key a higher quota.

Details

Package	`[email protected]` (PYPI, stdio)
First published	5 Nov 2026
Last updated	5 Nov 2026
Registry name	`io.github.smaniches/semantic-scholar-mcp`

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Live status

Local install

Installed and run on your own machine, so there is no public endpoint to check.

Pair it with live search

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