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Semantic Scholar MCP Server

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A FastMCP server implementation for the Semantic Scholar API, providing comprehensive access to academic paper data, author information, and citation networks.

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Overview

The Semantic Scholar MCP Server is a FastMCP server implementation that provides comprehensive access to academic paper data, author information, and citation networks through the Semantic Scholar API.

To use the server, install it using FastMCP by providing your Semantic Scholar API key (optional) and access it for various functionalities like paper search, author details, and citation analysis.

  • Paper Search & Discovery: Full-text search with advanced filtering, title-based matching, and paper recommendations. - Citation Analysis: Explore citation networks and track references. - Author Information: Search for authors and retrieve their publication history. - Advanced Features: Complex search options, batch operations, and error handling.
  1. Conducting literature reviews through extensive paper searches.
  2. Performing citation analysis for research impact.
  3. Gathering author profiles for academic networking.
  4. Accessing batch details for multiple papers and authors efficiently.

Add to your AI client

Use these steps to connect Semantic Scholar MCP Server in Cursor, Claude, VS Code, and other MCP-compatible apps. The same JSON appears in the Use with menu above for one-click copy.

Cursor

Add this to your .cursor/mcp.json file in your project root, then restart Cursor.

.cursor/mcp.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "semantic-scholar-fastmcp-mcp-server-yuzongmin": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@modelcontextprotocol/server-semantic-scholar-fastmcp-mcp-server-yuzongmin"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Claude Desktop

Add this server entry to the mcpServers object in your Claude Desktop config, then restart the app.

~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json (macOS) or %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json (Windows)

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "semantic-scholar-fastmcp-mcp-server-yuzongmin": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@modelcontextprotocol/server-semantic-scholar-fastmcp-mcp-server-yuzongmin"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Claude Code

Add this to your project's .mcp.json file. Claude Code will detect it automatically.

.mcp.json (project root)

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "semantic-scholar-fastmcp-mcp-server-yuzongmin": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@modelcontextprotocol/server-semantic-scholar-fastmcp-mcp-server-yuzongmin"
      ]
    }
  }
}

VS Code (Copilot)

Add this to your .vscode/mcp.json file. Requires the GitHub Copilot extension with MCP support enabled.

.vscode/mcp.json

{
  "servers": {
    "semantic-scholar-fastmcp-mcp-server-yuzongmin": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@modelcontextprotocol/server-semantic-scholar-fastmcp-mcp-server-yuzongmin"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Windsurf

Add this to your Windsurf MCP config file, then restart Windsurf.

~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "semantic-scholar-fastmcp-mcp-server-yuzongmin": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@modelcontextprotocol/server-semantic-scholar-fastmcp-mcp-server-yuzongmin"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Cline

Open Cline settings, navigate to MCP Servers, and add this server configuration.

Cline MCP Settings (via UI)

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "semantic-scholar-fastmcp-mcp-server-yuzongmin": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@modelcontextprotocol/server-semantic-scholar-fastmcp-mcp-server-yuzongmin"
      ]
    }
  }
}

FAQ

**What is required to run the MCP Server?**

You need Python 3.8+ and the FastMCP framework installed.

**Is an API key necessary?**

No, the API key is optional. Using it grants higher rate limits and more features.

**What sort of data can I access?**

You can access paper metadata, author profiles, citation contexts, and more from the Semantic Scholar database.

Research and data