OpenAlex Paper Search MCP Server

OpenAlex Paper Search MCP Server

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that provides comprehensive access to the OpenAlex academic database. Search and retrieve academic papers, authors, institutions, and more with advanced filtering capabilities.

Features

• 🔍 Comprehensive Search: Search across hundreds of millions of academic works
• 🎯 Advanced Filtering: Filter by date, open access status, citations, country, language, and more
• 📊 Rich Metadata: Get detailed information including abstracts, citations, topics, and full bibliographic data
• 🚀 High Performance: Optimized for fast responses with proper API configuration
• 🐳 Docker Ready: Easy deployment with Docker and Docker Compose
• 🔧 MCP Compatible: Works with any MCP-compatible client

Quick Start

Installation

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/LeoGitGuy/alex-paper-search-mcp.git
cd openalex-mcp-server

# Install dependencies
pip install -e .

# Set your email for better API performance (optional but recommended)
export OPENALEX_EMAIL="[email protected]"

# Run the server
python -m openalex_mcp.server

Docker Setup

# Copy environment template
cp .env.example .env

# Edit .env to set your email
echo "[email protected]" > .env

# Run with Docker Compose
docker-compose up -d

Claude Desktop Integration

To use this MCP server with Claude Desktop, add this configuration to your Claude Desktop config file:

Mac: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "openalex_paper_search": {
      "command": "python",
      "args": [
        "-m",
        "openalex_mcp.server"
      ],
      "cwd": "/path/to/your/openalex-mcp-server",
      "env": {
        "OPENALEX_EMAIL": "[email protected]"
      }
    }
  }
}

Make sure to:

1. Replace /path/to/your/openalex-mcp-server with the actual path to your cloned repository
2. Replace [email protected] with your actual email address for better API performance
3. Restart Claude Desktop after updating the configuration

Configuration

Environment Variables

Why Set an Email?

Setting OPENALEX_EMAIL gives you access to OpenAlex's "polite pool", which includes faster response times and higher rate limits

Available Tools

Core Search Functions

search_openalex

Main search function with full filtering capabilities:

# Basic search
search_openalex("machine learning", max_results=20)

# Advanced filtering
search_openalex(
    "neural networks", 
    max_results=15,
    from_publication_date="2020-01-01",
    is_oa=True,
    cited_by_count=">100",
    institution_country="us"
)

get_paper_by_id / get_paper_by_doi

Retrieve specific papers:

get_paper_by_id("W2741809807")
get_paper_by_doi("10.7717/peerj.4375")

Convenience Functions

search_open_access_papers

Find freely available research:

search_open_access_papers(
    "artificial intelligence",
    max_results=15,
    from_publication_date="2020-01-01"
)

search_recent_papers

Get the latest research:

search_recent_papers(
    "quantum computing",
    max_results=20,
    years_back=3,
    min_citations=10
)

search_by_institution

Find research from specific countries:

search_by_institution(
    "renewable energy",
    institution_country="de",  # Germany
    max_results=15
)

Filtering Options

Date Filters

• from_publication_date: "YYYY-MM-DD" (published on or after)
• to_publication_date: "YYYY-MM-DD" (published on or before)
• publication_year: Integer (exact year)

Content Filters

• is_oa: Boolean (open access only)
• has_doi: Boolean (papers with DOI)
• has_fulltext: Boolean (fulltext available)
• has_abstract: Boolean (abstract available)
• type: String ('article', 'book', 'dataset', etc.)

Quality Filters

• cited_by_count: String (">50", "10-100", ">=5")
• authors_count: String (">1", "1-5")
• language: String ('en', 'zh', 'es', etc.)

Institution & Geographic Filters

• institution_country: String ('us', 'gb', 'cn', 'de', etc.)
• funder: String (funder name or ID)
• journal: String (OpenAlex journal ID)

Text Search Filters

• abstract_search: Search within abstracts
• title_search: Search within titles
• fulltext_search: Search within fulltext (where available)

Sorting Options

• sort: 'cited_by_count', 'publication_date', 'relevance_score'
• order: 'desc', 'asc'

Usage Examples

Find Highly Cited Recent Papers

search_openalex(
    "deep learning",
    max_results=10,
    from_publication_date="2023-01-01",
    cited_by_count=">100",
    sort="cited_by_count",
    order="desc"
)

Search Open Access Climate Research

search_open_access_papers(
    "climate change adaptation",
    max_results=20,
    from_publication_date="2020-01-01",
    type="article"
)

Find Papers by Abstract Content

search_openalex(
    "",  # Empty main query
    max_results=15,
    abstract_search="machine learning ethics",
    is_oa=True
)

Get Recent COVID Research from Multiple Countries

# US research
us_papers = search_by_institution("COVID-19", "us", 10, from_publication_date="2023-01-01")

# British research  
gb_papers = search_by_institution("COVID-19", "gb", 10, from_publication_date="2023-01-01")

Troubleshooting

Debug Mode

# Enable debug logging
export LOG_LEVEL=DEBUG
python -m openalex_mcp.server

Check Configuration

# Test your email configuration
from openalex_mcp.searcher import OpenAlexSearcher
searcher = OpenAlexSearcher(email="[email protected]")
papers = searcher.search("test", 1)
print(f"Found {len(papers)} papers")

License

MIT License - see LICENSE file for details.

Acknowledgments

• OpenAlex for providing free access to academic data
• PyAlex for the excellent Python library