Scholar MCP server

by pvliesdonk·io.github.pvliesdonk/scholar-mcp·v2.0.0

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FastMCP server for scholarly papers, patents, books and standards with docling PDF conversion

B83/100grade B

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Safety scan

B83/100

full report

Adoption

Growing

2 stars146 downloads/wk

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Scholar MCP tools (1)

write = sends, deletes, buys or posts

Read from the package source without running it. The installed server may list more.

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Public scan report

scanner v0.1.8 · 2026-09-19 · same rubric, same numbers if you re-run it

no findings

Code scan66 source files scanned25/25
–Live reliabilityno gateway calls yet and no remote to proben/a
–Tool poisoningtools not inspected (local package is not executed); not countedn/a
Auth qualitystatic API keys via environment variables6/15
Maintenancelast push 0 days ago15/15
Maintainer identityregistry namespace matches repository owner; GitHub account older than a year8/10

Overall 83/100. Components that don't apply are left out of the denominator. Any critical finding is an F.Rubric Appeal a finding JSON

Install directly

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

Add to Cursor

Scholar MCP: common questions

Is Scholar MCP server safe?: Mostly: it is graded B (83/100). Read the Scholar MCP safety report
How do I install Scholar MCP?: It runs on your machine. Copy the Claude Code, Claude Desktop or Cursor config from the install section.
Does Scholar MCP need an API key?: Yes. The registry entry asks for SCHOLAR_GITHUB_TOKEN, SCHOLAR_MCP_S2_API_KEY, SCHOLAR_MCP_VLM_API_KEY, SCHOLAR_MCP_EPO_CONSUMER_SECRET and 4 more.
Is Scholar MCP maintained?: The last commit was in the last day (2026-09-19). The latest release is v2.0.0.

Run it through the gateway

Local package. It runs on your machine, not through the gateway.

Rating: —
Safety grade: B · 83/100
Stars: 2
Downloads/wk: 146
Price: Free
Licence: MIT
Transport: Local · mixed
Version: 2.0.0
Category: Everything else
Last release: 2026-09-19

Credentials it needs

SCHOLAR_MCP_KV_STORE_URLPersistent-state backend URL shared by every pvl-core subsystem that needs state. `memory://` is in-process and lost on restart; `file:///path` persists on one server; `redis://`, `dynamodb://` and `mongodb://` each need their matching extra. When unset, defaults to `file:///data/state` (the volume family Docker images mount), or to `memory://` (with a warning) on a host where that directory is not usable.
SCHOLAR_MCP_TOOLS_ALLOWComma-separated explicit tool names this instance exposes; every other tool is hidden from listings and cannot be invoked. Names matching no registered tool are inert. Mutually exclusive with `tools_deny`. Takes effect through `apply_tool_visibility`.
SCHOLAR_MCP_TOOLS_DENYComma-separated explicit tool names hidden from this instance (absent from listings, cannot be invoked). Names matching no registered tool are inert. Mutually exclusive with `tools_allow`. Takes effect through `apply_tool_visibility`.
SCHOLAR_MCP_SERVER_NAMERename this server instance; defaults to the project name.
SCHOLAR_MCP_INSTANCE_DESCRIPTIONConcise routing context that distinguishes this deployment's material or responsibility.
SCHOLAR_MCP_INSTRUCTIONS_EXTRADeployment-specific behavioral policy added to the generated MCP instructions.
SCHOLAR_MCP_INSTRUCTIONSLegacy: replaces all generated MCP instructions (deprecated; use _INSTANCE_DESCRIPTION for routing and _INSTRUCTIONS_EXTRA for policy).
FASTMCP_LOG_LEVELLog level for FastMCP internals and app loggers (DEBUG / INFO / WARNING / ERROR / CRITICAL). The -v CLI flag overrides to DEBUG.
FASTMCP_ENABLE_RICH_LOGGINGSet false for plain or structured JSON log output.
SCHOLAR_GITHUB_TOKENsecretGitHub token used to raise rate limits when fetching standards documents from GitHub. Optional; unauthenticated requests work at reduced limits.
SCHOLAR_MCP_READ_ONLYWhen true, write-tagged tools (PDF download and conversion cache writes) are hidden. Set false to enable them.
SCHOLAR_MCP_S2_API_KEYsecretSemantic Scholar API key. Optional but strongly recommended: unauthenticated requests are limited to ~1 req/s. Request one at https://www.semanticscholar.org/product/api#api-key-form.
SCHOLAR_MCP_DOCLING_URLBase URL of a running docling-serve instance for PDF conversion (e.g. http://localhost:5001). When unset, PDF conversion tools return an error.
SCHOLAR_MCP_VLM_API_URLOpenAI-compatible VLM endpoint for formula and figure enrichment during PDF conversion.
SCHOLAR_MCP_VLM_API_KEYsecretAPI key for the VLM endpoint.
SCHOLAR_MCP_VLM_MODELModel name to use with the VLM endpoint.
SCHOLAR_MCP_CACHE_DIRDirectory for the SQLite cache database (cache.db) and downloaded PDFs (pdfs/, md/).
SCHOLAR_MCP_CONTACT_EMAILContact email for the OpenAlex polite pool (improves rate limits). Also enables Unpaywall lookups as a PDF fallback source.
SCHOLAR_MCP_EPO_CONSUMER_KEYEPO Open Patent Services consumer key. Optional; patent tools are hidden when unset. Register at https://developers.epo.org/user/register.
SCHOLAR_MCP_EPO_CONSUMER_SECRETsecretEPO Open Patent Services consumer secret. Optional; patent tools are hidden when unset.
SCHOLAR_MCP_GOOGLE_BOOKS_API_KEYsecretGoogle Books API key. Optional; book tools work unauthenticated at reduced rate limits.
SCHOLAR_MCP_JOBS_SOFT_DEADLINE_SSeconds a long-running tool call may run in the foreground before it is promoted to a background job and a job handle is returned instead.
SCHOLAR_MCP_JOBS_RESULT_TTL_SSeconds a background-job record (working or finished) is retained for polling before it expires from the store.
SCHOLAR_MCP_JOBS_MAX_PER_SUBJECTMaximum live background jobs per calling subject; further promotions are rejected until older records expire.
SCHOLAR_MCP_BASE_URLPublic base URL of the deployed server, for example `https://mcp.example.com`. Required for OIDC. Also the fallback source of the MCP Apps domain when `app_domain` is unset.
SCHOLAR_MCP_BEARER_TOKENsecretSingle shared bearer token; enables bearer auth unless `bearer_tokens_file` is set, which takes precedence.
SCHOLAR_MCP_OIDC_CONFIG_URLOIDC discovery document URL, for example `https://auth.example.com/.well-known/openid-configuration`.
SCHOLAR_MCP_OIDC_CLIENT_IDOIDC client identifier registered with the provider.
SCHOLAR_MCP_OIDC_CLIENT_SECRETsecretOIDC client secret registered with the provider.
SCHOLAR_MCP_OIDC_AUDIENCEExpected `aud` claim; tokens issued for another audience are rejected.
SCHOLAR_MCP_OIDC_REQUIRED_SCOPESScopes a caller must present, space- or comma-separated. Defaults to `openid` in oidc-proxy mode.
SCHOLAR_MCP_OIDC_ADVERTISED_SCOPESScopes advertised to MCP clients in protected-resource metadata, space- or comma-separated. Overrides the default `openid offline_access`; `oidc_required_scopes` is always added on top. Set this when the registered client is not permitted `offline_access`, or to have clients request extra claim scopes (such as `groups`) without also requiring them in every token.
SCHOLAR_MCP_OIDC_JWT_SIGNING_KEYsecretSigning key for issued tokens; used in oidc-proxy mode only. When unset, the key is derived deterministically from `oidc_client_secret`, so tokens survive a restart. Rotating that secret then invalidates every issued token. Set this explicitly to decouple token validity from secret rotation. Generate with `openssl rand -hex 32`.
SCHOLAR_MCP_OIDC_VERIFY_ACCESS_TOKENValidate the access token instead of the id token.
SCHOLAR_MCP_KV_STORE_URLPersistent-state backend URL shared by every pvl-core subsystem that needs state. `memory://` is in-process and lost on restart; `file:///path` persists on one server; `redis://`, `dynamodb://` and `mongodb://` each need their matching extra. When unset, defaults to `file:///data/state` (the volume family Docker images mount), or to `memory://` (with a warning) on a host where that directory is not usable.
SCHOLAR_MCP_APP_DOMAINMCP Apps iframe domain, used for CSP sandboxing. Overrides the host derived from `base_url`.
SCHOLAR_MCP_TOOLS_ALLOWComma-separated explicit tool names this instance exposes; every other tool is hidden from listings and cannot be invoked. Names matching no registered tool are inert. Mutually exclusive with `tools_deny`. Takes effect through `apply_tool_visibility`.
SCHOLAR_MCP_TOOLS_DENYComma-separated explicit tool names hidden from this instance (absent from listings, cannot be invoked). Names matching no registered tool are inert. Mutually exclusive with `tools_allow`. Takes effect through `apply_tool_visibility`.
SCHOLAR_MCP_AUTH_MODEExplicit auth-mode override, accepting `remote` or `oidc-proxy` (case- and whitespace-insensitive). When unset the mode is auto-detected from which auth variables are set; the override exists because having all four OIDC variables set is ambiguous between those two modes. Other values are ignored with a warning.
SCHOLAR_MCP_BEARER_TOKENS_FILEPath to a TOML file mapping bearer tokens to subjects; overrides the single-token `bearer_token` mode.
SCHOLAR_MCP_BEARER_DEFAULT_SUBJECTSubject assigned to the single-token bearer mode; ignored when `bearer_tokens_file` is set, since mapped mode carries per-token subjects.
SCHOLAR_MCP_SERVER_NAMERename this server instance; defaults to the project name.
SCHOLAR_MCP_INSTANCE_DESCRIPTIONConcise routing context that distinguishes this deployment's material or responsibility.
SCHOLAR_MCP_INSTRUCTIONS_EXTRADeployment-specific behavioral policy added to the generated MCP instructions.
SCHOLAR_MCP_INSTRUCTIONSLegacy: replaces all generated MCP instructions (deprecated; use _INSTANCE_DESCRIPTION for routing and _INSTRUCTIONS_EXTRA for policy).
SCHOLAR_MCP_HTTP_PATHMount path for the MCP endpoint; the health routes derive their prefix from it.
SCHOLAR_MCP_HEALTH_DETAILHow much the unauthenticated /health and /health/ready bodies say: status, standard (adds name, version and per-check verdicts), or full (adds redacted reasons; trusted networks only).
PUIDRun the server process as this UID; the container entrypoint reassigns ownership of writable paths to match.
PGIDRun the server process as this GID; pair with PUID to match the owner of a mounted volume.
FASTMCP_LOG_LEVELLog level for FastMCP internals and app loggers (DEBUG / INFO / WARNING / ERROR / CRITICAL). The -v CLI flag overrides to DEBUG.
FASTMCP_ENABLE_RICH_LOGGINGSet false for plain or structured JSON log output.
SCHOLAR_GITHUB_TOKENsecretGitHub token used to raise rate limits when fetching standards documents from GitHub. Optional; unauthenticated requests work at reduced limits.
SCHOLAR_MCP_READ_ONLYWhen true, write-tagged tools (PDF download and conversion cache writes) are hidden. Set false to enable them.
SCHOLAR_MCP_S2_API_KEYsecretSemantic Scholar API key. Optional but strongly recommended: unauthenticated requests are limited to ~1 req/s. Request one at https://www.semanticscholar.org/product/api#api-key-form.
SCHOLAR_MCP_DOCLING_URLBase URL of a running docling-serve instance for PDF conversion (e.g. http://localhost:5001). When unset, PDF conversion tools return an error.
SCHOLAR_MCP_VLM_API_URLOpenAI-compatible VLM endpoint for formula and figure enrichment during PDF conversion.
SCHOLAR_MCP_VLM_API_KEYsecretAPI key for the VLM endpoint.
SCHOLAR_MCP_VLM_MODELModel name to use with the VLM endpoint.
SCHOLAR_MCP_CACHE_DIRDirectory for the SQLite cache database (cache.db) and downloaded PDFs (pdfs/, md/).
SCHOLAR_MCP_CONTACT_EMAILContact email for the OpenAlex polite pool (improves rate limits). Also enables Unpaywall lookups as a PDF fallback source.
SCHOLAR_MCP_EPO_CONSUMER_KEYEPO Open Patent Services consumer key. Optional; patent tools are hidden when unset. Register at https://developers.epo.org/user/register.
SCHOLAR_MCP_EPO_CONSUMER_SECRETsecretEPO Open Patent Services consumer secret. Optional; patent tools are hidden when unset.
SCHOLAR_MCP_GOOGLE_BOOKS_API_KEYsecretGoogle Books API key. Optional; book tools work unauthenticated at reduced rate limits.
SCHOLAR_MCP_JOBS_SOFT_DEADLINE_SSeconds a long-running tool call may run in the foreground before it is promoted to a background job and a job handle is returned instead.
SCHOLAR_MCP_JOBS_RESULT_TTL_SSeconds a background-job record (working or finished) is retained for polling before it expires from the store.
SCHOLAR_MCP_JOBS_MAX_PER_SUBJECTMaximum live background jobs per calling subject; further promotions are rejected until older records expire.

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