UniArticles MCP Server

中文版本 (Chinese)

Overview

UniArticles(亿文通) is a unified academic literature retrieval server implementing the Model Context Protocol (MCP). Integrates multiple scholarly databases (Scopus, ArXiv) and literature APIs (PubMed) into a single, standardized API for LLM agents (like Claude).

Features

• Unified Interface: Single search structure for all sources.
• Multi-Source Support:
  • Scopus: Search, abstract details, journal/serial title lookup by ISSN, quota check.
  • ScienceDirect: Full-text article retrieval, article object (figures/tables/supplementary materials) metadata retrieval.
  • ArXiv: Search papers, list recent papers, read paper metadata by ID.
  • PubMed (NCBI Entrez): Keyword search, batch summary lookup, related-article discovery, and PMC full-text/citation linkage — direct NCBI E-utilities calls (no third-party wrapper).
  • General academic search (v3.0.0): OpenAlex, Crossref, Europe PMC, DOAJ, Zenodo, OpenAIRE, dblp, Semantic Scholar, and CORE keyword/DOI lookup across open scholarly catalogs.
  • Specialized sources (v3.0.0): bioRxiv/medRxiv preprint browsing by date range.
• Standardized Returns: Consistent JSON structure (ok, source, query, count, items, error).
• Secure Configuration: API keys managed via environment variables.

Supported Data Sources

UniArticles unifies the following 14 data sources behind one consistent MCP interface, all returning the same normalized JSON shape. 13 are active by default, providing 26 tools; Semantic Scholar registers its 2 additional tools only when SEMANTIC_SCHOLAR_API_KEY is set, for a total of 28 tools. Every source except arXiv is a direct call to the provider's official REST API (via httpx); arXiv is wrapped through the official arxiv Python package.

⚠️ API Key Requirements

This server integrates multiple data sources, and some advanced features require API keys:

1. Elsevier API (Scopus database, Required):
   • How to get: Apply at Elsevier Developer Portal.
   • Restriction: A basic, non-commercial Elsevier API key (no institutional subscription or Insttoken required) is sufficient to use all remaining Elsevier-related tools in this server — apply for free with a personal account at the Elsevier Developer Portal. (The 8 Elsevier-related tools have been verified against a real non-commercial key. The server currently registers 26 tools total covering 13 data sources when SEMANTIC_SCHOLAR_API_KEY is not configured, or 28 tools when it is; the newer non-Elsevier sources do not require this key.)
   • Clarification: Scopus is an Elsevier database. The ELSEVIER_API_KEY configured here is an Elsevier API key and may also be used for other Elsevier API services allowed by your subscription and key scope. (The legacy variable name SCOPUS_API_KEY is still accepted for backward compatibility but is deprecated and will be removed in a future major version.)

Note: Even without the above API key, you can still use other functions normally.

Installation & Usage

Method 1: Direct Integration with LLM Clients (Recommended)

Suitable for Cherry Studio, LM Studio, Claude Desktop, Trae, etc.

This project is published on PyPI, so you can configure it directly without downloading the full source code. Since these LLM clients are already configured with Python and uv environments, no additional downloads are required.

Simply add the following configuration to your client's MCP settings (e.g., claude_desktop_config.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "uniarticles-mcp-server": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "--refresh", 
        "uniarticles-mcp"
      ],
      "env": {
        "ELSEVIER_API_KEY": "your_elsevier_api_key_here",
        "ELSEVIER_INSTTOKEN": "your_elsevier_insttoken_here",
        "NCBI_API_KEY": "your_ncbi_api_key_here",
        "CORE_API_KEY": "your_core_api_key_here",
        "SEMANTIC_SCHOLAR_API_KEY": "your_semantic_scholar_api_key_here"
      }
    }
  }
}

About the env fields: Only ELSEVIER_API_KEY is required (for Scopus / ScienceDirect). All the others are optional — if you don't have a given key, delete that entire line (JSON does not allow comments, and the last remaining line must not end with a comma). The optional fields are:

• ELSEVIER_INSTTOKEN — only if your institution issued an Elsevier Institutional Token, for broader Elsevier access.
• NCBI_API_KEY — PubMed works without it; a key only raises the rate limit from 3 to 10 requests/sec.
• CORE_API_KEY — CORE works without it but is heavily rate-limited (~5 requests, then a ~10-minute lockout); a key is recommended.
• SEMANTIC_SCHOLAR_API_KEY — without it the Semantic Scholar tools are not registered at all (its keyword search is unusable without a key).

If you do not want to force refresh the cache package every time you restart, then instead add the following content: (but this will cause you to need to manually update the package when the package is updated)

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "uniarticles-mcp-server": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "uniarticles-mcp"
      ],
      "env": {
        "ELSEVIER_API_KEY": "your_elsevier_api_key_here",
        "ELSEVIER_INSTTOKEN": "your_elsevier_insttoken_here",
        "NCBI_API_KEY": "your_ncbi_api_key_here",
        "CORE_API_KEY": "your_core_api_key_here",
        "SEMANTIC_SCHOLAR_API_KEY": "your_semantic_scholar_api_key_here"
      }
    }
  }
}

📖 Troubleshooting? See: Step-by-Step Configuration Guide

If you encounter MCP error -32000: Connection closed when starting the service, please find the solution in the related Cherry Studio issue: https://github.com/CherryHQ/cherry-studio/issues/3264

Method 2: Local Installation (Advanced)

Requires Python 3.10+ and uv (recommended) or pip. Useful for developers or those who want to modify the source code.

Using uv:

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/your-username/UniArticles_MCPserver.git
cd UniArticles_MCPserver

# Sync dependencies and run
uv sync
uv run uniarticles-mcp

Using pip:

# Clone and setup venv
python -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate  # Windows: .venv\Scripts\activate

# Install dependencies
pip install -e .

# Run
python -m uniarticles

Configuration

Create a .env file in the project root:

ELSEVIER_API_KEY=your_elsevier_api_key
# Optional. Only if your institution issued an Elsevier Institutional Token
# (broader Elsevier access). Leave unset otherwise.
ELSEVIER_INSTTOKEN=your_elsevier_insttoken
# Optional. NCBI Entrez works without it; setting it only raises the PubMed
# rate limit from 3 to 10 requests/sec (free from NCBI).
NCBI_API_KEY=your_ncbi_api_key
# Optional. CORE works without it but is heavily rate-limited (~5 requests, then
# a ~10-minute lockout); setting it is recommended. Free from https://core.ac.uk/services/api
CORE_API_KEY=your_core_api_key
# Optional. Without it the Semantic Scholar tools are NOT registered at all
# (its keyword search is unusable without a key).
SEMANTIC_SCHOLAR_API_KEY=your_semantic_scholar_api_key

Project Structure

src/
└── uniarticles/
    ├── server.py        # MCP Server entry point
    └── sources/         # Data source modules
        ├── arxiv.py
        ├── pubmed.py
        ├── scopus.py
        └── ...
pyproject.toml           # Project metadata and dependencies

Verifying the Installation

This project does not ship a separate test suite; verify the installation by launching the server. It communicates over stdio, so on a successful start it stays running and waits silently for JSON-RPC input from a client (press Ctrl+C to exit):

uv run uniarticles-mcp     # if installed via uv
# or
python -m uniarticles      # if installed via pip

If the process starts without import or configuration errors, the installation is working.

Available Tools

The tools are grouped below by data source, one table per source. 26 tools are registered by default; configuring SEMANTIC_SCHOLAR_API_KEY adds the 2 Semantic Scholar tools for a total of 28. Every tool returns the same normalized JSON shape (ok, source, query, count, items, error).

Scopus

ScienceDirect

ArXiv

PubMed (NCBI Entrez)

These tools call the NCBI E-utilities directly. They work without a key; setting the optional NCBI_API_KEY (free from NCBI) only raises the rate limit from 3 to 10 requests/sec.

OpenAlex

Crossref

Europe PMC

DOAJ

Zenodo

OpenAIRE

Semantic Scholar

These two tools are registered only when SEMANTIC_SCHOLAR_API_KEY is configured — without a key, Semantic Scholar's keyword search fails deterministically, so no tool from this source is exposed at all.

CORE

dblp

bioRxiv / medRxiv

🤝 Call for Contributions

Due to the author's background in Chemistry, I am less familiar with databases and API developments in other research fields. I warmly welcome contributions and Pull Requests (PRs) from the community to add more data sources!

⚖️ License & Acknowledgments

License

AGPL-3.0 License with Commercial Restriction

This project is licensed under the GNU Affero General Public License v3.0 (AGPL-3.0).

🔴 Commercial Use Restriction: Commercial use of this software is permitted ONLY with explicit written authorization from the author.

Special Acknowledgments

• ScopusMCP: ScopusMCP is the first literature retrieval MCP tool the author successfully developed, but initially it was quite bloated and difficult to port.Thanks to my roommate (https://github.com/qwe4559999) for the suggestion to use pypi and uv for packaging.

• ArxivMCPserver: Integrated directly from the ArxivMCPserver project.

Special Declaration

This project uses AI-generated content.