# Semanticscholar [Health: Active]

**Category:** 🔬 Research  
**Repository:** https://github.com/pipeworx-io/mcp-semanticscholar  
**GitHub Stars:** 0  
**npm Downloads (last month):** 472  
**Views:** 7  
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**Directory Page:** https://allmcps.com/mcp/semanticscholar-2

## Description
Semantic Scholar Academic Graph MCP.

## Tools
Capabilities this server exposes over MCP:

- **search_papers** — Search 200M+ academic papers on Semantic Scholar by keyword or exact title. Returns titles, authors, year, venue, CITATION COUNTS, DOI, and open-access PDF links. PREFER for "how many citations does <paper title> have", "citation count for <paper>", "how cited is <paper>" — search the title and read citationCount off the match. Optionally filter by year range and field of study. Keyless.
- **get_paper** — Get full metadata for a single paper by ID. Accepts a Semantic Scholar paper ID, or a prefixed ID like "DOI:10.1145/3292500", "arXiv:2106.15928", or "CorpusId:215416146". Returns abstract, TLDR summary, authors, venue, citation/reference counts, fields of study, and open-access PDF. Keyless.
- **get_paper_citations** — Semantic Scholar cited-by lookup: list the papers that CITE a given paper (the works citing it), with their titles, authors, year, and citation counts. Use for "cited-by papers", "who cites this paper", "papers that cite X", forward citation tracing, and finding follow-up work. Keyless.
- **get_author** — Search for academic authors by name on Semantic Scholar. Returns up to 5 matches with affiliations, paper count, total citation count, h-index, and profile URL. Keyless.

## Claude Desktop Quick Installation
Install path detected from listing signals. Uses `npx` (confidence: high):

```json
"mcpServers": {
  "semanticscholar": {
    "command": "npx",
    "args": ["-y","@pipeworx/mcp-semanticscholar"]
  }
}
```

## Documentation & README

# @pipeworx/semanticscholar

Semantic Scholar Academic Graph: search 200M+ papers, resolve a paper by ID,
DOI or arXiv id, trace its citations, and look up authors with citation
metrics and h-index.

Part of [Pipeworx](https://pipeworx.io) — an MCP gateway connecting AI agents to 1857+ live data sources. This is an independent, unofficial integration — not affiliated with, endorsed by, or published by the upstream provider.

## Tools

- `search_papers(query, year?, limit?)` — papers matching a query: title,
  year, authors, venue, citation count, DOI, open-access PDF, abstract.
- `get_paper(paper_id)` — one paper by Semantic Scholar id, `DOI:…` or
  `arXiv:…`.
- `get_paper_citations(paper_id, limit?)` — the papers citing it.
- `get_author(name)` — an author's papers and citation metrics.

## Auth

Platform key (`PLATFORM_SEMANTICSCHOLAR_KEY`) sent as `x-api-key`. Without a
key the public graph endpoints answer but rate-limit hard (429 under load).

## Licence — zero-rated (fleet #1974)

The key was issued under the Semantic Scholar API License Agreement
(<https://api.semanticscholar.org/license/>). §2(a) limits use to
*"legitimate, non-commercial, research and/or educational purposes"* and
requires that *"any public use of Data must point back to Semantic Scholar at
https://www.semanticscholar.org/ with a utm_source=api UTM parameter"*; the Use
Restrictions forbid *"sell, lease, share, transfer, sublicense, commercialize
… any Data obtained through the API"* to third parties. Consequences:

- `zeroRated: true` on the gateway entry: 0 credits on every tier, no
  volume-bracket slot.
- Every response leads with `attribution` (the point-back), `license`
  (`LicenseRef-SemanticScholar-API-License-Agreement`, `kind: vendor_terms`,
  obligations `attribution` + `non_commercial`) and `license_note`, via
  `attachLicense` in `@pipeworx/shared`.
- Zero-rating removes the fee. It does not license onward sharing: the
  caller's own use has to be non-commercial too, and the note says so.

## Data sources

- <https://api.semanticscholar.org/graph/v1/paper/search> — search.
- <https://api.semanticscholar.org/graph/v1/paper/{id}> — one paper, and
  `/citations` beneath it.
- <https://api.semanticscholar.org/graph/v1/author/search> — authors.

## Quick Start

Add to your MCP client (Claude Desktop, Cursor, Windsurf, etc.):

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "semanticscholar": {
      "url": "https://gateway.pipeworx.io/semanticscholar/mcp"
    }
  }
}
```

### What this endpoint actually serves

`tools/list` at `https://gateway.pipeworx.io/semanticscholar/mcp` returns the tools in the table
above **plus the shared Pipeworx meta-tools** — `ask_pipeworx`,
`discover_tools`, `search_within`, `remember`/`recall` and the rest of the
gateway-wide set. So the tool count you see is larger than this table: a
single-pack endpoint currently lists roughly 30 shared tools alongside the
pack's own. The connection's `initialize` response states its exact scope, and
is the authoritative answer for a given day.

This is deliberate, not multiplexing by accident. The meta-tools are what let a
scoped connection answer a question this pack does not cover — via
`ask_pipeworx`, which routes across the whole catalog — without you adding a
second MCP server. There is currently no way to mount a pack endpoint without
them; if the extra schemas cost you more context than the routing is worth,
connect to the full gateway once rather than to several pack endpoints.

Or connect to the full Pipeworx gateway to get every pack's tools listed
directly, instead of just this one's:

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "pipeworx": {
      "url": "https://gateway.pipeworx.io/mcp"
    }
  }
}
```

Both URLs reach the same gateway and the same 1857+ data sources. The
only difference is which pack's tools are listed **directly**; `ask_pipeworx`
reaches all of them from either one.

## No MCP client? Call it over HTTP

```bash
curl -X POST https://gateway.pipeworx.io/v1/tools/semanticscholar_search_papers \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"query":"transformer attention mechanism","year":"2023","limit":10}'
```

No account needed for the first calls. Inspect any tool: `GET https://gateway.pipeworx.io/v1/tools/semanticscholar_search_papers`. Find one: `POST https://gateway.pipeworx.io/v1/tools/search_packs` with `{"query":"..."}`.

## Run it from npm

`@pipeworx/mcp-semanticscholar` is a local stdio bridge to the Pipeworx gateway: your MCP client
starts it with `npx`, and it forwards every call to the same
`https://gateway.pipeworx.io/semanticscholar/mcp` endpoint shown above. It needs network access;
there is no offline mode.

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "semanticscholar": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@pipeworx/mcp-semanticscholar"]
    }
  }
}
```

Without a key it calls anonymously, capped at 50 calls a day. A free account
raises that to 200 a day: get a key at https://pipeworx.io/signup and add
`"env": { "PIPEWORX_API_KEY": "<your key>" }` to the server entry.
The key is sent as a Bearer token, the same way a hosted connection sends it,
so calls are metered and billed exactly as they are there.

It lists **only** this pack's tools by default. Set `PIPEWORX_META_TOOLS=1` to
also list `ask_pipeworx` and the other gateway-wide tools.

Behind an HTTPS proxy: Node's built-in `fetch` does not read `HTTPS_PROXY` by
default. Newer Node releases honour it when `NODE_USE_ENV_PROXY=1` is set; check
your Node version's documentation.

## Using with ask_pipeworx

Instead of calling tools directly, you can ask questions in plain English —
this works on the pack endpoint above as well as on the full gateway:

```
ask_pipeworx({ question: "your question about Semanticscholar data" })
```

The gateway picks the right tool and fills the arguments automatically.

## More

- [Docs and guides](https://pipeworx.io/docs)
- [pipeworx.io](https://pipeworx.io)

## License

MIT