How do I connect a Research MCP server to Claude Desktop or Cursor?

To install a Research MCP server, select your desired server from the directory, copy the JSON configuration snippet, and add it to your client config file (such as claude_desktop_config.json or .cursor/mcp.json).

Are Research MCP servers free to use?

Yes, all Research MCP servers listed in this directory are open-source and free to integrate into compatible Model Context Protocol clients.

153 Research MCP Servers

Q: What are Research Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers?

Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers in the Research category allow AI assistants (such as Claude Desktop, Cursor, Windsurf, and Cline) to connect directly to research tools, APIs, and databases without manual copy-pasting.

Discover 153 Research MCP servers for AI agents. Browse, compare, and install Model Context Protocol tools that connect Claude, Cursor, and other clients to research capabilities. Popular picks include Infranodus MCP Server Infranodus, Octagon Deep Research MCP, Scopus MCP.

Open in interactive directory Best Research servers →

Infranodus MCP Server Infranodus

Map text into knowledge graphs to create a structured representation of conceptual relations and t…

3 0 0

Octagon Deep Research MCP

OctagonAI

Lightning-Fast, High-Accuracy Deep Research Agent

1 0 0

Scopus MCP

A Model Context Protocol server for the Elsevier Scopus API

1 0 0

Tooluniverse

1000+ scientific tools for AI scientists: life science, reserach, literature, and more.

2 0 0

BrowserAI Dev

BrowseAI-HQ

Evidence-backed web research for AI agents. Real-time search with cited claims, confidence scores, and compare mode (raw LLM vs evidence-backed). MCP server, REST API, and Python SDK.

3 0 0

BrowseAI Dev

Evidence-backed web research for AI agents with citations and confidence scores.

0 0 0

Tripitaka MCP

dhamma-seeker

Search, cite, and compare the Pāli Canon (Tipiṭaka) — full coverage at parity with SuttaCentral (444K segments across Sutta, Vinaya, Abhidhamma). Hybrid trigram+vector search, full-sutta fetch with cross-reference URLs (SuttaCentral + 84000.org), segment-aligned translation comparison, and Pāli word lookup against the P. A. Payutto dictionary. Free, non-commercial — offered as Dhamma Dāna. Hosted at https://tripitaka-mcp.com or self-host via Docker.

3 0 0

Idea Reality MCP

mnemox-ai

Pre-build reality check for AI coding agents. Scans GitHub, Hacker News, npm, PyPI, and Product Hunt to detect existing competition before building, returning a reality signal score (0-100), duplicate likelihood, similar projects, and pivot hints.

5 0 0

Yade MCP

yusong652

MCP server for YADE — open-source discrete element method (DEM) engine for granular and particle simulation. Browse API docs with BM25 search, execute code via synchronous REPL or async background tasks, monitor progress, and review task history.

7 0 1

Scholar MCP

Federated academic search, citation traversal, persistent PDF download, and temporary reading.

0 0 0

Legiscan MCP

sh-patterson

Access legislative data from all 50 US states and Congress — search bills, get full text, track votes, and look up legislators via the LegiScan API.

3 0 0

MCP Server Deep Research

reading-plus-ai

MCP server providing OpenAI/Perplexity-like autonomous deep research, structured query elaboration, and concise reporting.

4 0 0

Oorlogsbronnen MCP

r-huijts

Oorlogsbronnen (War Sources) API integration for accessing historical WWII records, photographs, and documents from the Netherlands (1940-1945)

1 0 0

ResearchZosho

The research librarian for the rest of us: reads, keeps and questions your sources.

0 0 0

Pfc MCP

yusong652

MCP server for ITASCA PFC discrete element simulation — browse documentation, execute scripts, capture plots, and manage long-running tasks via a WebSocket bridge to the PFC GUI.

3 0 0

Zotero Library MCP

Add papers and books to Zotero by DOI, arXiv ID, or ISBN and manage your library

2 0 0

Touch Browser

nangman-infra

Evidence-grounded web research for AI agents. Verifies page-local claims with citations, confidence bands, policy reports, and multi-page session synthesis via MCP.

3 0 0

Uap Pulse

davidmosiah

Read-only MCP server and live-map dataset for declassified U.S. federal UAP/UFO records, with searchable records, hotspots, timelines and direct source links.

4 0 0

MCP Server Originalvoices

ovlabs

Instantly understand what real users think and why by querying our network of 1:1 Digital Twins - each representing a real person. Give your AI agents authentic human context to ground outputs, improve creative, and make smarter decisions.

3 0 0

Deep Research MCP

pminervini

Deep research MCP server for OpenAI Responses API or Open Deep Research (smolagents), with web search and code interpreter support.

5 0 0

Gapbase MCP

thevibepreneur

Search 474 validated startup gaps from your AI editor. Find unsolved business problems by industry, role, or keyword — each with pain point, solution direction, and link to full blueprint. Zero API keys, works offline.

4 0 0

Notebooklm MCP Secure

Pantheon-Security

Query Google NotebookLM from Claude/AI agents with 14 security hardening layers. Session-based conversations, notebook library management, and source-grounded research responses.

3 0 0

Science AI MCP Server

SelfPy

Academic peer-review and research workflow tools from Science AI Journal: Pre-Check (paper-tier prediction), AI multi-agent peer review, Research Gaps Finder, Journal Recommender (1,214 venues with predatory-journal flags), Duplicate Publication Checker (CrossRef/arXiv/medRxiv/bioRxiv/Unpaywall/900k-paper library), and the Article Writer pipeline. Free local tools (FTS5, zero LLM cost); LLM tools use caller account credits.

6 0 0

Onecite

Generate academic citations from DOI, arXiv, titles, or URLs in BibTeX, APA, MLA formats.

2 0 0

Zotio

OrgMentem

Zotero MCP server (zotio-mcp) with a capability-tagged tool registry and preview-first, journaled writes (an agent can't silently mutate or delete your library). Reads work keyless against the local Zotero desktop API; writes route to the Web API. Ships an MCPB bundle for one-click Claude Desktop install.

3 0 0

Research Hub

WenyuChiou

Research workspace MCP integrating Zotero, Obsidian, and NotebookLM. Search papers (arXiv/Semantic Scholar/PubMed/CrossRef), ingest into Zotero, sync notes to Obsidian, verify NotebookLM briefs. All three external tools optional. pip install research-hub-pipeline then research-hub serve.

2 0 0

Getabrain MCP Server

Guitarmaniac24

Query real, quality-scored humans as an agent tool. GetABrain routes a question to paid human workers and returns schema-validated JSON — 16 response types (yes/no, ratings, rankings, A/B tests, sentiment, image/video/audio review, voice/video/photo capture). Fully programmatic signup with a $5 free trial credit, no card required. npx -y @getabrain/mcp-server.

4 0 0

Ucdp

Armed-conflict deaths, active wars and violence events from the Uppsala Conflict Data Program…

0 0 0

Figshare

Figshare research outputs (datasets, papers, posters)

1 0 0

Doaj

DOAJ MCP — Directory of Open Access Journals

0 0 0

Zenodo

Zenodo (CERN) open research data repository

2 0 0

Openreview

OpenReview MCP — ML conference submissions and reviews (API v2)

1 0 0

Core Research

CORE Research MCP — wraps CORE API (api.core.ac.uk/v3)

0 0 0

Datacite

DataCite MCP — DOIs for research datasets (free, no auth)

1 0 0

Opencitations

OpenCitations COCI — open-license citation index by DOI

0 0 0

Materials

Materials MCP — computed (DFT) materials structures & thermodynamic properties.

0 0 0

Crossref

Crossref MCP — wraps the Crossref REST API (academic papers, free, no auth)

1 0 0

Benchclaw Integrations

Agnuxo1

Register LLMs/agents and submit research papers (Markdown) to the BenchClaw leaderboard. Papers are scored by a 17-judge Tribunal with 8 deception detectors across 10 dimensions. No API key required. Works with Claude Desktop, Cursor, Cline, Zed, Continue.dev.

4 0 0

CRS Reports

Congressional Research Service reports — Congress's own nonpartisan analysis of statutes, federal…

0 0 0

Egypt Research Commons

Source-grounded research for Egyptian public affairs

1 0 0

Adamamer20 Paper Search MCP Openai

Search and download academic papers from arXiv, PubMed, bioRxiv, medRxiv, Google Scholar, Semantic…

1 0 0

Simulatte

Run synthetic research studies from any MCP client. 25+ SKUs + cross-study insights.

0 0 0

Raportagent MCP

Sourced market and compliance research for Claude Desktop, Claude Code and Cursor.

0 0 0

Arxivsub MCP

Search arXiv and major AI/ML/CV/NLP/robotics conference papers and their related work.

0 0 0

Semantic Scholar MCP

smaniches

Semantic Scholar MCP server: 14 typed tools over 200M+ academic papers — search, paper/author retrieval, citation-graph traversal, and recommendations. uvx s2-mcp-server

2 0 0

Papers

Submit papers for AI peer review and publication. Search and cite AI-authored research.

1 0 0

Openalex MCP Server

Access the OpenAlex academic research catalog - 270M+ publications via MCP. STDIO & HTTP.

0 0 0

Gramps Web MCP

MCP server for structured access to Gramps Web genealogy data

3 0 0

Sparkit MCP

SPARKIT-science

MCP server for SPARKIT, a scientific research agent that searches the literature, reads papers, and returns cited Markdown reports. Submit a question via the research tool from Claude Desktop / Cursor / Claude Code; get back a 90-second cited report without leaving the chat. uv tool install sparkit-mcp or pip install sparkit-mcp.

2 0 0

Scholar Sidekick MCP

mlava

Resolve any scholarly identifier (DOI, PMID, PMCID, ISBN, arXiv, ISSN, ADS bibcode, WHO IRIS URL) into structured CSL JSON, format in 10,000+ citation styles, or export to BibTeX/RIS/EndNote/Zotero RDF/CSV. Single or batch. Install: npx -y scholar-sidekick-mcp.

4 0 0

Scholar Feed MCP

YGao2005

Semantic search over 600k+ CS/AI papers with citation-graph traversal, full-text extraction, embeddings, and BibTeX export. Works anonymously or with a free key. Install: npx scholar-feed-mcp init.

1 0 0

OpenResearch MCP

Zero-auth research MCP server — web, GitHub, HN, Stack Overflow, OpenAlex, YouTube. No keys needed.

0 0 0

Agenda Intelligence Md

vassiliylakhonin

Auditable strategic-risk memos for AI agents — sanctions, regulatory, geopolitics, trade. Geography-routed regional specialists (Central Asia/Caspian, Gulf/Middle East), per-claim evidence discipline, schema-validated output, machine-verified audit. No live data retrieval. PyPI: agenda-intelligence-md.

4 0 0

Wellread

mnlt

Shared research cache across AI agents. Hit → instant answer from verified sources. Miss → your research saves the next dev's tokens. npx wellread, free.

0 0 0

Find Research Papers

Search open-source research papers across arXiv, OpenAlex, Crossref, PubMed, Semantic Scholar.

1 0 0

Ph Civic Data MCP

xmpuspus

Philippine government data as agent-callable tools: PHIVOLCS earthquakes + volcano alerts, PAGASA weather + typhoons, PhilGEPS procurement, PSA 2020 Census population + poverty, AQICN air quality. Install: uvx ph-civic-data-mcp.

3 0 0

Orcid MCP Server

Researcher profiles, works, affiliations, funding, and peer reviews from the ORCID registry.

0 0 0

Data Aggregator MCP

musharna

Search and fetch research datasets across Zenodo, DataCite (Dryad/Figshare/Dataverse/OSF), NCBI omics (GEO/SRA/BioProject), and literature (PubMed/OpenAIRE) behind one normalized model — DOI deduplication, NCBI-Taxonomy synonym expansion, paper→data linking, and checksum-verified download. uvx data-aggregator-mcp.

3 0 0

Agentinterviews MCP

thinkchainai

Conduct AI-powered qualitative research interviews and surveys at scale with Agent Interviews. Create interviewers, manage research projects, recruit participants, and analyze interview data through MCP.

2 0 0

Gemini Researcher

Stateless MCP server that proxies research queries to Gemini CLI, reducing agent context/model usage

0 0 0

Browse all 153 Research servers →

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Frequently Asked Questions about Research MCP Servers

Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers in the Research category allow AI assistants (such as Claude Desktop, Cursor, Windsurf, and Cline) to connect directly to research tools, APIs, and databases without manual copy-pasting.