A side-by-side look at the Clinicaltrialsgov MCP Server and Europepmc MCP servers: transport, auth, tools, quality signals, and the config to install either one in Claude, Cursor, Windsurf or VS Code.
Verdict: choose Clinicaltrialsgov MCP Server for biology, medicine and bioinformatics work as a local process; choose Europepmc for biology, medicine and bioinformatics as a local process. You can also run both side by side in one mcpServers block.
clinicaltrials_search_studies, clinicaltrials_get_study_record, clinicaltrials_get_study_count.search, get_article, abstract.Rows where the two servers differ are marked.
| Spec | ||
|---|---|---|
| Category | Biology, Medicine and Bioinformatics | Biology, Medicine and Bioinformatics |
| Quality signal | 61/100 · Good | 60/100 · Good |
| Install command | Confirmed | Confirmed |
| Transport | Local subprocess (stdio) | Local subprocess (stdio) |
| Auth | Not declared | Not declared |
| Pricing | Not declared | Not declared |
| Required env vars | None listed | None listed |
| Verified owner | Community listing | Community listing |
| GitHub stars | 99 | 0 |
| Directory activity | 1 views 0 installs 0 upvotes | 2 views 0 installs 0 upvotes |
| Tools | 7 | 10 |
| Full listing | View Clinicaltrialsgov MCP Server | View Europepmc |
clinicaltrials_search_studiesSearch studies with full-text and field-specific queries, status/phase/geographic filters, pagination, sorting, and field selectionclinicaltrials_get_study_recordFetch a single study by NCT ID — full protocol record with optional location/outcome/reference capsclinicaltrials_get_study_countFast total study count for a query, without fetching dataclinicaltrials_get_field_valuesDiscover valid values for API fields, with per-value study countsclinicaltrials_get_field_definitionsResolve valid field names — keyword search, path drill-down, or top-level overviewclinicaltrials_get_study_resultsFetch posted results — outcomes, adverse events, participant flow, baseline — for completed studiesclinicaltrials_find_eligibleMatch patient demographics and conditions to candidate recruiting trials, without checking inclusion/exclusion criteriasearchEurope PMC search for biomedical literature and preprints — the preprint server index for medicine and life sciences (bioRxiv, medRxiv, Research Square), for drug/clinical/disease preprint questions where arXiv (physics/CS) has nothing. Lucene-style query — use SRC:PPR to filter to preprints only (e.g. "lecanemab AND alzheimer AND SRC:PPR"), AUTH: for author, ABSTRACT: for abstract text. Returns metadata for matching articles.get_articleFull record for one article by (source, id). Source: MED (Medline), PMC, PPR (preprints), CTX (clinicaltrials).abstractJust the title + abstract for one article (faster than get_article).referencesEurope PMC literature database — the reference list of one biomedical article, identified by source (MED, PMC, PPR) plus its id. Returns each cited work's title, authors, journal, publication year and its own Europe PMC / PubMed identifiers, with the total count and a pageSize control. Answers what prior work a paper cites.citationsEurope PMC literature database — the citing side of the citation graph: the biomedical articles that cite one article, identified by source (MED, PMC, PPR) plus its id. Returns each citing work's title, authors, journal, publication year and Europe PMC / PubMed identifiers, with the total citation count and a pageSize control. Answers who has cited a paper and how many times it has been cited.europepmc_trial_evidence_mapMap publications that explicitly mention a ClinicalTrials.gov NCT identifier. Summarizes publication types, years, citation counts, preprints, and linked status notices. A mention can be background or secondary analysis—not necessarily the primary trial result.europepmc_evidence_landscapeSummarize a bounded Europe PMC literature sample for a biomedical topic by publication year/type, citations, open-access status, preprints, journals, and authors. This is bibliographic mapping—not evidence grading, replication analysis, or a clinical conclusion.europepmc_citation_velocityAggregate Europe PMC citing-publication records by year for one article and return a recent citation sample. Coverage is Europe PMC’s citation graph, so counts are a floor and citation volume is not evidence quality, replication, or endorsement.europepmc_publication_integrity_profileInspect one Europe PMC article for linked retractions, corrections, errata, expressions of concern, comments, versions, and preprint/published-version metadata. No linked notice means none was found in Europe PMC—not proof the article is free of concerns.europepmc_research_affiliation_profileSummarize publications whose author affiliations match an organization, optionally within a topic. Reports authors, journals, publication types, years, and citations from a bounded sample; affiliation text is not proof of sponsorship, ownership, or institutional endorsement.Paste either block (or both) into your client config, e.g. claude_desktop_config.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json. We only show a config when the install command is confirmed.
{
"mcpServers": {
"clinicaltrialsgov-mcp-server": {
"command": "bunx",
"args": [
"clinicaltrialsgov-mcp-server@latest"
]
}
}
}
{
"mcpServers": {
"europepmc": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"@pipeworx/mcp-europepmc"
]
}
}
}