Is the crossref MCP server free to use?

Yes. crossref is listed on AllMCPs as a free, open Model Context Protocol server you can install into Claude Desktop, Cursor, or any MCP-compatible client.

Is the crossref MCP server free to use?

Yes. crossref is listed on AllMCPs as a free, open Model Context Protocol server you can install into Claude Desktop, Cursor, or any MCP-compatible client.

Crossref

Search and retrieve scholarly metadata from the Crossref REST API

Quick Install

Automated & IDE Setup

Copy the AI prompt to install this server into Claude Code, Cursor, or another agent — or use 1-click editor setup below.

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Manual Client & Custom JSON ConfigExpand JSON ▾

Install Config Generator

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claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "crossref": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "crossref"
      ]
    }
  }
}

💡 Paste into ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json (macOS) or %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json (Windows)

Documentation Overview

CrossRef MCP Server

An MCP (Model Context Protocol) server for searching and retrieving scholarly metadata from the CrossRef REST API — 150M+ records across all publishers and disciplines.

Built with FastMCP. No API key required.

Tools

Tool	Description
`crossref_search`	Search works by keyword with filtering by year, type, and sort options
`crossref_title_search`	Search specifically by title for more precise matching
`crossref_author_search`	Search for works by a specific author, optionally combined with keywords
`crossref_doi_lookup`	Retrieve full metadata for a work by DOI
`crossref_journal_search`	Search for journals by name
`crossref_journal_works`	Get works published in a specific journal by ISSN
`crossref_funder_search`	Search for funding organizations
`crossref_references`	Get the reference list cited by a specific work
`crossref_export_ris`	Export recent results as RIS (for Zotero, EndNote, etc.)
`crossref_export_bibtex`	Export recent results as BibTeX

Setup

1. Install

bash

cd crossref-mcp-server
python3 -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate
pip install -r requirements.txt

2. Configure environment (optional)

CrossRef doesn't require an API key, but setting a mailto address gives you access to their faster "polite" API pool:

bash

cp .env.example .env
# Edit .env with your email address

3. Add to Claude Desktop

Add this to your claude_desktop_config.json:

config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "crossref": {
      "command": "/path/to/crossref-mcp-server/venv/bin/python",
      "args": ["/path/to/crossref-mcp-server/server.py"],
      "env": {
        "CROSSREF_MAILTO": "your.email@example.com"
      }
    }
  }
}

Or if using Claude Code CLI:

Terminal

claude mcp add crossref \
  /path/to/crossref-mcp-server/venv/bin/python \
  /path/to/crossref-mcp-server/server.py \
  -e CROSSREF_MAILTO=your.email@example.com

Usage examples

Once connected, you can ask Claude things like:

"Search CrossRef for recent papers on transformer architectures"
"Find works by Jane Smith on educational psychology from 2020-2024"
"Look up the metadata for DOI 10.1038/nature14539"
"Search for journals about machine learning"
"Get the reference list for this paper and export as RIS for Zotero"

License

MIT

Related MCP Servers

View all in Developer Tools View all alternatives

Frequently Asked Questions about Crossref

Add the following block to your claude_desktop_config.json under mcpServers: "mcpServers": { "crossref": { "command": "npx", "args": ["-y", "crossref"] } }

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Technical Specs & Signals

CategoryDeveloper Tools

28Quality signal: Emerging · 28/100How this signal is calculated ▾

Server availabilityNot measured

Not scored for repo-hosted servers — we can't reach the running server, only its GitHub page. Hosted MCP endpoints are health-checked live.

Verified ownership8/20

Documentation & tools10/30

Adoption & activity3/15

Community engagement0/10

A guidance signal from public completeness & health data — not a user rating. New listings start lower and rise as they add docs, get verified, and grow adoption. Signals we can't observe for a listing are skipped, not counted against it.

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More in 💻 Developer Tools →Best MCP servers for Developers →Alternatives to Crossref →Install in Claude Desktop Install in Cursor Install in VS Code

Documentation Overview

CrossRef MCP Server

An MCP (Model Context Protocol) server for searching and retrieving scholarly metadata from the CrossRef REST API — 150M+ records across all publishers and disciplines.

Built with FastMCP. No API key required.

Tools

Tool	Description
`crossref_search`	Search works by keyword with filtering by year, type, and sort options
`crossref_title_search`	Search specifically by title for more precise matching
`crossref_author_search`	Search for works by a specific author, optionally combined with keywords
`crossref_doi_lookup`	Retrieve full metadata for a work by DOI
`crossref_journal_search`	Search for journals by name
`crossref_journal_works`	Get works published in a specific journal by ISSN
`crossref_funder_search`	Search for funding organizations
`crossref_references`	Get the reference list cited by a specific work
`crossref_export_ris`	Export recent results as RIS (for Zotero, EndNote, etc.)
`crossref_export_bibtex`	Export recent results as BibTeX

Setup

1. Install

bash

cd crossref-mcp-server
python3 -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate
pip install -r requirements.txt

2. Configure environment (optional)

CrossRef doesn't require an API key, but setting a mailto address gives you access to their faster "polite" API pool:

bash

cp .env.example .env
# Edit .env with your email address

3. Add to Claude Desktop

Add this to your claude_desktop_config.json:

config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "crossref": {
      "command": "/path/to/crossref-mcp-server/venv/bin/python",
      "args": ["/path/to/crossref-mcp-server/server.py"],
      "env": {
        "CROSSREF_MAILTO": "your.email@example.com"
      }
    }
  }
}

Or if using Claude Code CLI:

Terminal

claude mcp add crossref \
  /path/to/crossref-mcp-server/venv/bin/python \
  /path/to/crossref-mcp-server/server.py \
  -e CROSSREF_MAILTO=your.email@example.com

Usage examples

Once connected, you can ask Claude things like:

"Search CrossRef for recent papers on transformer architectures"
"Find works by Jane Smith on educational psychology from 2020-2024"
"Look up the metadata for DOI 10.1038/nature14539"
"Search for journals about machine learning"
"Get the reference list for this paper and export as RIS for Zotero"

License

MIT