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Crossref MCP Server

Search Crossref works, resolve DOI metadata, inspect references, and look up journals, funders, and publishers over MCP.

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Install Crossref MCP Server

Pick your client, then add it in one click or paste the config.

STDIONode.js
~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
claude_desktop_config.json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "crossref-mcp-server-2": {
      "command": "bunx",
      "args": [
        "@cyanheads/crossref-mcp-server@latest"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Settings → Developer → Edit Config, merge this into mcpServers, then fully quit and reopen Claude Desktop.

Install not yet sandbox-tested— we haven't run this command through our automated sandbox yet. Not a red flag; we're working through the catalog.

Overview

crossref-mcp-server connects MCP clients to the Crossref REST API for scholarly metadata discovery and DOI lookups. Its seven tools resolve individual works, search the works index with structured filters and paging, retrieve outgoing references, and inspect journals, funders, members, and DOI prefixes. Use it when an agent needs bibliographic records, publication relationships, citation references, or publisher ownership data from Crossref. It runs through STDIO or Streamable HTTP, including a hosted endpoint.

Use cases

  • Resolve DOI metadata for citation enrichment
  • Search scholarly works by topic, author, date, or identifier
  • Retrieve references cited by a paper
  • Screen search results for retractions and other updates
  • Identify publishers from DOI prefixes

Key features

  • Detailed DOI metadata resolution
  • Free-text and structured Crossref work search
  • Reference list retrieval with resolved DOIs
  • Journal and funder discovery
  • Publisher lookup by member ID or DOI prefix
  • Offset and cursor-based pagination

Tools7

What Crossref MCP Server lets your agent do. Expand a tool for its parameters.

Self-reported~296 tokens of context

Security & health

What it can reach and how reliably it runs — from our own checks, not the maintainer’s claims.

ActiveLast checked 3d ago

Recent health check succeeded.

6/6 checks healthy over the last 47d

Supply-chain signal

No high-severity advisories surfaced by our automated scan.

Critical 0High 0Medium 0Low 0

Scanned 6d ago via OSV.dev · @cyanheads/crossref-mcp-server@latest (npm)

Adoption & maintenance

Factual signals from GitHub, npm, and our automated checks — not a rating.

GitHub stars4Stargazers on the source repository.
npm downloads1.9kPackage downloads in the last 30 days.
Last commit5d agoMost recent push to the default branch.
Tools exposed7Callable tools this server registers over MCP.
Directory activity1 viewsConfig copies, upvotes, and views on AllMCPs.

How Crossref MCP Server works

What crossref-mcp-server does

crossref-mcp-server exposes Crossref’s scholarly metadata through seven MCP tools. It can resolve a DOI into a detailed work record, search the Crossref works index, retrieve the references cited by a work, and query Crossref records for journals, funders, publishers, and DOI prefixes.

A resolved work can include its title, contributors and affiliations, abstract, journal or book details, publication dates, identifiers, licensing information, full-text links, funder acknowledgements, related identifiers, and post-publication notices. The returned record also includes incoming citation counts, while outgoing references are retrieved with a separate tool.

How it works

The server sends validated requests to the Crossref REST API and returns MCP tool results. DOI resolution accepts a bare DOI or common resolver forms such as https://doi.org/..., https://dx.doi.org/..., and doi:.... Invalid DOI formats are rejected before an upstream lookup.

Work searches support free-text queries, field-specific terms for titles, authors, containers, and bibliographic data, plus Crossref filter keys such as publication dates, type, ISSN, funder, abstract availability, and license URL. Results can be sorted, narrowed to selected fields, and paged with offsets or cursors. Search results can include update relationships, making it possible to screen for corrections, retractions, expressions of concern, and newer versions before resolving individual records.

Reference results contain citation strings and resolved DOIs when Crossref supplies them. Journal and funder searches can also return a page of associated works. A DOI prefix lookup identifies its owning publisher and chains into the corresponding member record.

Setup and configuration

The package can be launched over STDIO with the npm package command used by MCP clients:

Terminal
npx -y @cyanheads/crossref-mcp-server

It can also be used through the public Streamable HTTP endpoint:

text
https://crossref.caseyjhand.com/mcp

The repository provides installation paths for Claude Desktop, Cursor, and VS Code. Choose STDIO when the client starts the process locally, or Streamable HTTP when connecting to the hosted service.

Tools and capabilities

  • crossref_get_work resolves a DOI and returns detailed Crossref metadata, including authors, editors, affiliations, citations counts, licenses, links, funders, relations, and update notices.
  • crossref_search_works searches scholarly works with free text, structured filters, field selection, sorting, and offset or cursor pagination.
  • crossref_get_references retrieves the outgoing reference list for a DOI.
  • crossref_search_journals finds journals by ISSN or title and can include recent works.
  • crossref_search_funders searches the Crossref Funder Registry and can include funded works.
  • crossref_get_member resolves a Crossref member ID to publisher details, DOI prefixes, counts, and deposit coverage.
  • crossref_get_prefix maps a DOI prefix to its publisher.

Limitations and notes

Crossref records reflect metadata deposited by publishers and other registrants, so fields can be absent or incomplete. Search result pages return at most 100 works per request, and author lists are capped per response; a work lookup can be used to retrieve the full record. Offset searches cannot exceed Crossref’s approximately 10,000-record boundary, while cursor paging uses continuation tokens.

An absent update list should not be interpreted as proof that a work has never changed. Crossref exposes incoming citation counts but not the complete set of citing works through this server. DOI records held by other registration agencies can produce a not-found result identifying the relevant agency rather than returning Crossref metadata.

Read the full README View source on GitHub

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Frequently Asked Questions about Crossref MCP Server

crossref-mcp-server is an MCP server that connects AI clients to the Crossref REST API. Its main tools resolve DOI metadata, search scholarly works, retrieve outgoing references, and look up journals, funders, and publishers. It supports STDIO and Streamable HTTP connections for MCP-compatible applications.

Install it as a local STDIO server with `npx -y @cyanheads/crossref-mcp-server`. MCP client installation links are provided for Claude Desktop, Cursor, and VS Code. You can also connect to the hosted Streamable HTTP endpoint at `https://crossref.caseyjhand.com/mcp`.

Use `crossref_search_works` with free text, field-specific queries, or structured Crossref filters. The tool supports sorting, selected output fields, and offset or cursor pagination. It can also return update relationships such as corrections, retractions, expressions of concern, and newer versions.

Yes. Call `crossref_get_references` with a DOI to retrieve the work's outgoing reference list. Results include deposited citation strings and resolved DOIs when Crossref has them.

Yes. Cursor is named as a supported installation target, and the repository provides a Cursor MCP installation link. The server can also run through its STDIO configuration.

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