Doiget

What doiget MCP server does

doiget accepts DOI and arXiv identifiers and retrieves papers as local PDF files, together with metadata. Its retrieval strategy starts with public Open Access sources, including Crossref, Unpaywall, and arXiv. The project also implements citation-graph expansion and supports gated text-and-data-mining sources where applicable.

The distribution combines a command-line interface and an MCP server in one binary. That makes the same installation usable from shell workflows or from an MCP host that communicates over standard input and output. A health tool reports the running binary's version, release channel, installation method, and update command.

How it works

When given a paper identifier, doiget uses official publisher or Open Access APIs rather than attempting to defeat authentication or other access controls. Public retrieval is the default. Access through a user's own institutional or personal subscription is optional and compile-time gated, so it depends on how the binary was built and configured.

Retrieved content is written locally instead of being hosted by the project. The software does not operate as a SaaS service, redistribute papers, or include publisher API keys. Users remain responsible for having permission to access requested material and for following each source's terms.

The doiget MCP server communicates through stdio. Agents can therefore invoke it from MCP clients that launch local processes, while the same executable remains available for direct CLI commands. Release binaries are checksum-verified and distributed through signed GitHub Releases; the Linux build is static and intended to run on older glibc or HPC systems.

Setup and configuration

The recommended installation uses a prebuilt binary. On Linux or macOS, the shell installer places it in ~/.local/bin; DOIGET_INSTALL_DIR changes that destination, and DOIGET_VERSION can pin a release. Windows provides a PowerShell installer. Other supported channels include Cargo, npm, npx, and Homebrew.

For an MCP configuration without a prior installation, run npx -y doiget-cli serve. The npm package is named doiget-cli, while the installed executable is doiget. Claude Code can install the repository plugin, whose MCP configuration uses that npx command. Installing from Cargo requires the doiget-cli crate and a platform C/C++ build toolchain.

The program does not update itself. Re-running an installer performs an upgrade, and doiget version --check checks for a newer release when explicitly requested.

Tools and capabilities

The doiget MCP server supports these documented capability areas:

• DOI and arXiv-based paper retrieval.
• Local PDF output and paper metadata.
• Open Access lookup through Crossref, Unpaywall, and arXiv.
• Citation-graph expansion.
• Health and build information through doiget_health.
• Capability and installation details through the CLI's capabilities command.

Limitations and notes

doiget is not a general web scraper or an access-control workaround. Retrieval may fail when no permitted Open Access copy exists or when configured subscription access is unavailable. It does not host content, redistribute papers, or bundle publisher credentials. Review the source terms and confirm access rights before using retrieved material.