A side-by-side look at the Find Research Papers and Getabrain MCP Server MCP servers: transport, auth, tools, quality signals, and the config to install either one in Claude, Cursor, Windsurf or VS Code.
Verdict: choose Find Research Papers for research work as a local process; choose Getabrain MCP Server for research as a local process. You can also run both side by side in one mcpServers block.
search_papers, get_paper, get_research_method.GETABRAIN_API_KEY, GETABRAIN_API_SECRET.get_balance, create_topup_link, submit_query.Rows where the two servers differ are marked.
| Spec | ||
|---|---|---|
| Category | Research | Research |
| Quality signal | 63/100 · Good | 57/100 · Good |
| Install command | Confirmed | Confirmed |
| Transport | Local subprocess (stdio) | Local subprocess (stdio) |
| Auth | Not declared | API key required |
| Pricing | Not declared | Freemium |
| Required env vars | None listed | GETABRAIN_API_KEYGETABRAIN_API_SECRET |
| Verified owner | Community listing | Community listing |
| GitHub stars | 6 | 0 |
| Directory activity | 2 views 0 installs 0 upvotes | 4 views 0 installs 0 upvotes |
| Tools | 7 | 7 |
| Full listing | View Find Research Papers | View Getabrain MCP Server |
search_papersSearch scholarly literature across multiple sources (arXiv, OpenAlex, Crossref, Semantic Scholar, PubMed)get_paperResolve one paper by identifier and return its metadata plus references (papers it cites) and citations (papers citing it) — works even for paywalled papersget_research_methodHouse method for using this server: tiers, rules, source quirks, and verification stepslist_sourcesList every scholarly source the server can search, with coverage, key requirements, and rate limitsskills_listList this server's skills (playbooks): guidance for interpreting results and recovering from errors. Fetch one with skill_readskill_readFetch the full content of one skill by name (see skills_list). Read 'interpreting-errors' whenever a tool returns an error or skipped sourcescheck_for_updatesCheck PyPI for newer versions of find-research-papers-mcp and get upgrade instructions.get_balanceread-only: prepaid balance (cents), `mode` (`"test"`/`"live"`), and `auto_reload_enabled`create_topup_linkmints a Stripe Checkout URL to add funds (min $5); a human opens it in a browser tosubmit_queryask real humans a question (16 query types: A/B test, rating, ranking, sentiment, yes/no,get_responsesone-shot, read-only: current status + whatever responses exist right now, no waiting.wait_for_responsesbounded polling (up to `max_wait_seconds`, default/max 50s); returns `ready` withlist_queriesread-only: your recent queries, optionally filtered by `status`.rate_responserate a worker's answer 1–5 (optional `feedback_text`); feeds the worker quality system.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": {
"find-research-papers": {
"command": "uvx",
"args": [
"find-research-papers-mcp"
]
}
}
}
{
"mcpServers": {
"guitarmaniac24-getabrain-mcp-server": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"@getabrain/mcp-server"
],
"env": {
"GETABRAIN_API_KEY": "YOUR_GETABRAIN_API_KEY_HERE",
"GETABRAIN_API_SECRET": "YOUR_GETABRAIN_API_SECRET_HERE"
}
}
}
}