A side-by-side look at the Find Research Papers and Legiscan MCP 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 Legiscan MCP 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.LEGISCAN_API_KEY.legiscan_find_legislator, legiscan_get_legislator_votes, legiscan_get_primary_authored.Rows where the two servers differ are marked.
| Spec | ||
|---|---|---|
| Category | Research | Research |
| Quality signal | 63/100 · Good | 63/100 · Good |
| Install command | Confirmed | Confirmed |
| Transport | Local subprocess (stdio) | Local subprocess (stdio) |
| Auth | Not declared | API key required |
| Pricing | Not declared | Free |
| Required env vars | None listed | LEGISCAN_API_KEY |
| Verified owner | Community listing | Community listing |
| GitHub stars | 6 | 11 |
| Directory activity | 2 views 0 installs 0 upvotes | 4 views 0 installs 0 upvotes |
| Tools | 7 | 10 |
| Full listing | View Find Research Papers | View Legiscan MCP |
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.legiscan_find_legislatorFind a legislator's people_id by name. Supports partial matching.legiscan_get_legislator_votesGet how a legislator voted on multiple bills in one call.legiscan_get_primary_authoredGet only bills where legislator is primary author (not co-sponsor).legiscan_get_billGet detailed bill info (sponsors, history, votes, texts)legiscan_find_bill_by_numberFind bill by number (handles AB 858, AB858, AB-858, A.B. 858). Best for exact bill lookup.legiscan_get_roll_callGet vote details with individual legislator voteslegiscan_get_personGet legislator info with third-party IDs (VoteSmart, OpenSecrets, etc.)legiscan_get_session_peopleGet all legislators active in a sessionlegiscan_searchFull-text search across legislation. Accepts bill-number variants like AB858, but use `legiscan_find_bill_by_number` for exact matches.legiscan_get_session_listList available legislative sessions by statePaste 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": {
"sh-patterson-legiscan-mcp": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"legiscan-mcp-server"
],
"env": {
"LEGISCAN_API_KEY": "YOUR_LEGISCAN_API_KEY_HERE"
}
}
}
}