OokCite MCP Server

Give MCP-capable tools the ability to validate DOIs, format citations, manage bibliography collections, and catch fabricated references. Returns citation metadata only -- not PDFs or full-text articles. Works with clients that support MCP servers over standard input and output.

Quick Start

One command to install and configure:

npx @turtletech/ookcite-mcp setup

This auto-detects supported MCP clients and writes the configuration for you. Connect an OokCite account for higher rate limits and collection tools without putting an API key in shell arguments or MCP configuration:

npx @turtletech/ookcite-mcp setup --connect

The command opens the TurtleTech dashboard, creates or activates the Free plan, stores the issued key in the platform credential store, and writes only a credential reference to detected clients. Use setup --connect --device on a headless machine.

An existing API key remains supported:

npx @turtletech/ookcite-mcp setup --key YOUR_API_KEY

No API key required for basic usage (20 lookups/day). Sign up for more.

After changing MCP config, restart the client or reload its MCP servers. Many clients do not hot-reload environment-variable changes for already-running stdio servers.

Install (Alternative Methods)

npm (recommended):

npm install -g @turtletech/ookcite-mcp

cargo-binstall (fastest, no Node.js):

cargo binstall ookcite-mcp

cargo install (from source):

cargo install ookcite-mcp

Pre-built binaries: Download from GitHub Releases for Linux (x86_64, aarch64), macOS (x86_64, aarch64), and Windows.

Configure

If you used setup, you're done. Otherwise, add to your MCP client config:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ookcite": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@turtletech/ookcite-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

With an API key:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ookcite": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@turtletech/ookcite-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "OOKCITE_API_KEY": "your_key_here"
      }
    }
  }
}

If you installed globally (npm install -g or cargo install), you can use "command": "ookcite-mcp" directly instead of npx.

Keeping the key out of the config file

setup --connect uses the platform credential store by default. It refuses to replace an existing platform credential or named OokCite MCP configuration unless --replace-credential or --replace-config is given explicitly.

A generic credential manager can be used instead. The store command receives the new key on standard input; it must not expect the key in a command-line argument. The retrieval command prints the key on standard output when the MCP server starts:

npx @turtletech/ookcite-mcp setup --connect \
  --store-command "credential-cli store ookcite" \
  --retrieve-command "credential-cli read ookcite"

For an explicit owner-only file instead of a credential manager:

npx @turtletech/ookcite-mcp setup --connect \
  --credential-file "$HOME/.config/ookcite/api-key"

The file is created with owner-only permissions and is never overwritten. The platform, helper-command, and file forms put references such as these in client configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ookcite": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@turtletech/ookcite-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "OOKCITE_API_KEY_COMMAND": "credential-cli read ookcite"
      }
    }
  }
}

At startup, source precedence remains OOKCITE_API_KEY, OOKCITE_API_KEY_COMMAND, OOKCITE_API_KEY_FILE, then the platform credential reference. With none of them the server starts anonymous. setup --key remains available for existing deployments that intentionally keep the key in client configuration.

Credential retrieval obeys two constraints:

• Retrieval receives closed standard input, so it cannot consume MCP JSON-RPC.
• Retrieval is bounded by OOKCITE_API_KEY_TIMEOUT, which defaults to 10 seconds, and its output is never copied into diagnostics.

Consult your client's MCP documentation for its configuration-file location. Use the mcpServers.ookcite JSON above when automatic setup is unavailable, then restart the client or reload its MCP servers.

Optional env (stdio MCP, all clients):

MCP usage tips

• Prefer batch tools (verify_references, batch_format, batch_add_to_collection, import_bibliography) over many single-citation calls.
• Collection mutations require OOKCITE_API_KEY. Destructive tools (delete_collection, remove_from_collection, unshare_collection) are annotated for clients that honor MCP tool hints.
• The server writes diagnostics to stderr only on the MCP path; stdout is reserved for JSON-RPC.

Tools

Lookup & Validation

Formatting

Account

ORCID

Collections (requires sign-in)

Collections are a signed-in feature. Set OOKCITE_API_KEY to use these tools.

Typical workflow:

1. Keep references.bib or library.bib under version control in your project
2. Import that file into an OokCite collection with import_bibliography
3. Use search_collection, check_duplicates, and export_collection while revising
4. Treat the collection as an audit/export companion, not the only copy of your bibliography