Openevidence MCP vs Plos
A side-by-side look at the Openevidence MCP and Plos MCP servers: transport, auth, tools, quality signals, and the config to install either one in Claude, Cursor, Windsurf or VS Code.
Verdict: choose Openevidence MCP for research work as a local process; choose Plos for research as a local process. You can also run both side by side in one mcpServers block.
Which MCP server should you choose?
Choose Openevidence MCP when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Research domain.
- You prefer a local stdio subprocess transport.
- You want tools like
oe_auth_status, oe_history_list, oe_article_get.
Choose Plos when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Research domain.
- You prefer a local stdio subprocess transport.
- You want tools like
search, article, search_authored_by.
Feature & specification comparison
Rows where the two servers differ are marked.
| Spec | ||
|---|---|---|
| Category | Research | Research |
| Quality signal | 65/100 · Great | 59/100 · Good |
| Install command | Confirmed | Confirmed |
| Transport | Local subprocess (stdio) | Local subprocess (stdio) |
| Auth | Not declared | Not declared |
| Pricing | Not declared | Not declared |
| Required env vars | None listed | None listed |
| Verified owner | Community listing | Community listing |
| GitHub stars | 45 | 0 |
| Directory activity | 1 views 0 installs 0 upvotes | 1 views 0 installs 0 upvotes |
| Tools | 5 | 4 |
| Full listing | View Openevidence MCP | View Plos |
Tools & capabilities
Openevidence MCP tools 5
oe_auth_statusCheck whether the saved OpenEvidence browser session is authenticated. Use before history/article/ask tools when auth state is unknown. Returns authenticated=true/false and basic account metadata when available. Requires the local browser profile created by npm run login:session. No side effects. Can fail if the profile is missing, expired, or network access fails.oe_history_listList prior OpenEvidence articles from the authenticated account. Use only when the user asks to inspect prior OpenEvidence work or needs an article_id. Inputs: limit, offset, optional search, optional include_raw=false. Returns a privacy-reduced list by default; include_raw=true may expose private prior questions and must be used only with explicit user intent. Requires authenticated session. No side effects.oe_article_getFetch an OpenEvidence article by article_id. Use after history lookup or oe_ask returns an article ID. Inputs: article_id UUID, optional include_raw=false. Returns normalized status, question, and answer fields by default. include_raw=true may expose private thread context and must be used only with explicit user intent. Requires authenticated session. No side effects.oe_article_waitWait for an existing OpenEvidence article_id to finish, then return normalized fields. Use after oe_ask with wait_for_completion=false, especially for long research questions that may exceed MCP host timeouts. Inputs: article_id UUID, optional timeout_sec, poll_interval_ms, and include_raw=false. include_raw=true may expose private thread context and must be used only with explicit user intent. Requires authenticated session. No side effects.oe_askCreate an OpenEvidence research question, not medical advice or patient-specific diagnosis. For long questions, prefer wait_for_completion=false and then call oe_article_wait with the returned article_id. Use original_article_id only for true follow-up continuity; omit it for fresh questions. Returns privacy-reduced created article data and optionally normalized completed fields. Side effect: creates a question/article in the user's OpenEvidence account through the local browser profile.
Plos tools 4
searchSolr-powered full-text search across all PLOS open-access journals; supports field-qualified queries (e.g. abstract:CRISPR AND title:gene), pagination, sorting, and custom field selection. Returns title, authors, journal, date, and abstract by default.articleFetch a single PLOS article record by DOI (e.g. 10.1371/journal.pone.0153207), returning title, authors, publication date, journal, and abstract.search_authored_byArticles by author name.recentMost recent publications across PLOS.
Ready-to-paste client configs
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.
Openevidence MCP
{
"mcpServers": {
"openevidence-mcp": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"openevidence-mcp"
]
}
}
}
Plos
{
"mcpServers": {
"plos": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"@pipeworx/mcp-plos"
]
}
}
}
Frequently asked questions
Openevidence MCP is categorized under Research and uses a local stdio subprocess. Plos belongs to Research and uses a local stdio subprocess. Pick Openevidence MCP for research work and Plos for research.
Copy the mcpServers block from the config section on this page into your client's config (for example claude_desktop_config.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json), then fully restart the client.
Openevidence MCP has no declared pricing — check the project's own site. Plos has no declared pricing — check the project's own site. If a server needs environment variables such as API keys, define them under the env key in your client's MCP config.
Yes. MCP clients support multiple servers: add openevidence-mcp and plos as separate keys in the same mcpServers object, and your assistant will call tools from either one.
On AllMCPs, Openevidence MCP has a quality signal of 65/100 (Great) with 1 views, 0 installs and 45 GitHub stars. Plos has 59/100 (Good) with 1 views, 0 installs and 0 GitHub stars.