In-depth architectural comparison of the Protein Atlas and Uniprot MCP Server MCP servers. Compare execution transports, security boundaries, tool capabilities, quality scores, and ready-to-paste client installation snippets for Claude, Cursor, Windsurf, and VS Code.
At a Glance & Executive Verdict
Protein Atlas
Biology & Bioinformatics · Local stdio
Quality: 51/100 (Good) | Auth: No auth required
Uniprot MCP Server
Biology & Bioinformatics · Local stdio
Quality: 53/100 (Good) | Auth: No auth required
Verdict Summary: Choose Protein Atlas if you need specialized Biology & Bioinformatics tools running via a local process. Choose Uniprot MCP Server if your workspace requires Biology & Bioinformatics integration with local subprocess execution. Both servers can be configured concurrently in your client's mcpServers manifest.
Which MCP Server Should You Choose?
Choose Protein Atlas when:
You need dedicated capabilities in the Biology & Bioinformatics domain.
You prefer local stdio subprocess transport architecture.
Your security boundary fits: No auth required (Free / Open Source).
Search the Human Protein Atlas for human genes/proteins by gene symbol or keyword. Returns each gene with its Ensembl gene id (needed by get_protein and top_tissues), synonyms, and description. Keyless.
get_protein
Get a trimmed Human Protein Atlas profile for one protein by Ensembl gene id (e.g. "ENSG00000146648"): gene, description, protein class, biological process, molecular function, RNA tissue specificity/distribution, subcellular location, and disease involvement. Use search_genes to find the Ensembl i…
top_tissues
List a protein's top-expressing human tissues by RNA expression (nTPM), highest first, for one Ensembl gene id. Use search_genes to find the Ensembl id. Keyless.
Uniprot MCP Server Tools (6)
uniprot_search_proteins
Search UniProtKB by plain text or a Lucene field query, with the reviewed (Swiss-Prot) filter foregrounded and optional server-side facet counts. Cursor-paginated. The discovery entry point.
Ready-to-Paste Client Configurations
Paste either (or both) of these JSON server blocks into your client config file (e.g. claude_desktop_config.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json).
Protein Atlas is categorized under Biology & Bioinformatics and uses a local stdio subprocess. In contrast, Uniprot MCP Server belongs to Biology & Bioinformatics using local stdio subprocess. Select Protein Atlas when you need capabilities focused on biology & bioinformatics and Uniprot MCP Server when you require tools for biology & bioinformatics.
Fetch full curated entries by accession in one batch (up to 20) — function, catalytic activity, disease, variants, isoforms, GO terms, cross-references. Partial-success output; an oversized record returns a section outline.
uniprot_map_ids
Translate identifiers across databases via UniProt's async ID-mapping service — gene names, Ensembl, RefSeq, ChEMBL, PDB, GeneID ↔ UniProtKB accessions. Polls within a budget; running jobs return a ticket and completed pages return a continuation.
uniprot_get_proteome
Fetch a reference proteome by UPID or NCBI taxon ID — protein count, BUSCO completeness, genome assembly inline, plus an opt-in capped page of the proteins.
uniprot_get_taxonomy
Resolve a taxonomy record by NCBI taxon ID or scientific name — name, rank, parent, full lineage, and optionally the immediate children.
uniprot_get_sequence
Fetch the canonical amino-acid sequence (FASTA) for an accession, with length and parsed header — and optionally the isoform sequences. The cheap sequence-only path.