Refd vs IlyaGusev Academia MCP
A side-by-side look at the Refd and IlyaGusev Academia MCP MCP servers: transport, auth, tools, quality signals, and the config to install either one in Claude, Cursor, Windsurf or VS Code.
Verdict: choose Refd for research work over a hosted endpoint; choose IlyaGusev Academia MCP for research. You can also run both side by side in one mcpServers block.
Which MCP server should you choose?
Choose Refd when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Research domain.
- You prefer a remote HTTP/SSE transport.
- You have the keys it needs:
JWT_SECRET, BRIGHTDATA_API_TOKEN, BRIGHTDATA_WEBHOOK_SECRET, ADMIN_EMAILS, EXA_API_KEY, PUBLIC_BASE_URL, DASHBOARD_ORIGIN, PUBLIC_SITE_ORIGIN.
Choose IlyaGusev Academia MCP when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Research domain.
- Its auth model fits you: No auth required.
- You have the keys it needs:
WORKSPACE_DIR, OPENROUTER_API_KEY, EXA_API_KEY, BRAVE_API_KEY, TAVILY_API_KEY, PORT, ENABLE_AUTH, TOKENS_FILE. - You want tools like
arxiv_search, arxiv_download, anthology_search.
Feature & specification comparison
Rows where the two servers differ are marked.
| Spec | ||
|---|---|---|
| Category | Research | Research |
| Quality signal | 41/100 · Fair | 48/100 · Fair |
| Install command | Confirmed | Not confirmed yet |
| Transport | Remote HTTP/SSE | — |
| Auth | Not declared | No auth required |
| Pricing | Not declared | Free |
| Required env vars | JWT_SECRETBRIGHTDATA_API_TOKENBRIGHTDATA_WEBHOOK_SECRETADMIN_EMAILSEXA_API_KEYPUBLIC_BASE_URLDASHBOARD_ORIGINPUBLIC_SITE_ORIGIN | WORKSPACE_DIROPENROUTER_API_KEYEXA_API_KEYBRAVE_API_KEYTAVILY_API_KEYPORTENABLE_AUTHTOKENS_FILE |
| Verified owner | Community listing | Community listing |
| GitHub stars | 2 | 93 |
| Directory activity | 1 views 0 installs 0 upvotes | 3 views 0 installs 0 upvotes |
| Tools | Not listed | 11 |
| Full listing | View Refd | View IlyaGusev Academia MCP |
Tools & capabilities
Refd tools
No tool names declared yet. Check the project README from the listing page.
IlyaGusev Academia MCP tools 11
arxiv_searchQuery arXiv with field-specific queries and filters.arxiv_downloadFetch a paper by ID and convert to structured text (HTML/PDF modes).anthology_searchSearch ACL Anthology with fielded queries and optional date filtering.hf_datasets_searchFind Hugging Face datasets with filters and sorting.s2_get_citationsList papers citing a given arXiv paper (Semantic Scholar Graph).s2_get_referencesList papers referenced by a given arXiv paper.visit_webpageFetch and normalize a web page.web_searchUnified search wrapper; available when at least one of Exa/Brave/Tavily keys is set.compile_latexCompile LaTeX to PDF in `WORKSPACE_DIR`.read_pdfExtract text per page from a PDF.document_qaAnswer questions over provided document chunks (requires LLM).
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.
Refd
{
"mcpServers": {
"refd": {
"url": "https://api.refd.ai/mcp"
}
}
}
IlyaGusev Academia MCP
No confirmed install command for IlyaGusev Academia MCP yet — follow the setup steps linked from its listing page rather than a guessed package name.
Frequently asked questions
Refd is categorized under Research and uses a remote HTTP/SSE transport. IlyaGusev Academia MCP belongs to Research and uses an install path we have not confirmed yet. Pick Refd for research work and IlyaGusev Academia MCP 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. IlyaGusev Academia MCP has no confirmed install command yet — follow its own setup instructions.
Refd has no declared pricing — check the project's own site. IlyaGusev Academia MCP is listed as free. Auth: no auth required. 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 refd and ilyagusev-academia-mcp as separate keys in the same mcpServers object, and your assistant will call tools from either one.
On AllMCPs, Refd has a quality signal of 41/100 (Fair) with 1 views, 0 installs and 2 GitHub stars. IlyaGusev Academia MCP has 48/100 (Fair) with 3 views, 0 installs and 93 GitHub stars.