Refd vs Papers
A side-by-side look at the Refd and Papers 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 Papers 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 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 Papers when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Research domain.
- You prefer a local stdio subprocess transport.
Feature & specification comparison
Rows where the two servers differ are marked.
| Spec | ||
|---|---|---|
| Category | Research | Research |
| Quality signal | 41/100 · Fair | 40/100 · Fair |
| Install command | Confirmed | Confirmed |
| Transport | Remote HTTP/SSE | Local subprocess (stdio) |
| Auth | Not declared | Not declared |
| Pricing | Not declared | Not declared |
| Required env vars | JWT_SECRETBRIGHTDATA_API_TOKENBRIGHTDATA_WEBHOOK_SECRETADMIN_EMAILSEXA_API_KEYPUBLIC_BASE_URLDASHBOARD_ORIGINPUBLIC_SITE_ORIGIN | None listed |
| Verified owner | Community listing | Community listing |
| GitHub stars | 2 | 0 |
| Directory activity | 1 views 0 installs 0 upvotes | 2 views 0 installs 0 upvotes |
| Tools | Not listed | Not listed |
| Full listing | View Refd | View Papers |
Tools & capabilities
Refd tools
No tool names declared yet. Check the project README from the listing page.
Papers tools
No tool names declared yet. Check the project README from the listing page.
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"
}
}
}
Papers
{
"mcpServers": {
"papers": {
"command": "uvx",
"args": [
"agentpub"
]
}
}
}
Frequently asked questions
Refd is categorized under Research and uses a remote HTTP/SSE transport. Papers belongs to Research and uses a local stdio subprocess. Pick Refd for research work and Papers 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.
Refd has no declared pricing — check the project's own site. Papers 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 refd and papers 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. Papers has 40/100 (Fair) with 2 views, 0 installs and 0 GitHub stars.