Research Toolkit vs Lune Research
A side-by-side look at the Research Toolkit and Lune Research MCP servers: transport, auth, tools, quality signals, and the config to install either one in Claude, Cursor, Windsurf or VS Code.
R
Research ToolkitResearchResearch methods, workflow tools, and independent review for AI agents, packaged as a Skill, plugin, and local MCP server.49FairAuth: no auth requiredVerdict: choose Research Toolkit for research work; choose Lune Research for research as a local process. You can also run both side by side in one mcpServers block.
Which MCP server should you choose?
RChoose Research Toolkit when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Research domain.
- Its auth model fits you: No auth required.
Choose Lune Research when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Research domain.
- You prefer a local stdio subprocess transport.
- You have the keys it needs:
LUNE_API_KEY. - You want tools like
search_papers, search_papers_many, search_related_papers.
Feature & specification comparison
Rows where the two servers differ are marked.
| Spec | R Research Toolkit | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Research | Research |
| Quality signal | 49/100 · Fair | 57/100 · Good |
| Install command | Not confirmed yet | Confirmed |
| Transport | — | Local subprocess (stdio) |
| Auth | No auth required | Not declared |
| Pricing | Free | Not declared |
| Required env vars | None listed | LUNE_API_KEY |
| Verified owner | Community listing | Community listing |
| GitHub stars | 263 | 4 |
| Directory activity | 0 views 0 installs 0 upvotes | 0 views 0 installs 0 upvotes |
| Tools | Not listed | 12 |
| Full listing | View Research Toolkit | View Lune Research |
Tools & capabilities
Research Toolkit tools
No tool names declared yet. Check the project README from the listing page.
Lune Research tools 12
search_papersHybrid vector + BM25 search over the corpussearch_papers_manyMany query variants in one call, merged by reciprocal rank fusionsearch_related_papersThe nearest neighbors of a paper you already havelist_conferencesIndexed venues, optionally filtered by categoryget_conference_papersOne venue's papers, paginatedget_paper_fulltextParsed full text, as markdown or JSONget_paper_citationsThe citation graph, in either directionextract_from_papersPull the same structured fields out of a set of papersverify_claimsCheck each claim against the corpus, with a verbatim quote when one existsgather_evidenceJudge whether the evidence is sufficient yet, and name what is missingsearch_research_guidanceThe curated methodology and reproducibility corpusget_research_guidance_docThe full text of one guidance document
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.
Research Toolkit
No confirmed install command for Research Toolkit yet — follow the setup steps linked from its listing page rather than a guessed package name.
Lune Research
{
"mcpServers": {
"lune-research-2": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"@retrograde-labs/lune-mcp-server"
],
"env": {
"LUNE_API_KEY": "YOUR_LUNE_API_KEY_HERE"
}
}
}
}
Frequently asked questions
Research Toolkit is categorized under Research and uses an install path we have not confirmed yet. Lune Research belongs to Research and uses a local stdio subprocess. Pick Research Toolkit for research work and Lune Research 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. Research Toolkit has no confirmed install command yet — follow its own setup instructions.
Research Toolkit is listed as free. Auth: no auth required. Lune Research 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 research-toolkit and lune-research-2 as separate keys in the same mcpServers object, and your assistant will call tools from either one.
On AllMCPs, Research Toolkit has a quality signal of 49/100 (Fair) with 0 views, 0 installs and 263 GitHub stars. Lune Research has 57/100 (Good) with 0 views, 0 installs and 4 GitHub stars.