Semanticscholar vs PDF Reader MCP

In-depth architectural comparison of the Semanticscholar and PDF Reader MCP 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.

Which MCP Server Should You Choose?

S

Choose Semanticscholar when:

• You need dedicated capabilities in the Developer Tools domain.
• You prefer local stdio subprocess transport architecture.
• Your security boundary fits: No auth required (Free / Open Source).

Explore Semanticscholar Details

Choose PDF Reader MCP when:

• You need dedicated capabilities in the Developer Tools domain.
• You prefer local stdio subprocess transport architecture.
• Your security boundary fits: No auth required (Free / Open Source).

Explore PDF Reader MCP Details

Feature & Specification Comparison

Specification	S Semanticscholar Developer Tools	PDF Reader MCP Developer Tools
Summary	Semantic Scholar Academic Graph MCP.	Evidence-first PDF MCP. Agent Document Twin with citeable page+bbox evidence.
Category & Scope	Developer Tools	Developer Tools
Quality signal

Tools & Capabilities Breakdown

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).

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "semanticscholar-2": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "semanticscholar-2"
      ]
    }
  }
}

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "pdf-reader-mcp": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@sylphx/citra"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Related MCP Server Comparisons