OpenAlex MCP Server

by agenticsolutions-hq Your server? Claim it

answering

OpenAlex MCP Server is answering right now. Last checked 5 min ago. Last commit 16 Oct 2026.

Search OpenAlex papers, authors, institutions and citations. Hosted on Apify; needs an Apify token.

Uptime history 10 days of history

10 days agonow

100.0%

Uptime 24h

91 of 91 checks

—

Tools

hidden behind auth

375 ms

Response time

average over 24h

Stars

last commit 16 Oct 2026

Nothing serious here today

Today is the operative word: we check OpenAlex MCP Server every 15 minutes and re-read its code on every release. Watch it and you find out the day that stops being true.

Connect this server

Endpoint below is the one we actually reach during checks — not the one copied from a README. Last verified 5 min ago.

Claude Code Claude Desktop Codex Cursor VS Code

run in your terminal

claude mcp add openalex-mcp --transport http https://agentic-solutions--openalex-mcp.apify.actor/mcp

Settings → Connectors → Add custom connector, then paste this address

https://agentic-solutions--openalex-mcp.apify.actor/mcp

~/.codex/config.toml

[mcp_servers.openalex-mcp]
url = "https://agentic-solutions--openalex-mcp.apify.actor/mcp"

.cursor/mcp.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "openalex-mcp": {
      "url": "https://agentic-solutions--openalex-mcp.apify.actor/mcp"
    }
  }
}

.vscode/mcp.json

{
  "servers": {
    "openalex-mcp": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://agentic-solutions--openalex-mcp.apify.actor/mcp"
    }
  }
}

This endpoint answered with an authorization challenge. The server is running, but it did not say what kind of credentials it expects.

Endpoints

URL	Transport	State	Latency	Checked
https://agentic-solutions--openalex-mcp.apify.actor/mcp	streamable-http	needs auth	352 ms	5 min ago

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OpenAlex MCP Server — questions

Answers built from our own checks of this server.

Why is there no tool list for OpenAlex MCP Server?

The server answered our handshake with an authorization challenge, so it is running — but it will not describe its tools to an anonymous client. To see them you need to connect with your own credentials. We record it as alive, not as broken: 100.0% of checks in the last 24 hours got a reply.

Is OpenAlex MCP Server working right now?

We send a real MCP handshake every 15 minutes. Over the last 24 hours 91 of 91 checks got a reply (100.0%), average response time 375 ms. The bar chart above shows every period we have measured.

How do I connect OpenAlex MCP Server?

Copy the ready config from this page. We generate it for Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Codex, Cursor and VS Code, each in the form that client actually reads. It is a remote server, so there is nothing to install — the client connects to the address. You will need your own credentials: it refuses anonymous clients.

Does OpenAlex MCP Server need an API key?

Yes. Every time we knock, OpenAlex MCP Server answers with an authorization challenge instead of its tool list — that is how we know it is running and gated rather than broken. Bring your own credentials and it will talk.

How fast is OpenAlex MCP Server?

It answers our handshake in 375 ms on average, which is faster than 39% of all working MCP servers we measure. The comparison comes from our own checks across the whole registry, every 15 minutes.

Is OpenAlex MCP Server open source?

We cannot say either way: 0 stars on GitHub, but we could not determine the licence, and without one the code is not open source by default.