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Semantic Scholar MCP Server

local only

Semantic Scholar MCP Server runs on your own machine — the client starts it, so there is no endpoint to ping. 2 566 installs a week from pypi. Last commit 30 Oct 2026.

MCP server for the Semantic Scholar API: search 200M+ papers, citations, authors, recommendations.

Installs per day peak 977 · avg 328 · +13% w/w
a month agotoday
2 566
Installs / week
pypi · s2-mcp-server
23
Stars
0 open issues
30 Oct 2026
Last commit
from GitHub
MIT
License
Python

Nothing serious here today

Today is the operative word: we check Semantic Scholar 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.

Three servers free · no card

Connect this server

This server runs on your own machine — install it with the package manager and the client starts it for you. Package name taken from the official registry entry.

run in your terminal
claude mcp add semantic-scholar-mcp -- uvx s2-mcp-server
~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "semantic-scholar-mcp": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "s2-mcp-server"
      ]
    }
  }
}
~/.codex/config.toml
[mcp_servers.semantic-scholar-mcp]
command = "uvx"
args = ["s2-mcp-server"]
.cursor/mcp.json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "semantic-scholar-mcp": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "s2-mcp-server"
      ]
    }
  }
}
.vscode/mcp.json
{
  "servers": {
    "semantic-scholar-mcp": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "s2-mcp-server"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Optional settings from the registry entry, left out of the block above: SEMANTIC_SCHOLAR_API_KEY (Semantic Scholar API key; introductory keys are currently assigned 1 request/second across all endpoints), SEMANTIC_SCHOLAR_MIN_SECONDS_BETWEEN_REQUESTS (Minimum seconds between authenticated requests. Default 1.1; lower only when Semantic Scholar has explicitly assigned the key a higher quota).

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Semantic Scholar MCP Server — questions

Answers built from our own checks of this server.

Why is there no uptime for Semantic Scholar MCP Server?
Semantic Scholar MCP Server runs on your own machine over stdio — there is no network address to reach, so uptime cannot be measured for it by anyone. What can be measured is adoption: the pypi package s2-mcp-server was installed 2 566 times last week.
How do I connect Semantic Scholar 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 runs locally, so the command pulls s2-mcp-server straight from pypi; nothing to host, nothing to sign up for.
How many people use Semantic Scholar MCP Server?
The pypi package s2-mcp-server was installed 2 566 times in the last week. Week over week that is +13%. We show installs rather than GitHub stars on purpose: a star is a bookmark, an install is someone actually running it.
Is Semantic Scholar MCP Server open source?
Yes — it is published under the MIT licence, written in Python and 23 stars on GitHub. The source link is on this page, so you can read exactly what it does with your data before you connect it.