Paper Search (ArXiv + Semantic Scholar + OpenAlex)
Search arXiv, Semantic Scholar, and OpenAlex from your agent, pull full arXiv text, and OCR images to LaTeX when you are grounding a technical idea in published work.
Overview
paper-mcp is a MCP server for the Idea phase that searches arXiv, Semantic Scholar, and OpenAlex, reads full arXiv text, and runs image-to-LaTeX OCR for agents.
What is this MCP server?
- Unified search across arXiv, Semantic Scholar, and OpenAlex
- Read full arXiv paper text inside agent workflows
- Image-to-LaTeX OCR for equations and figures from screenshots or scans
- Hosted streamable-http remote at latex-tools.online/mcp (v0.3.0)
- Three scholarly sources named: arXiv, Semantic Scholar, OpenAlex
- Server version 0.3.0; single streamable-http remote documented
What problem does it solve?
Solo builders validating technical ideas lose hours jumping between scholarly sites and manually copying equations when their agent cannot query papers in one workflow.
Who is it for?
Indie builders and researchers using Claude Code or Cursor to map prior art, benchmark claims, or draft technical memos during early discovery.
Skip if: Users who need paywalled publisher PDFs, legal citation export for court filings, or offline-only corpora with no network remote.
What do I get? / Deliverables
After you add the latex-tools.online MCP remote, your agent can search three scholarly corpora, ingest arXiv full text, and OCR math figures without custom API code.
- Cross-index paper search results inside agent sessions
- Full-text arXiv extracts for summarization or spec grounding
- LaTeX snippets from OCR’d images for docs or validation writeups
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Journey fit
Paper-mcp is shelved under Idea because its core job is literature discovery and evidence gathering before you freeze scope or build features. Research fits searches, citation trails, and reading papers—not landing-page copy (launch) or production monitoring (operate).
How it compares
Scholarly search and LaTeX OCR MCP, not a general browser automation skill or local Zotero library manager.
Common Questions / FAQ
Who is paper-mcp for?
It is for builders and agent users who need fast academic search and arXiv reading while researching product or technology ideas.
When should I use paper-mcp?
Use it in Idea-phase research when you are comparing papers, verifying claims, or capturing equations before validation or build commitments.
How do I add paper-mcp to my agent?
Register the streamable-http remote URL https://latex-tools.online/mcp from the MCP server entry in your Claude Code, Cursor, or compatible client configuration.