Crossref Mcp Server
Resolve DOIs and search the Crossref corpus so your agent can ground blog posts, RAG apps, or research features in real bibliographic metadata.
Overview
Crossref MCP is an Idea-phase MCP server that resolves DOIs, searches on the order of 155 million scholarly works, and fetches references through the Crossref REST API.
What is this MCP server?
- Resolve DOIs and fetch work metadata via Crossref REST API
- Search roughly 155 million scholarly works as stated in the server description
- Optional CROSSREF_MAILTO for polite-pool User-Agent and better rate limits
- Configurable CROSSREF_BASE_URL, CROSSREF_TIMEOUT_MS, MCP_LOG_LEVEL
- Bun-oriented npm stdio package at version 0.1.9
- Catalog description cites ~155M searchable scholarly works
- Package version 0.1.9
- Default API base https://api.crossref.org with 10000 ms default timeout
Community signal: 1 GitHub stars.
What problem does it solve?
Builders prototyping research or content products manually verify DOIs and bibliographies instead of delegating structured Crossref queries to the agent.
Who is it for?
Indie devs building literature tools, science newsletters, or citation-aware agents who want official metadata without scraping.
Skip if: Full-text paywalled PDF retrieval or legal case research—use domain-specific MCPs like CourtListener for courts.
What do I get? / Deliverables
Your agent returns Crossref-backed metadata and search hits you can drop into specs, citations, and RAG document lists.
- DOI resolution and Crossref work search results inside agent sessions
- Reference lists grounded in Crossref REST metadata
Recommended MCP Servers
Journey fit
How it compares
Scholarly metadata MCP via Crossref, not a general web search or courtroom docket integration.
Common Questions / FAQ
Who is Crossref MCP for?
Solo builders creating research, education, or content products who need DOI and publication metadata inside Claude Code or Cursor workflows.
When should I use Crossref MCP?
Use it during idea and validate research when you must confirm sources, compare papers, or plan citation features before implementation.
How do I add Crossref MCP to my agent?
Install @cyanheads/crossref-mcp-server, run start:stdio over MCP stdio, and optionally set CROSSREF_MAILTO for polite-pool rate limits.