OpenAlex ResearchSAFE
MCP server for the OpenAlex API — search 240M+ scholarly works, analyze citations, track research trends, and map collaboration networks
Overview
From the repository's own README, as read at the audited commit. Badges and raw HTML are left out.
A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that provides access to OpenAlex, a comprehensive open catalog of scholarly papers, authors, institutions, and more. Designed to empower AI assistants to conduct literature reviews, analyze research trends, and map the scholarly landscape.
Quick Install
npx openalex-research-mcp setup
This auto-detects your Claude Desktop config, prompts for your email and optional API key, writes the config, and verifies connectivity — all in one step. Restart Claude Desktop when done.
Flags:
--print— print the config JSON without writing anything--config-path— print the detected config file path and exit--email [email protected] --api-key YOUR_KEY— non-interactive / scripted mode
Features:
- ⚡️ In-memory caching with TTL for fast repeated requests
- 🔄 Retry logic with exponential backoff for resilient API calls
- ✅ Input validation with Zod schemas
- 🏥 Health check tool for monitoring
- 📊 31 specialized tools for research
- 🎓 Curated journal presets — UTD24, FT50, AJG/ABS tiers, top AI conferences, and more
- 🏛️ Institution group presets — Ivy League, Top US, INSEAD+London, and more
Use as a Claude Skill (lightweight alternative)
The same OpenAlex access is also packaged as a Claude Skill under skill/ — a token-frugal alternative to the always-on MCP server. A skill loads into the agent's context only when invoked and shells out to a small zero-dependency CLI, so it costs nothing while idle. Use the MCP server in MCP clients (Claude Desktop, TypingMind); use the skill in coding agents (Claude Code, etc.) that already have shell access.
chmod +x skill/bin/openalex && export PATH="$PWD/skill/bin:$PATH" export OPENALEX_EMAIL="[email protected]" # optional: faster polite pool openalex works "supply chain network" -n 5
See skill/README.md for install and the MCP-vs-skill trade-off. (The indu
2cdfcf570a60OBSERVED · 2026-10-08Connect
Built from this server's own package name, version and transport as found in its source — not copied from anyone's documentation, so it cannot drift against a page we do not control. Replace the environment placeholders with a token scoped to the least it needs.
claude mcp add openalex-research-mcp --env OPENALEX_API_KEY=${OPENALEX_API_KEY} -- npx -y [email protected]{
"mcpServers": {
"openalex-research-mcp": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"[email protected]"
],
"env": {
"OPENALEX_API_KEY": "${OPENALEX_API_KEY}"
}
}
}
}Exposed tools (26)
26 read · 0 write · 0 destructive.
| Tool | Risk | Description |
|---|---|---|
analyze_geographic_distribution | read | Analyze the geographical distribution of research activity for a topic or query. Shows which countries and institutions are most active. |
analyze_topic_trends | read | Analyze publication trends over time for specific topics or queries. Returns works grouped by year to show research evolution and growth. |
autocomplete_search | read | Fast autocomplete/typeahead search for works, authors, institutions, or other entities. Returns quick suggestions for partial queries. |
batch_resolve_references | read | Resolve a list of DOIs or work IDs to full work metadata in one call. Useful for checking reference lists: validate that a set of citations are real, credible, and appropriately cited. |
check_venue_quality | read | Check the quality and prestige metrics of a journal or conference. Returns h-index, citation impact, and indexing status. Use before citing a paper to confirm the venue is reputable. |
compare_research_areas | read | Compare publication volume and citation metrics across different research topics or queries. Useful for understanding relative activity in different fields. |
find_open_access_version | read | Find freely available (open access) versions of papers, including preprints on arXiv, bioRxiv, and institutional repositories. Useful for accessing full text without a subscription. |
find_review_articles | read | Find review articles, systematic reviews, and meta-analyses on a topic. Reviews summarize the state-of-the-art and are high-value citations that establish context in top papers. Optionally restrict to specific high-impact journals. |
find_seminal_papers | read | Find seminal/foundational papers in a research area — those published more than 5 years ago with very high citations. These are the |
get_author_collaborators | read | Analyze an author\ |
get_author_profile | read | Get a comprehensive research profile for an author: h-index, i10-index, total citations, top-cited works, recent works, and main research topics. Use this to identify key researchers, potential reviewers, or to study an expert\ |
get_author_works | read | Get all publications by a specific author over time. Useful for analyzing an author |
get_citation_network | read | Get a citation network for a work including both citing works (forward) and referenced works (backward). Returns immediate connections only. Citing works are returned as summaries; referenced works as IDs (use batch_resolve_references to hydrate). |
get_entity | read | Get detailed information about any OpenAlex entity by ID. Supports works, authors, sources, institutions, topics, publishers, and funders. |
get_related_works | read | Find works related to a given work based on shared topics, citations, and references. Useful for discovering similar papers in a research area. |
get_top_cited_works | read | Find the most highly cited works in a research area or matching specific criteria. Identifies influential and seminal papers. Automatically filters for papers with significant citations. Combine with source_name or source_issn to find the most-cited papers in a specific top journal/conference. |
get_top_venues_for_field | read | Get the top journals and conferences for a specific research field ranked by h-index. Essential first step before searching for citations — use this to identify credible venues, then use search_works_in_venue to restrict searches to them. |
get_trending_topics | read | Discover emerging and trending research topics based on recent publication activity. Identifies fast-growing research areas. |
get_work_citations | read | Get all works that cite a given work. Essential for forward citation analysis and understanding research impact. |
get_work_references | read | Get all works referenced/cited by a given work. Essential for backward citation analysis and finding foundational papers. |
health_check | read | Check the health status of the OpenAlex MCP server and API connectivity. Returns cache status and configuration information. |
search_authors | read | Search for authors/researchers. Returns h-index, citation count, and affiliation data. Best for finding experts when you know the name. Use search_authors_by_expertise to find experts by research area. |
search_authors_by_expertise | read | Find leading researchers/experts in a specific topic or research area, ranked by h-index or citation count. More useful than search_authors when you do not know names but need to identify key figures in a field. |
search_by_topic | read | Search for works within specific research topics or domains. Use this to explore literature in a particular field or subfield. Supports venue filtering to restrict results to top journals/conferences. |
search_institutions | read | Search for academic institutions with filters for research output, citations, and geographical location. Find leading institutions in specific areas. |
search_works_in_venue | read | Search for papers published in a specific journal or conference. This is the primary tool for restricting citations to credible, high-impact venues. Identify the venue first via check_venue_quality or search_sources, then use its name, ISSN, or ID here. |
Trust audit
SAFEgrade B · trust 89/100 Nothing in the source contradicts what it says it does. Grade A is reserved for packages that have also passed the behavioural sandbox.
| Layer | What it checks | Result |
|---|---|---|
| L0 | Provenance & inventory | PASS |
| L1 | Static analysis of the code | WARN |
| L2 | Instruction surface (what it tells the agent) | PASS |
| L3 | Class-specific surface | PASS |
| L4 | Behavioural (sandbox) | SKIPPED |
What the source does
- Filesystem
- none-observed
- Network
- declared (5 observation(s))
- Shell
- none-observed
- Dependencies
- not all pinned
- Secrets in source
- none-found
Findings (5)
if (apiKey) console.log(`API Key: ${obfuscate(apiKey)}`);@modelcontextprotocol/sdk, axios, zod, @types/node, typescript, vitest
- Enhanced access with email (polite pool) or API key
- Implements "polite pool" access via email parameter or API key
- **`openalex-research-mcp setup`**: Interactive guided setup wizard that auto-detects the Claude Desktop config path, prompts for email and optional API key (hidden input), merges the MCP server entr
Gates applied: no_behavioural_pass.
2cdfcf570a60full audit observations/trust-audit/mcp-server/oksure__openalex-research.json · Report an issue / request a re-scanAudit history
Every audit this server has had. A grade with a past is a grade somebody is still checking.
| Date | Source | Verdict | Grade | Score | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-10-08 | 2cdfcf570a60 | SAFE | B | 89 | first audit |
Questions
What is the OpenAlex Research MCP server?
MCP server for the OpenAlex API — search 240M+ scholarly works, analyze citations, track research trends, and map collaboration networks
What tools does OpenAlex Research expose?
26 in total: 26 read-only, 0 that write, and 0 that can delete or overwrite. Every one is listed on this page with its risk.
Is OpenAlex Research safe to connect to an agent?
The audit found nothing in the source that contradicts what it says it does, and graded it B (89/100). Grade A is held back for packages that have also passed a sandboxed behavioural run, which is why a clean server reads B.
What credentials does OpenAlex Research need?
It reads OPENALEX_API_KEY from the environment. Give it a token scoped to the least it needs — an agent that can be talked into calling a tool can be talked into calling it with your credentials.
How does OpenAlex Research run?
It speaks stdio, so it runs as a local process your client starts. It is published on npm as openalex-research-mcp at 0.5.0.
How current is this page?
The grade is for one exact copy of the source (2cdfcf570a60), read on 2026-10-08. The repository is watched and re-audited when it changes.