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paperpal

MCP.Pizza Chef: jerpint

paperpal is an MCP server designed to facilitate literature reviews by providing LLMs access to arXiv and Hugging Face papers. It enables natural language conversations with models like Claude to search, discuss, and organize academic papers, streamlining the research and review process. It supports semantic search and interactive exploration of scientific literature, enhancing research workflows while acknowledging limitations like potential hallucinations and imperfect search results.

Use This MCP server To

Search academic papers from arXiv and Hugging Face via natural language Discuss and analyze research papers interactively with LLMs Organize and structure ideas for literature reviews Discover new relevant papers for research topics Integrate literature search into AI-assisted writing workflows

README

🚨 Development has moved to https://github.com/milatechtransfer/paperpal

paperpal

MCP Extension to aid you in searching and writing literature reviews

Check out this conversation with Claude to see what it can do

How it works

paperpal gives your LLMs access to arxiv and Hugging Face papers. You can then have a natural conversation with your favourite LLMs (e.g. Claude) and have it guide you.

You can:

  • Discuss papers
  • Look for new papers
  • Organize ideas for liteature reviews
  • etc.

Of course, this tool is as good as the sum of its parts. LLMs can still hallucinate, and semantic search is never perfect.

Quickstart

There are many different ways with which you can interact with an MCP server.

Claude Desktop App

If this is your first time using an MCP server for Claude Desktop App, see https://modelcontextprotocol.io/quickstart/user

First, clone this repository locally:

git clone https://github.com/jerpint/paperpal

Next, add the extension to your app. Open your configuration file (on macOS this should be ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json) and and add the following to the extension:

For example on MacOS:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "paperpal": {
      "command": "uv",
      "args": [
        "--directory",
        "/Users/<username>/paperpal",
        "run",
        "paperpal.py"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Restart your Claude Desktop App and you should see it appear.

Cursor

If this is your first time using an MCP server for Cursor, see https://docs.cursor.com/context/model-context-protocol#remote-development

First, clone this repository locally:

git clone https://github.com/jerpint/paperpal

Add this to the root of the project in a .cursor/mcp.json file:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "paperpal": {
      "command": "/Users/jeremypinto/.cargo/bin/uv",
      "args": [
        "--directory",
        "/Users/jeremypinto/paperpal",
        "run",
        "paperpal.py"
      ]
    }
  }
}

paperpal FAQ

How do I connect paperpal to my LLM client?
You connect paperpal by configuring your MCP client (e.g., Claude Desktop App) to use the paperpal server endpoint, enabling access to its literature search capabilities.
Which paper sources does paperpal support?
paperpal supports accessing papers from arXiv and Hugging Face papers repositories for comprehensive literature coverage.
Can paperpal handle semantic search queries?
Yes, paperpal uses semantic search to find relevant papers based on natural language queries, improving search relevance.
Is paperpal limited to specific LLM providers?
No, paperpal is provider-agnostic and works with various LLMs like Claude, OpenAI GPT, and Gemini.
How does paperpal handle LLM hallucinations?
While paperpal provides access to real paper data, LLMs may still hallucinate; users should verify critical information independently.
What is required to start using paperpal?
You need an MCP-compatible client and network access to the paperpal server; setup instructions are available in the GitHub repository.
Can paperpal organize literature review notes?
Yes, it helps structure and organize ideas and notes during literature review conversations with LLMs.
Is paperpal open source and actively maintained?
Development has moved to https://github.com/milatechtransfer/paperpal, where the latest updates and source code are available.