What is Reference Mcp

reference-mcp is a Model Context Protocol server that provides BibTeX-formatted citation data from CiteAs and Google Scholar, aimed at enhancing research workflows by integrating citation retrieval directly into applications.

Use cases

Use cases include automating citation retrieval for research papers, integrating citation data into academic writing tools, and enhancing bibliographic management systems.

How to use

To use reference-mcp, install it via Claude Desktop or Smithery. Configure it in the application settings and utilize the provided tools to retrieve citation data by specifying resources or search queries.

Key features

Key features include the ability to retrieve BibTeX-formatted citations from CiteAs and Google Scholar, customizable result counts, and easy integration into existing applications.

Where to use

reference-mcp can be used in academic research, software development, and any application requiring citation management or retrieval.

CiteAssist MCP server

A Model Context Protocol server that provides BibTeX-formatted citation data from CiteAs and Google Scholar. Enhance your research workflow by integrating citation retrieval directly into your applications.

Components

Tools

• get_citeas_data - Retrieve BibTeX-formatted citation for the specified resource from the CiteAs
  • resource (string, required): DOI, URL, keyword
• get_scholar_data - Retrieve BibTeX-formatted citations from the Google Scholar
  • query (string, required): Search query
  • results (integer, optional): Number of results (default: 2)

Quickstart

Install

Claude Desktop

On MacOS: ~/Library/Application\ Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

On Windows: %APPDATA%/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

Development/Unpublished Servers Configuration:

Published Servers Configuration:

Installing via Smithery

To install reference-mcp for Claude Desktop automatically via Smithery:

npx -y @smithery/cli install @ndchikin/reference-mcp --client claude

Development

Building and Publishing

To prepare the package for distribution:

1. Sync dependencies and update lockfile:

uv sync

2. Build package distributions:

uv build

This will create source and wheel distributions in the dist/ directory.

3. Publish to PyPI:

uv publish

Note: You’ll need to set PyPI credentials via environment variables or command flags:

• Token: --token or UV_PUBLISH_TOKEN
• Or username/password: --username/UV_PUBLISH_USERNAME and --password/UV_PUBLISH_PASSWORD

Debugging

Since MCP servers run over stdio, debugging can be challenging. For the best debugging
experience, we strongly recommend using the MCP Inspector.

You can launch the MCP Inspector via npm with this command:

npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector uv --directory /path/to/project/dir run reference-mcp

Upon launching, the Inspector will display a URL that you can access in your browser to begin debugging.