Open Alex MCP

@drAbreu

About Open Alex MCP

Professional MCP server for OpenAlex academic research - ML-powered author disambiguation, institution resolution, and comprehensive researcher profiles with ORCID integration

#openalex #academic #research #author #disambiguation #orcid #scholar #publications #citations #institutions #ml #fastmcp

Config

Add this server to your MCP-compatible client using the configuration below.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "alex-mcp": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "--from",
        "git+https://github.com/drAbreu/alex-mcp.git",
        "alex-mcp"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Tools

No tools detected

We auto-extract tools from the README. The maintainer can list them under a ## Tools heading to populate this section.

Overview

What is Open Alex MCP?

It is a professional Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for author disambiguation and institution resolution using the OpenAlex.org API. It provides tools for author search, work discovery, topic analysis, and source lookup, targeting researchers, librarians, and AI agents.

How to use Open Alex MCP?

Install Python 3.10+, clone the repository, create a virtual environment, and install the package with pip install -e .. Run the server with ./run_alex_mcp.sh. Configure an MCP-compatible client (e.g., Claude Desktop) by adding a JSON entry pointing command to the script. The server exposes tools such as disambiguate_author, search_authors, get_author_profile, resolve_institution, search_works, get_work_details, search_topics, analyze_topics, and search_sources.

Key features of Open Alex MCP

ML-powered author disambiguation with confidence scoring
Institution name and abbreviation resolution
ORCID integration for highest‑accuracy matching
Career stage determination and metrics
Multiple ranked candidates for automated decision‑making
Built with FastMCP following MCP best practices

Use cases of Open Alex MCP

Disambiguating an author’s identity when multiple researchers share a name
Expanding institutional abbreviations (e.g., MIT → Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
Searching scholarly works with filters by author, year, source type, or topic
Retrieving detailed profiles and publication lists for a specific author
Analyzing a text’s title/abstract to identify research topics and concepts

FAQ from Open Alex MCP

What dependencies does Open Alex MCP require?

Python 3.10 or higher and an MCP‑compatible client (e.g., Claude Desktop). The package uses the OpenAlex API and the FastMCP framework.

Where does the data come from?

All data is retrieved in real‑time from the OpenAlex.org API. No local database or API key is mentioned.

What are the known limits?

The server implements respectful API usage with proper delays and rate limiting. Tool parameters have maximum result limits (e.g., max_candidates between 1–25).

Do I need an API key?

No. The README does not mention any authentication or API key requirement for accessing OpenAlex.

Which transport protocol does it use?

It uses the Model Context Protocol (MCP). The specific transport (stdio, HTTP, etc.) is not detailed in the README.

Frequently asked questions

What dependencies does Open Alex MCP require?

Python 3.10 or higher and an MCP‑compatible client (e.g., Claude Desktop). The package uses the OpenAlex API and the FastMCP framework.

Where does the data come from?

All data is retrieved in real‑time from the OpenAlex.org API. No local database or API key is mentioned.

What are the known limits?

The server implements respectful API usage with proper delays and rate limiting. Tool parameters have maximum result limits (e.g., `max_candidates` between 1–25).

Do I need an API key?

No. The README does not mention any authentication or API key requirement for accessing OpenAlex.

Which transport protocol does it use?

It uses the Model Context Protocol (MCP). The specific transport (stdio, HTTP, etc.) is not detailed in the README.

Comments

Basic information

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