Autonomous research engine: auto research from a prompt to a fully-cited academic paper via MCP
OpenPaper is an autonomous research engine for Claude Desktop and any MCP client. Auto research from a prompt to a fully-cited academic paper, exported as PDF, DOCX, or ZIP.
OpenPaper uses 18 specialized AI agents to search 500M+ academic sources (OpenAlex, Crossref, Semantic Scholar) and write thesis-level papers with every citation linked to a real publication.
https://openpaper.devauth_token cookie — that's your tokenThis auth_token is a durable 30-day token and works whether you signed in with Google or email. Do not copy the Authorization header from the Network tab: on most pages the browser sends no such header (the app forwards the cookie server-side), and where one does appear it is a short-lived session token that expires in about an hour, so the MCP server would stop working soon after. When the token expires, repeat these steps to get a fresh one.
Add to your claude_desktop_config.json (no manual install needed — uvx fetches the published package on first run):
{
"mcpServers": {
"openpaper": {
"command": "uvx",
"args": ["openpaper-mcp"],
"env": {
"OPENPAPER_API_TOKEN": "your-token-here"
}
}
}
}
pip install mcp httpx
{
"mcpServers": {
"openpaper": {
"command": "python",
"args": ["/path/to/openpaper-mcp/server.py"],
"env": {
"OPENPAPER_API_TOKEN": "your-token-here"
}
}
}
}
start_paper_generationStart generating a paper. Returns a generation_id immediately.
Generate a graduate-level paper on "The neurobiological basis of PTSD"
using APA 7th citation style, 20-30 pages
check_paper_statusPoll for progress and get download links when done.
Check the status of generation abc123
list_my_papersSee all your previous papers with download links.
List my last 5 papers
User: Write a paper on the impact of social media on adolescent mental health
Claude: [calls start_paper_generation("impact of social media on adolescent mental health")]
→ Generation started (ID: abc123). Checking back in a few minutes...
[later]
Claude: [calls check_paper_status("abc123")]
→ Status: processing, phase: writing, 65% complete
[later]
Claude: [calls check_paper_status("abc123")]
→ Status: completed! PDF: https://... DOCX: https://...
Papers cost 1-3 credits depending on length:
New accounts get free credits. Buy more at openpaper.dev.
Source-derived launch command. Check the maintainer’s required arguments and credentials before running:
uvx openpaper-mcpMerge this template into ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json. Keep existing servers. Add any arguments, credentials, and permissions required by the maintainer; this template has not been install-tested.
{
"mcpServers": {
"io-github-federicodeponte-openpaper-mcp": {
"command": "uvx",
"args": [
"openpaper-mcp"
]
}
}
}Restart Claude Desktop completely for changes to take effect. Confirm the server appears connected in the client’s tool list, then try a read-only example from its documentation.
Claude Desktop setup referenceopenpaper-mcppypiio.github.federicodeponte/openpaper-mcp works with any MCP-compatible client. Copy the config snippet from the Configuration section above and add it to the file shown for your client, then restart the application.
~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.jsonRestart Claude Desktop completely for changes to take effect.~/.cursor/mcp.jsonRestart Cursor for changes to take effect..vscode/mcp.jsonReload VS Code window for changes to take effect.~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.jsonRestart Windsurf for changes to take effect..mcp.jsonSave at the project root, then start Claude Code in that project and review the MCP server approval prompt. Keep real credentials out of shared files.