# io.github.cyanheads/openalex-mcp-server

> Access the OpenAlex academic research catalog — 270M+ publications.

- name: io.github.cyanheads/openalex-mcp-server
- version: 0.9.0
- connection class: R0 (autonomous)
- trust: 94/100
- quality: 84/100 (good)
- owner: not claimed
- descriptor: https://api.protogrid.dev/v1/servers/io.github.cyanheads%2Fopenalex-mcp-server
- tools: https://api.protogrid.dev/v1/servers/io.github.cyanheads%2Fopenalex-mcp-server/tools

**An agent can connect right now, no human step.** Remote endpoint, no authentication, reachable on the last probe.

## Connection (mcpServers)

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "openalex-mcp-server": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://openalex.caseyjhand.com/mcp"
    }
  }
}
```


## Trust

- hygiene: 100
- liveness: 100
- freshness: 100
- provenance: 80
- drivers: +repository +namespace-matches-repo +reachable +uptime-100% +updated-2d-ago
- Derived from observable signals (official registry feed and our own credential-free probes); no code audit performed.

## Quality 84/100 (good)

### protocol: 88 (weight 25)

- pass `protocol.modern`: supports 2026-07-28 (server/discover)
- pass `protocol.stateless`: answers without a session
- pass `protocol.transport`: streamable HTTP
- warn `protocol.list_ttl`: tools/list declares ttlMs 0, so clients re-fetch it on every use

### authorization: n/a (weight 15)

- n/a `auth.prm`, `auth.as_metadata`, `auth.cimd`: no remote uses OAuth
- n/a `auth.secret_in_url`: no templated URL

### tool hygiene: 86 (weight 30)

- pass `tools.descriptions`: every tool has a description
- pass `tools.description_length`: descriptions are concise
- pass `tools.schemas`: every tool has an object input schema
- pass `tools.annotations`: 5 of 5 tools declare readOnlyHint or destructiveHint
- fail `tools.directory_hints`: no tool declares all four of readOnlyHint, destructiveHint, idempotentHint and openWorldHint; missing: openalex_search_entities (destructiveHint); openalex_describe_fields (destructiveHint, openWorldHint); openalex_resolve_name (destructiveHint); …
- pass `tools.token_cost`: about 6,707 tokens to load every tool
- pass `tools.api_dump`: tools are not a one-to-one API dump

### stability: 75 (weight 15)

- warn `stability.changes`: 13 tool changes in 30 days
- pass `stability.rug_pull`: no tool changed its meaning under the same name

### dependencies: n/a (weight 15)

- n/a `deps.known_vulns`, `deps.mcp_sdk_version`, `deps.resolvable`: deps.dev does not know @cyanheads/openalex-mcp-server@0.9.0, @cyanheads/openalex-mcp-server@0.9.0

- tools: 5, about 6,707 tokens to load them all
- tool set hash: fbc592f43c96c99ab351d5aa5a6e2cfc
- tools last changed: 2026-10-18T13:46:02.301Z
- badge: [![protogrid quality](https://protogrid.dev/badge/io.github.cyanheads/openalex-mcp-server.svg)](https://protogrid.dev/servers/io.github.cyanheads/openalex-mcp-server)
- Checks run on what our credential-free, read-only probes observe; tools are never called and no code audit is performed.

### Tool changes

- 2026-10-18 `openalex_describe_fields` changed (inputSchema)
- 2026-10-18 `openalex_get_citation_graph` changed (inputSchema, outputSchema)
- 2026-10-18 `openalex_analyze_trends` changed (inputSchema, outputSchema)
- 2026-10-18 `openalex_search_entities` changed (inputSchema, outputSchema)
- 2026-10-18 `openalex_resolve_name` changed (description, inputSchema, outputSchema)
  - before: Resolve a name or an identifier to an OpenAlex ID. ALWAYS use this before filtering by entity — names are ambiguous, IDs are not. A name returns up to 10 autocomplete matches with disambiguation hints. An identifier — OpenAlex ID, DOI, ORCID, ROR, PMID, or ISSN, bare or in URL form — resolves directly to the one record it addresses, and needs no entity_type. A PMCID is recognized as well, bare or as a PubMed Central URL, but OpenAlex indexes no PMCIDs, so it resolves nothing — pass the work's PMID or DOI instead.
  - after: Resolve a name or an identifier to an OpenAlex ID. ALWAYS use this before filtering by entity — names are ambiguous, IDs are not. A name returns up to 10 autocomplete matches with disambiguation hints. An identifier — OpenAlex ID, DOI, ORCID, ROR, PMID, or ISSN, bare or in URL form — resolves directly to the record it addresses instead of running a name search. Short names share the bare OpenAlex ID shape (keyword p53 reads as publisher ID P53), so a bare OpenAlex ID that resolves nothing is searched as a name next. Two identifiers can address more than one entity type: a ROR names an organization's institution, funder, and publisher records alike, so it returns each one that exists (institution first) unless entity_type picks one of those three; and a Crossref Funder Registry DOI (10.13039/…) resolves to the funder unless entity_type is works. A PMCID is recognized as well, bare or as a PubMed Central URL, but OpenAlex indexes no PMCIDs, so it resolves nothing — pass the work's PMID or DOI instead.
- 2026-09-30 `openalex_get_citation_graph` changed (description, inputSchema, outputSchema)
  - before: Walk the citation graph one hop from a seed work. Direction picks the edge: incoming citations (`cites`), the seed's own references (`cited_by`), or OpenAlex's algorithmically-related works (`related_to`). Note: `direction` follows OpenAlex's filter convention, which inverts the common English reading — `cites` returns works that cite the seed; `cited_by` returns works the seed cites. Results use the works schema; combine with filters/sort to narrow further.
  - after: Walk the citation graph one hop from a seed work. Direction picks the edge: incoming citations (`cites`), the seed's own references (`cited_by`), or OpenAlex's algorithmically-related works (`related_to`). Note: `direction` follows OpenAlex's filter convention, which inverts the common English reading — `cites` returns works that cite the seed; `cited_by` returns works the seed cites. Results use the works schema; combine with filters/sort to narrow further. Responses cap at 64,000 bytes per surface unless the least a call can return is larger (`over_budget`); `omitted` and `windows` give the openalex_search_entities calls that continue a cut.
- 2026-09-30 `openalex_analyze_trends` changed (inputSchema, outputSchema)
- 2026-09-30 `openalex_search_entities` changed (description, inputSchema, outputSchema)
  - before: Search, filter, sort, or retrieve by ID. Covers all OpenAlex entity types (works, authors, sources, institutions, topics, keywords, publishers, funders). Pass `id` to retrieve a single entity. Otherwise, use `query` and/or `filters` for discovery. Supports keyword search with boolean operators, exact phrase matching, and AI semantic search. Use openalex_resolve_name to resolve names to IDs before filtering. Searches and ID lookups return a curated set of fields by default; pass `select` to override with specific fields, or `["*"]` for the full record.
  - after: Search, filter, sort, or retrieve by ID. Covers all OpenAlex entity types (works, authors, sources, institutions, topics, keywords, publishers, funders). Pass `id` to retrieve a single entity. Otherwise, use `query` and/or `filters` for discovery. Supports keyword search with boolean operators, exact phrase matching, and AI semantic search. Use openalex_resolve_name to resolve names to IDs before filtering. Searches and ID lookups return a curated set of fields by default; pass `select` to override with specific fields, or `["*"]` for the full record. Responses cap at 64,000 bytes per surface unless the least a call can return is larger (`over_budget`); `omitted` and `windows` give the calls that continue a cut, and `slice` pages a long array.
- 2026-09-24 `openalex_describe_fields` changed (inputSchema)
- 2026-09-24 `openalex_get_citation_graph` changed (outputSchema)

Full history: https://api.protogrid.dev/v1/servers/io.github.cyanheads%2Fopenalex-mcp-server/changes

## Dependencies

- npm @cyanheads/openalex-mcp-server@0.9.0: unknown
- npm @cyanheads/openalex-mcp-server@0.9.0: unknown

Dependency graphs from deps.dev; advisories from OSV.dev, including the GitHub Advisory Database and the PyPI Advisory Database; all CC BY 4.0.

## Remotes

- https://openalex.caseyjhand.com/mcp (streamable-http, auth none, reachable true, uptime30d 1)

## Packages

- npm @cyanheads/openalex-mcp-server@0.9.0
- npm @cyanheads/openalex-mcp-server@0.9.0

## Tools (5)

- `openalex_analyze_trends`: Aggregate OpenAlex entities into groups and count them. Use for trend analysis (group works by publication_year), distribution analysis (group by oa_status, type, country), and comparative analysis (group by institution or topic). Combine with filters to scope the analysis. Returns up to 200 groups per page — use cursor pagination for fields with many distinct values.
- `openalex_describe_fields`: List valid field names for an OpenAlex entity type and context (filter, group_by, or select). Use proactively before constructing a filter or group_by to avoid invalid-field 400 errors. Pass `query` to rank the list by name similarity — useful when you have a partial or guessed field name. Ranking never drops a field: the full list comes back either way.
- `openalex_get_citation_graph`: Walk the citation graph one hop from a seed work. Direction picks the edge: incoming citations (`cites`), the seed's own references (`cited_by`), or OpenAlex's algorithmically-related works (`related_to`). Note: `direction` follows OpenAlex's filter convention, which inverts the common English reading — `cites` returns works that cite the seed; `cited_by` returns works the seed cites. Results use the works schema; combine with filters/sort to narrow further. Responses cap at 64,000 bytes per surface unless the least a call can return is larger (`over_budget`); `omitted` and `windows` give the openalex_search_entities calls that continue a cut.
- `openalex_resolve_name`: Resolve a name or an identifier to an OpenAlex ID. ALWAYS use this before filtering by entity — names are ambiguous, IDs are not. A name returns up to 10 autocomplete matches with disambiguation hints. An identifier — OpenAlex ID, DOI, ORCID, ROR, PMID, or ISSN, bare or in URL form — resolves directly to the record it addresses instead of running a name search. Short names share the bare OpenAlex ID shape (keyword p53 reads as publisher ID P53), so a bare OpenAlex ID that resolves nothing is searched as a name next. Two identifiers can address more than one entity type: a ROR names an organization's institution, funder, and publisher records alike, so it returns each one that exists (institution first) unless entity_type picks one of those three; and a Crossref Funder Registry DOI (10.13039/…) resolves to the funder unless entity_type is works. A PMCID is recognized as well, bare or as a PubMed Central URL, but OpenAlex indexes no PMCIDs, so it resolves nothing — pass the work's PMID or DOI instead.
- `openalex_search_entities`: Search, filter, sort, or retrieve by ID. Covers all OpenAlex entity types (works, authors, sources, institutions, topics, keywords, publishers, funders). Pass `id` to retrieve a single entity. Otherwise, use `query` and/or `filters` for discovery. Supports keyword search with boolean operators, exact phrase matching, and AI semantic search. Use openalex_resolve_name to resolve names to IDs before filtering. Searches and ID lookups return a curated set of fields by default; pass `select` to override with specific fields, or `["*"]` for the full record. Responses cap at 64,000 bytes per surface unless the least a call can return is larger (`over_budget`); `omitted` and `windows` give the calls that continue a cut, and `slice` pages a long array.