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Crossref MCP Server

MCP server for Crossref

Installation

Add the following to your MCP client configuration file.

Configuration

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "botanicastudios-crossref-mcp": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@botanicastudios/crossref-mcp"
      ]
    }
  }
}

You can use this Crossref MCP Server to search Crossref by title or author and to retrieve works directly by DOI. It exposes a compact set of MCP tools that let you perform common bibliographic queries against the Crossref API, all through a consistent MCP client workflow.

How to use

To use the Crossref MCP Server, connect with an MCP client and call the three available tools: search by title, search by author, and get a work by DOI. You can chain queries to build more complex workflows, such as fetching details for multiple works found in a title search or filtering results by the number of items returned.

How to install

Prerequisites: ensure you have Node.js and npm installed on your system.

Install and run the Crossref MCP Server using the provided MCP configuration. You will execute the MCP via a local runner (npx) that loads the Crossref MCP package.

# Quick install and run using the MCP runner
npx -y @botanicastudios/crossref-mcp
```
Using this command loads the server directly so you can start issuing MCP requests to Crossref endpoints.

Additional notes

The server exposes three primary tools for interacting with Crossref data: search by title, search by author, and get work by DOI. Each tool returns structured results with standard fields such as title, authors, publication date, DOI, and related metadata. You can adjust the number of results returned for searches by supplying a rows parameter where supported.

If you want to run tests locally to verify behavior, you can use the included test suite. It exercises successful responses, empty results, and error handling scenarios via a mocked Crossref API.

Configuration and usage details

The server is configured to run as an MCP stdio server with the following setup.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "crossref": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@botanicastudios/crossref-mcp"
      ]
    }
  }
}
```
This configuration loads the Crossref MCP package via npx, enabling the three tools directly from your MCP client.

Testing

The server includes a comprehensive test suite that covers all available tools under various conditions, including successful responses, empty results, and network error handling.

Available tools

searchByTitle

Search for Crossref works by title and return matching results with titles, authors, publication dates, DOIs, and related metadata.

searchByAuthor

Search for Crossref works by author name and return matching results with titles, authors, publication dates, DOIs, and related metadata.

getWorkByDOI

Retrieve a specific Crossref work using its DOI, returning detailed information including title, authors, publication date, and abstract if available.