Claude Desktop¶

Scholar MCP integrates with Claude Desktop via the stdio transport.

Setup¶

1. Install¶

From PyPI:

pip install pvliesdonk-scholar-mcp

Or with uv (installs scholar-mcp as a global command on your PATH):

uv tool install pvliesdonk-scholar-mcp

Or download the .mcpb bundle from the GitHub Releases page and double-click to install; Claude Desktop prompts for required env vars via a GUI wizard, no manual JSON editing needed.

The bundle does not carry the code. It pins pvliesdonk-scholar-mcp[all] at its own version and uvx fetches that from PyPI on first launch, so the machine needs network access the first time it starts. Release candidates publish to PyPI for exactly this reason, which makes a vX.Y.Z-rc.N bundle installable the same way a stable one is.

2. Configure Claude Desktop¶

If you installed via .mcpb, skip this step. Claude Desktop was configured automatically by the wizard.

Otherwise, add the server to your Claude Desktop configuration file. The path varies by operating system:

macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
Linux: ~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "scholar-mcp": {
      "command": "scholar-mcp",
      "args": ["serve"],
      "env": {}
    }
  }
}

3. Restart Claude Desktop¶

Restart the application to pick up the new configuration. If the server connects successfully, Scholar MCP tools appear in Claude's tool list. If not, see Troubleshooting below.

Configuration examples¶

Troubleshooting¶

Server not appearing in Claude Desktop¶

Check the config file path is correct for your OS
Ensure the JSON is valid (no trailing commas)
Restart Claude Desktop completely (quit and reopen)
Check Claude Desktop logs for error messages

"Command not found"¶

Ensure scholar-mcp is on your PATH. If installed in a virtualenv, use the full path to the binary. Replace only the "command" value in your existing config and keep "args" and "env" as-is.

macOS/Linux:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "scholar-mcp": {
      "command": "/Users/me/.venvs/mcp/bin/scholar-mcp",
      "args": ["serve"],
      "env": {}
    }
  }
}

Windows (Scripts\ not bin\, .exe suffix):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "scholar-mcp": {
      "command": "C:\\Users\\me\\.venvs\\mcp\\Scripts\\scholar-mcp.exe",
      "args": ["serve"],
      "env": {}
    }
  }
}