# Scholar MCP Server

> FastMCP server for Semantic Scholar with OpenAlex enrichment and docling PDF conversion

scholar-mcp is a FastMCP server for Semantic Scholar with OpenAlex enrichment and docling PDF conversion. It exposes 13 tools for paper search, citation graph traversal, recommendations, and PDF-to-Markdown conversion over the Model Context Protocol.


## Getting Started

- [Home](https://pvliesdonk.github.io/scholar-mcp/index.md): Overview — features, architecture, and quick start
- [Installation](https://pvliesdonk.github.io/scholar-mcp/installation/index.md): Installation from PyPI, uv, Docker, or Linux packages
- [Configuration](https://pvliesdonk.github.io/scholar-mcp/configuration/index.md): All environment variables with types and defaults

## Guides

- [Overview](https://pvliesdonk.github.io/scholar-mcp/guides/index.md): Guide overview — which guide to read
- [Claude Desktop](https://pvliesdonk.github.io/scholar-mcp/guides/claude-desktop/index.md): Claude Desktop setup (basic, API key, PDF, OpenAlex)
- [Authentication](https://pvliesdonk.github.io/scholar-mcp/guides/authentication/index.md): Authentication modes — bearer token, OIDC, and troubleshooting
- [PDF Conversion](https://pvliesdonk.github.io/scholar-mcp/guides/pdf-conversion/index.md): PDF conversion with docling-serve and VLM enrichment
- [Citation Graphs](https://pvliesdonk.github.io/scholar-mcp/guides/citation-graphs/index.md): Citation graph traversal, bridge papers, and caching

## Tools

- [Overview](https://pvliesdonk.github.io/scholar-mcp/tools/index.md): All 13 MCP tools with parameters, return values, and usage tips

## Deployment

- [Docker](https://pvliesdonk.github.io/scholar-mcp/deployment/docker/index.md): Docker Compose with docling-serve, Traefik, volumes, UID/GID
- [systemd](https://pvliesdonk.github.io/scholar-mcp/deployment/systemd/index.md): systemd service — package install, security hardening
- [OIDC Authentication](https://pvliesdonk.github.io/scholar-mcp/deployment/oidc/index.md): OIDC authentication setup with Authelia