paper-fetch MCP — Use Cases, Install & Live Demo

Why use it

Key features

DOI → PDF resolution across 4+ legal sources
Unpaywall integration for OA detection
arXiv / bioRxiv / PMC direct fetching
Multi-platform (Claude Code, generic Agent Skill)
Clear licensing respect — no sci-hub, no pirated content

Live Demo

What it looks like in practice

paper-fetch-skill.replay ▶ ready

0/0

Install

Pick your client

~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json · Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "paper-fetch-skill": {
      "command": "git",
      "args": [
        "clone",
        "https://github.com/Agents365-ai/paper-fetch",
        "~/.claude/skills/paper-fetch"
      ],
      "_inferred": true
    }
  }
}

Open Claude Desktop → Settings → Developer → Edit Config. Restart after saving.

~/.cursor/mcp.json · .cursor/mcp.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "paper-fetch-skill": {
      "command": "git",
      "args": [
        "clone",
        "https://github.com/Agents365-ai/paper-fetch",
        "~/.claude/skills/paper-fetch"
      ],
      "_inferred": true
    }
  }
}

Cursor uses the same mcpServers schema as Claude Desktop. Project config wins over global.

VS Code → Cline → MCP Servers → Edit

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "paper-fetch-skill": {
      "command": "git",
      "args": [
        "clone",
        "https://github.com/Agents365-ai/paper-fetch",
        "~/.claude/skills/paper-fetch"
      ],
      "_inferred": true
    }
  }
}

Click the MCP Servers icon in the Cline sidebar, then "Edit Configuration".

~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "paper-fetch-skill": {
      "command": "git",
      "args": [
        "clone",
        "https://github.com/Agents365-ai/paper-fetch",
        "~/.claude/skills/paper-fetch"
      ],
      "_inferred": true
    }
  }
}

Same shape as Claude Desktop. Restart Windsurf to pick up changes.

~/.continue/config.json

{
  "mcpServers": [
    {
      "name": "paper-fetch-skill",
      "command": "git",
      "args": [
        "clone",
        "https://github.com/Agents365-ai/paper-fetch",
        "~/.claude/skills/paper-fetch"
      ]
    }
  ]
}

Continue uses an array of server objects rather than a map.

~/.config/zed/settings.json

{
  "context_servers": {
    "paper-fetch-skill": {
      "command": {
        "path": "git",
        "args": [
          "clone",
          "https://github.com/Agents365-ai/paper-fetch",
          "~/.claude/skills/paper-fetch"
        ]
      }
    }
  }
}

Add to context_servers. Zed hot-reloads on save.

claude mcp add paper-fetch-skill -- git clone https://github.com/Agents365-ai/paper-fetch ~/.claude/skills/paper-fetch

One-liner. Verify with claude mcp list. Remove with claude mcp remove.

Use Cases

Real-world ways to use paper-fetch

Pull all PDFs for a literature review reading list

👤 Researchers, grad students, science writers ⏱ ~15 min beginner

When to use: You have 40 DOIs from a literature search and want to skim them without 40 browser clicks.

Prerequisites

Skill installed — git clone https://github.com/Agents365-ai/paper-fetch ~/.claude/skills/paper-fetch
Unpaywall email for API access — Free; email is the API key: https://unpaywall.org/products/api

Flow

Hand over the list

Use paper-fetch. Here are 40 DOIs. Download the OA version of each to ~/papers/lit-review/.✓ Copied

→ Progress per DOI; summary of found/unfound
Handle misses

For ones not found, tell me what's available (abstract-only? preprint missing?).✓ Copied

→ Status per miss
Index the results

Make an index.md with title, year, and file path per downloaded paper.✓ Copied

→ Browsable index

Outcome: A local folder of PDFs you can actually search.

Pitfalls

Some papers aren't legally OA anywhere — Skill reports the gap; request via your library's ILL for those

Combine with: filesystem

Chase citations one hop at a time

👤 Deep researchers following reference chains ⏱ ~20 min intermediate

When to use: You found a good paper and want the most-cited works it references.

Flow

Start with the seed

Use paper-fetch. Download this paper [DOI] and list its top-10 most-cited references.✓ Copied

→ Paper downloaded; referenced DOIs listed
Fetch the next ring

Download those 10 too.✓ Copied

→ Batch download

Outcome: A mini research trail in your file system.

Combine with: arxiv

Combinations

Pair with other MCPs for X10 leverage

paper-fetch-skill + arxiv

Prefer arXiv for preprints, fall back to Unpaywall for journal OA

Prefer arXiv preprints when present; otherwise use Unpaywall.✓ Copied

paper-fetch-skill + filesystem

Organized local library

Save to ~/papers/<year>/<first-author>/✓ Copied

paper-fetch-skill + infinite-gratitude-skill

Multi-agent research with real PDFs

Dojo explorer uses paper-fetch to ground claims in actual papers.✓ Copied

Tools

What this MCP exposes

Tool	Inputs	When to call	Cost
fetch_by_doi	DOI	Per paper	1-3 API lookups
batch_fetch	DOI list	Lit reviews	N * lookups
resolve_citation	free-text citation	Starting from citation text	Crossref + Unpaywall

Cost & Limits

What this costs to run

API quota: Unpaywall 100k/day (with email); arXiv and PMC are generous
Tokens per call: Low
Monetary: Free
Tip: Batch DOIs; respect rate limits to avoid being blocked.

Security

Permissions, secrets, blast radius

Credential storage: Unpaywall email (not a secret) in env var

Data egress: Unpaywall, arXiv, PMC, bioRxiv APIs only

This skill only retrieves legally open-access content. Do not modify it to bypass paywalls; respect publisher licensing.

Troubleshooting

Common errors and fixes

PDF not found for a DOI you know is OA

Unpaywall occasionally lags; check oadoi.org directly or wait a day

Verify: curl https://api.unpaywall.org/v2/<DOI>[email protected]

Rate limited

Space batches out; use the skill's rate-limit-aware batch mode

Wrong PDF downloaded (supplementary instead of main)

Some sources return supplements; rerun with prefer-main flag

Alternatives

paper-fetch vs others

Alternative	When to use it instead	Tradeoff
arxiv MCP	You only need arXiv, nothing else	Narrower scope
Manual browser + Zotero	Small reading lists	Tedious at scale

More

Resources

📖 Read the official README on GitHub

🐙 Browse open issues

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