# Lacuna Research MCP

Links coding agents to a machine learning knowledge graph. It fetches papers, research proposals, author dossiers, and academic venues directly in your editor.

- MCP server · `type=mcp` · Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Windsurf (Devin Desktop), Cline, Zed, Gemini CLI · ★ 8
- Author: tiptreesystems
- License: MIT · policy=link-only · description only; the file stays with the author
- Source: https://github.com/tiptreesystems/lacuna-research-mcp
- Updated: 2026-10-23
- HTML: https://affpapa.org/en/nevibecode/mcp/lacuna-research-mcp

## What it does

This server connects your development environment to Lacuna's scholarly database. The index integrates records from OpenAlex, OpenReview, DBLP, and arXiv. It tracks over 2.29 million papers, 215,000+ author profiles, and 25,000+ generated research proposals. Every indexed record traces back to an exact document and source page.

Agents query concept clusters to inspect emerging directions or pull literature formatted in clean Markdown. The tool also maps academic institutions and conference publication patterns. This helps teams inspect theoretical backgrounds without opening an external browser.

The service runs as a hosted Streamable HTTP endpoint at `https://lacuna.tiptreesystems.com/api/mcp` without local dependencies. Running locally via `uvx` demands Python 3.11 or later. Early prerelease builds of Python 3.14 will fail due to MCP SDK compatibility limits.

## Requirements
- Needs: Python and uv (commands run via uvx)
- Remote server: `https://lacuna.tiptreesystems.com/api/mcp`

## Install

### Claude Code (native platform)

1. **Platform CLI: remote server**
```bash
claude mcp add --transport http lacuna-research-mcp https://lacuna.tiptreesystems.com/api/mcp
```

2. **Platform CLI**
```bash
claude mcp add lacuna-research-mcp -- uvx lacuna-research-mcp
```
uvx runs the command named after the package; if the README names another one, use uvx --from lacuna-research-mcp <command>

### Codex

1. **Platform CLI: remote server**
```bash
codex mcp add lacuna-research-mcp --url https://lacuna.tiptreesystems.com/api/mcp
```

2. **Platform CLI**
```bash
codex mcp add lacuna-research-mcp -- uvx lacuna-research-mcp
```
uvx runs the command named after the package; if the README names another one, use uvx --from lacuna-research-mcp <command>

### Cursor

**Config file**
File `.cursor/mcp.json`:
```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "lacuna-research-mcp": {
            "url": "https://lacuna.tiptreesystems.com/api/mcp"
        }
    }
}
```
File `.cursor/mcp.json`:
```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "lacuna-research-mcp": {
            "command": "uvx",
            "args": [
                "lacuna-research-mcp"
            ]
        }
    }
}
```
uvx runs the command named after the package; if the README names another one, use uvx --from lacuna-research-mcp <command>

### GitHub Copilot

**Config file**
File `.vscode/mcp.json`:
```json
{
    "servers": {
        "lacuna-research-mcp": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://lacuna.tiptreesystems.com/api/mcp"
        }
    }
}
```
File `.vscode/mcp.json`:
```json
{
    "servers": {
        "lacuna-research-mcp": {
            "type": "stdio",
            "command": "uvx",
            "args": [
                "lacuna-research-mcp"
            ]
        }
    }
}
```
uvx runs the command named after the package; if the README names another one, use uvx --from lacuna-research-mcp <command>

### Gemini CLI

1. **Platform CLI: remote server**
```bash
gemini mcp add -t http lacuna-research-mcp https://lacuna.tiptreesystems.com/api/mcp
```

2. **Platform CLI**
```bash
gemini mcp add lacuna-research-mcp uvx lacuna-research-mcp
```
uvx runs the command named after the package; if the README names another one, use uvx --from lacuna-research-mcp <command>

## When to use it
- retrieve recent ML papers in markdown with source page citations
- investigate publication records and collaborator networks for an author
- explore generated research proposals across machine learning clusters
- evaluate activity trends across AI conference venues and institutions

## Example prompts
- Search arXiv literature on sparse attention mechanisms and include page references
- Find the main research directions and collaborator graph for author Yoshua Bengio
- Inspect generated research proposals linked to the diffusion model concept cluster

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