# onecite

Turns DOIs, arXiv IDs, ISBNs and URLs into BibTeX or CSL-JSON records. Handy when a draft has collected references in several formats.

- MCP server · `type=mcp` · Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Windsurf (Devin Desktop), Cline, Zed · ★ 67
- Author: HzaCode
- License: MIT · policy=link-only · description only; the file stays with the author
- Source: https://github.com/HzaCode/OneCite
- Updated: 2026-08-06
- HTML: https://affpapa.org/en/nevibecode/mcp/onecite

## What it does

onecite is a command-line tool and Python library that plugs into an agent as an MCP server. Input covers DOIs, PMIDs, arXiv IDs, ISBNs, URLs and BibTeX fragments; output is BibTeX or CSL-JSON. The pipeline runs in four stages: parse, identify, enrich, format. Entries that stay unresolved show up in the report instead of vanishing.

Strong identifiers travel their own routes: Crossref, arXiv, PubMed, Semantic Scholar, Google Books, DataCite, Zenodo. Plain text with no identifier is not auto-accepted by `process` — `onecite suggest` hands back a ranked candidate list for a human to judge. Theses and dissertations get a separate route through OpenAIRE and BASE.

Everything starts with `uvx onecite`, so `uv` has to be on the machine. Normal `process` and `suggest` runs make outbound requests: a DOI goes to Crossref, search queries go to Crossref, Semantic Scholar and arXiv, and any URL you pass is fetched from the host you named. Google Scholar sits in `suggest` as an optional fallback, off by default, and can hit a CAPTCHA when switched on. Resolving a source does not prove a work is authentic or unretracted.

## Requirements
- Needs: Python and uv (commands run via uvx)

## Install

### Claude Code (native platform)

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

### Codex

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

### Cursor

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

### GitHub Copilot

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

### Gemini CLI

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

## When to use it
- build BibTeX from a batch of DOIs and arXiv IDs
- find candidates for a link that has no identifier
- fill in journal, volume and page fields
- format a dissertation through OpenAIRE and BASE
- produce CSL-JSON for downstream processing

## Example prompts
- Build BibTeX from these DOIs and arXiv IDs
- Run onecite suggest on this link and show the candidates
- Fill in the missing fields for this Crossref article record

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