Paper Distill MCP — Claude Code MCP server: how to install
Searches across 11 academic databases, ranks papers using AI, and sends summaries directly to Zotero, Obsidian, or team chat channels.
claude mcp add --env OPENALEX_EMAIL=<OPENALEX_EMAIL> --env CORE_API_KEY=<CORE_API_KEY> --env TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN=<TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN> --env TELEGRAM_CHAT_ID=<TELEGRAM_CHAT_ID> --env DISCORD_WEBHOOK_URL=<DISCORD_WEBHOOK_URL> --transport stdio paper-distill-mcp -- uvx paper-distill-mcpWhat Paper Distill MCP does
The server queries 11 sources at once, including arXiv and PubMed. Results are evaluated along four customizable axes: relevance, release date, citation impact, and novelty. Basic literature searches run without third-party API tokens.
Paper filtering can run through an optional dual-AI blind review setup where a chief reviewer makes the final push decision. Selected papers sync straight into Zotero or Obsidian note cards. The tool also supports building an automatically updated library site using Astro and Vercel.
The project is in early development, so unexpected bugs remain likely. Delegating abstract extraction to a separate agent prevents excessive token spend during scans.
What it helps with
- search 11 academic paper sources simultaneously
- score research papers using custom relevance and recency weights
- export bibliographic records into Zotero and notes to Obsidian
- push scheduled literature roundups to Discord or Telegram
Example prompts for the agent
- Initialize paper-distill and configure research topics for reinforcement learning
- Search for recent diffusion model papers and export the top picks to Zotero
- Enable dual-AI review and push five papers
How to install Paper Distill MCP
Platform CLI
claude mcp add --env OPENALEX_EMAIL=<OPENALEX_EMAIL> --env CORE_API_KEY=<CORE_API_KEY> --env TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN=<TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN> --env TELEGRAM_CHAT_ID=<TELEGRAM_CHAT_ID> --env DISCORD_WEBHOOK_URL=<DISCORD_WEBHOOK_URL> --transport stdio paper-distill-mcp -- uvx paper-distill-mcpReplace <…> with your own values. 2 more environment variables are in the server README. uvx runs the command named after the package; if the README names another one, use uvx --from paper-distill-mcp <command>
Platform CLI
codex mcp add paper-distill-mcp --env OPENALEX_EMAIL=<OPENALEX_EMAIL> --env CORE_API_KEY=<CORE_API_KEY> --env TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN=<TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN> --env TELEGRAM_CHAT_ID=<TELEGRAM_CHAT_ID> --env DISCORD_WEBHOOK_URL=<DISCORD_WEBHOOK_URL> -- uvx paper-distill-mcpReplace <…> with your own values. 2 more environment variables are in the server README. uvx runs the command named after the package; if the README names another one, use uvx --from paper-distill-mcp <command>
Config file
{
"mcpServers": {
"paper-distill-mcp": {
"command": "uvx",
"args": [
"paper-distill-mcp"
],
"env": {
"OPENALEX_EMAIL": "<OPENALEX_EMAIL>",
"CORE_API_KEY": "<CORE_API_KEY>",
"TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN": "<TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN>",
"TELEGRAM_CHAT_ID": "<TELEGRAM_CHAT_ID>",
"DISCORD_WEBHOOK_URL": "<DISCORD_WEBHOOK_URL>"
}
}
}
}Replace <…> with your own values. 2 more environment variables are in the server README. uvx runs the command named after the package; if the README names another one, use uvx --from paper-distill-mcp <command>
Config file
{
"servers": {
"paper-distill-mcp": {
"type": "stdio",
"command": "uvx",
"args": [
"paper-distill-mcp"
],
"env": {
"OPENALEX_EMAIL": "<OPENALEX_EMAIL>",
"CORE_API_KEY": "<CORE_API_KEY>",
"TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN": "<TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN>",
"TELEGRAM_CHAT_ID": "<TELEGRAM_CHAT_ID>",
"DISCORD_WEBHOOK_URL": "<DISCORD_WEBHOOK_URL>"
}
}
}
}Replace <…> with your own values. 2 more environment variables are in the server README. uvx runs the command named after the package; if the README names another one, use uvx --from paper-distill-mcp <command>
Platform CLI
gemini mcp add -e OPENALEX_EMAIL=<OPENALEX_EMAIL> -e CORE_API_KEY=<CORE_API_KEY> -e TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN=<TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN> -e TELEGRAM_CHAT_ID=<TELEGRAM_CHAT_ID> -e DISCORD_WEBHOOK_URL=<DISCORD_WEBHOOK_URL> paper-distill-mcp uvx paper-distill-mcpReplace <…> with your own values. 2 more environment variables are in the server README. uvx runs the command named after the package; if the README names another one, use uvx --from paper-distill-mcp <command>
Step by step, with commands for each platform: How to add an MCP server to Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, VS Code, Gemini CLI and more
Questions about Paper Distill MCP
How to install Paper Distill MCP in Claude Code?
Run `claude mcp add paper-distill-mcp -e CORE_API_KEY=<CORE_API_KEY> -e TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN=<TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN> -e DISCORD_WEBHOOK_URL=<DISCORD_WEBHOOK_URL> -e ZOTERO_API_KEY=<ZOTERO_API_KEY> -- uvx paper-distill-mcp` in your terminal.
What does Paper Distill MCP do?
It discovers academic preprints across multiple databases, filters papers with multi-agent AI scoring, and forwards reading lists to note-taking apps or chat platforms.
Are API keys required to search for research papers?
No, baseline multi-source paper queries execute immediately through uvx without external credentials. Tokens are only needed for notification webhooks, CORE, and Zotero synchronization.
