# OpenPaper MCP Server OpenPaper is an autonomous research engine for Claude Desktop and any MCP client. Auto research from a prompt to a fully-cited academic paper, exported as PDF, DOCX, or ZIP. OpenPaper uses 18 specialized AI agents to search 500M+ academic sources (OpenAlex, Crossref, Semantic Scholar) and write thesis-level papers with every citation linked to a real publication. ## Setup ### 1. Get your API token 1. Go to [openpaper.dev](https://openpaper.dev) and sign in 2. Open DevTools (F12) → **Application** tab → **Storage → Cookies → `https://openpaper.dev`** 3. Copy the value of the `auth_token` cookie — that's your token This `auth_token` is a durable 30-day token and works whether you signed in with Google or email. Do not copy the `Authorization` header from the Network tab: on most pages the browser sends no such header (the app forwards the cookie server-side), and where one does appear it is a short-lived session token that expires in about an hour, so the MCP server would stop working soon after. When the token expires, repeat these steps to get a fresh one. ### 2. Configure Claude Desktop Add to your `claude_desktop_config.json` (no manual install needed — `uvx` fetches the published package on first run): ```json { "mcpServers": { "openpaper": { "command": "uvx", "args": ["openpaper-mcp"], "env": { "OPENPAPER_API_TOKEN": "your-token-here" } } } } ```

Run from source instead

```bash pip install mcp httpx ``` ```json { "mcpServers": { "openpaper": { "command": "python", "args": ["/path/to/openpaper-mcp/server.py"], "env": { "OPENPAPER_API_TOKEN": "your-token-here" } } } } ```

## Tools ### `start_paper_generation` Start generating a paper. Returns a `generation_id` immediately. ``` Generate a graduate-level paper on "The neurobiological basis of PTSD" using APA 7th citation style, 20-30 pages ``` ### `check_paper_status` Poll for progress and get download links when done. ``` Check the status of generation abc123 ``` ### `list_my_papers` See all your previous papers with download links. ``` List my last 5 papers ``` ## Example workflow ``` User: Write a paper on the impact of social media on adolescent mental health Claude: [calls start_paper_generation("impact of social media on adolescent mental health")] → Generation started (ID: abc123). Checking back in a few minutes... [later] Claude: [calls check_paper_status("abc123")] → Status: processing, phase: writing, 65% complete [later] Claude: [calls check_paper_status("abc123")] → Status: completed! PDF: https://... DOCX: https://... ``` ## Credits Papers cost 1-3 credits depending on length: - 5-30 pages: 1 credit - 30-50 pages: 2 credits - 50-60 pages: 3 credits New accounts get free credits. Buy more at [openpaper.dev](https://openpaper.dev).