mendeley-mcp

Overview

The Mendeley MCP server provides a seamless interface to academic reference management through the Model Context Protocol. It enables users to search their personal library, browse document collections, retrieve full metadata, search the global Mendeley catalog, add new documents, and perform DOI lookups directly from AI assistants like Claude. The server implements proper OAuth authentication with secure credential storage using the system's native keyring and includes comprehensive error handling for token refresh.

Try asking AI

After installing, here are 7 things you can ask your AI assistant:

• mendeley_search_library

  Search documents in your library

  Try:Search my Mendeley library for papers about transformer architecturesTry:Find papers by Smith in my library
• mendeley_get_document

  Get full details of a specific document

  Try:Get the full details of the paper with ID 12345Try:Retrieve information for the paper titled 'Deep Learning'
• mendeley_list_documents

  List documents, optionally filtered by folder

  Try:List all documents in my 'Machine Learning' folderTry:Show me all documents in my library
• mendeley_list_folders

  List all folders/collections

  Try:Show me all my folders in MendeleyTry:What collections do I have in my library?
• mendeley_search_catalog

  Search Mendeley's global paper database

  Try:Search the Mendeley catalog for recent papers on protein foldingTry:Find papers about CRISPR gene editing in the global database
• mendeley_get_by_doi

  Look up a paper by DOI

  Try:Find the paper with DOI 10.1038/nature14539Try:Get details for the paper with DOI 10.1016/j.neuron.2021.04.034
• mendeley_add_document

  Add a new document to your library

  Try:Add this paper to my library: title='New AI Research', authors='Smith J, Doe A'Try:Add this paper to my library with DOI 10.1234/example

Comparable tools

Installation

pip install mendeley-mcp

uv tool install mendeley-mcp

git clone https://github.com/pallaprolus/mendeley-mcp.git
cd mendeley-mcp
pip install -e .

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mendeley": {
      "command": "mendeley-mcp"
    }
  }
}

FAQ

How do I authenticate with Mendeley?

Run `mendeley-auth login` to start the authentication wizard, which will prompt for your Client ID and Client Secret, then open your browser for authorization.

Where are my credentials stored?

Your OAuth tokens and client secret are stored securely in your system's native keyring (macOS Keychain, Windows Credential Locker, or Linux Secret Service). Only the non-sensitive client ID is stored in `~/.config/mendeley-mcp/credentials.json`.

What if I hit API rate limits?

The server implements automatic token refresh. If you hit rate limits, wait a few minutes and retry. For heavy usage, consider spreading requests over time.

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