NASA ADS MCP Server

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that provides seamless access to the NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS) directly within Claude. Search papers, track citations, manage libraries, and export references—all through natural language conversation.

License: MIT

About this project

This MCP server is the result of an experiment on collaborating with Claude (Anthropic) to augment my literature search workflows. It leveraged the Skill mcp-builder provided by Anthropic. All code was generated by Claude based on requirements, domain knowledge, and iterative feedback provided by the human-in-the-loop. The MCP server is working well for me, but it is far from an extensively tested solution. Feel free to fork, contribute or suggest me things that need fixing or improvement.

Features

This MCP server exposes 10 tools for interacting with NASA ADS:

Search & Discovery

• search_papers - Search the ADS database with natural language queries
• get_paper_details - Get comprehensive metadata for specific papers
• get_author_papers - Find all publications by a specific author

Metrics & Analytics

• get_paper_metrics - Track citations, reads, and impact for specific papers
• get_author_metrics - Calculate h-index, citation statistics, and research impact

Reference Management

• export_bibtex - Export properly formatted BibTeX citations
• list_libraries - View your personal ADS paper collections
• get_library_papers - Access papers from specific libraries
• create_library - Organize papers by topic or project
• add_to_library - Build and maintain paper collections

Why This Tool?

The NASA ADS is the primary literature database for astronomy and astrophysics research, containing millions of papers, preprints, and citations. This MCP server makes ADS accessible through conversational AI, enabling:

• Literature reviews without switching contexts
• Citation tracking for your publications
• BibTeX generation for LaTeX/Quarto manuscripts
• Research organization through libraries
• Impact analysis with comprehensive metrics

Perfect for astronomers, astrophysicists, and researchers who want their reference database integrated into their AI workflow.

Installation

Prerequisites

• Claude Desktop installed (download here)
• Python 3.10+
• uv package manager (install here)
• NASA ADS API token (get yours here)

Setup

1. Clone this repository:

git clone https://github.com/prtc/nasa-ads-mcp.git
cd nasa-ads-mcp

2. Install dependencies:

uv sync

3. Configure your API token:

Create a .env file in the project root:

cp .env.example .env

Edit .env and add your NASA ADS API token:

ADS_API_TOKEN=your_token_here

4. Add to Claude Desktop configuration:

Edit your Claude Desktop config file:

• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
• Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

Add this entry to the mcpServers section:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "nasa-ads": {
      "command": "uv",
      "args": [
        "--directory",
        "/absolute/path/to/nasa-ads-mcp",
        "run",
        "python",
        "src/nasa_ads_mcp/server.py"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Replace /absolute/path/to/nasa-ads-mcp with the actual path to where you cloned the repository.

5. Restart Claude Desktop

Look for the 🔨 hammer icon in the input box to confirm the server is connected.

Usage Examples

Once connected, you can interact with ADS through natural language in Claude:

Search & Discovery

"Search for recent papers on stellar populations in elliptical galaxies"
"Find papers by Coelho, Paula R. T. from 2020-2025"
"What are the most cited papers on galaxy formation?"

Metrics & Impact

"What's my current h-index and total citations?"
"Show me citation trends for bibcode 2005A&A...443..735C"
"Get metrics for my 2024 papers"

Reference Management

"Export BibTeX for these 5 papers: [bibcodes]"
"Show me what's in my 'Stellar Spectral Libraries' collection"
"Create a new library called 'Review Paper References'"
"Add these papers to my reading list"

API Coverage

This server implements:

• ✅ Search API - Full query capabilities with field-specific searches
• ✅ Metrics API - Author and paper-level metrics
• ✅ Libraries API - Complete CRUD operations for collections
• ✅ Export API - BibTeX citation generation
• ⏳ Journals API - Future enhancement

Development

Project Structure

nasa-ads-mcp/
├── src/
│   └── nasa_ads_mcp/
│       ├── __init__.py
│       └── server.py          # Main MCP server implementation
├── tests/
├── .env.example               # Template for API token
├── .gitignore
├── pyproject.toml            # Project configuration
├── README.md
└── LICENSE

Testing

A simple connection test is included:

uv run python test_connection.py

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! This project is particularly suited for:

• Adding more ADS API endpoints
• Improving error handling
• Enhancing citation formatting
• Adding more metrics visualizations

Technical Details

Built with:

• MCP SDK for Claude Desktop integration
• ads Python package for ADS API access
• requests for direct API calls (Metrics & Libraries)
• python-dotenv for secure token management

The server uses:

• stdio transport for Claude Desktop communication
• Direct API calls for Metrics and Libraries (not fully supported in ads package)
• Rate limiting handled by NASA ADS API (monitor via response headers)

Known Limitations

• Rate limits: NASA ADS enforces rate limits. Monitor your usage for large queries.
• Reads metric: Currently returns 0 (API limitation, not server issue)
• BibTeX formatting: Basic implementation; doesn't include all possible fields

Troubleshooting

Server won't start

1. Verify Python 3.10+ is installed: python3 --version
2. Check API token is in .env file
3. Ensure uv sync completed successfully
4. Check Claude Desktop logs in Settings > Developer

API errors

1. Verify your ADS API token is valid
2. Check you haven't hit rate limits
3. Confirm bibcodes are correctly formatted

Can't see tools in Claude

1. Fully quit and restart Claude Desktop
2. Check the 🔨 hammer icon appears in the input
3. Verify config path is absolute, not relative

Acknowledgments

• NASA Astrophysics Data System for providing the API
• Anthropic for creating MCP and Claude
• Astronomy community for maintaining the world's best literature database

Citation

If you use this tool in your research workflow, you can cite:

@software{nasa_ads_mcp,
  author = {Paula Coelho},
  title = {NASA ADS MCP Server},
  note = {Code generated by Claude (Anthropic)},
  year = {2025},
  url = {https://github.com/prtc/nasa-ads-mcp}
}

License

MIT License - see LICENSE file for details.

Questions or Issues? Open an issue on GitHub or contact through the repository.

Want to learn more about MCP? Visit modelcontextprotocol.io