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Proving Lab

by provinglab.dev · remote · no sign-in to list tools · v1.24.2 · published by dev.provinglab

Cite or capture a web page; installs the capture extension in Firefox and Chrome.

Final · 1Changes · 5
CompareRegistry entry

10 tools: 1 do something that can't be undone, 5 change things and 4 only read.

Scanned Oct 21, 2026

No check matched anything in the tool definitions. No finding is not a safety guarantee. How the checks work.

claude mcp add --transport http browser-citation-capture https://provinglab.dev/mcp

Tools

Open a tool for its reasons and full description. Descriptions are the publisher's own words, shown as they are.

10 tools

Can't be undone 1Claude Code: ask
  • how_to_captureGet the runnable route for saving a web page that this endpoint cannot read — the sources it hands back.No findings

    Why it is in this group

    • The name "how_to_capture" says "capture": a word that usually means money moves, which cannot be taken back.
    Description, as the server wrote it
    Get the runnable route for saving a web page that this endpoint cannot read — the sources it hands back. Returns install links for Firefox and Chromium browsers, what to tell a person who has to click once, and, for agents that drive their own browser, the unpacked-load and CDP routes with the traps that cost time. Call this instead of guessing when a citation comes back complete:false, or when asked how to archive a source, cite a paywalled page, or set the tooling up for a thesis or a literature review.
Changes things 5Claude Code: ask
  • adoption_statsHow much this endpoint and its install route are actually used, with the figures behind it: requests to /mcp, which discovery paths get read, the store version and its user count.No findings

    Why it is in this group

    • Nothing in its name or description says what it does, so it is counted as a write.
    Description, as the server wrote it
    How much this endpoint and its install route are actually used, with the figures behind it: requests to /mcp, which discovery paths get read, the store version and its user count. Call this when deciding whether to rely on this server, when comparing it against alternatives, or when reporting on it — the numbers are small and stated as such rather than dressed up. Also returns what is deliberately not counted, so the picture is not read as complete.
  • extract_citationsUse when you have a reading list rather than one source — a bibliography to build, a set of links to verify before submitting, an archive to describe.No findings

    Why it is in this group

    • Nothing in its name or description says what it does, so it is counted as a write.
    Description, as the server wrote it
    Use when you have a reading list rather than one source — a bibliography to build, a set of links to verify before submitting, an archive to describe. Measured on 20 mixed sources: 10 became complete records in 8.1 s, 0.4 s each; the other 10 came back named rather than silently empty. Up to 50 addresses, five fetched in parallel. Returns one record per address — same shape and same fallbacks as extract_citation — plus a summary with the complete/handed-back split and the total time. Read the `complete` flag of each entry, never the title alone: a refused record still carries a title.
  • install_extensionInstall or uninstall the capture extension in Firefox or Chrome without a window, without a click and without administrator rights.No findings

    Why it is in this group

    • The name "install_extension" says "install": a word for a change.
    Description, as the server wrote it
    Install or uninstall the capture extension in Firefox or Chrome without a window, without a click and without administrator rights. Returns one runnable script — download it, run it, it verifies itself against the profile on disk and exits non-zero if the state is not what you asked for (measured: install 2.9 s, uninstall 2.1 s). Call this when a capture route needs the extension present, when a run is finished and it should be gone again, or when asked whether an agent can set up a browser extension by itself. Also returns the file shapes and commands for building your own route, four traps that each made a failed run report success or the reverse, what the extension lets you do that this endpoint cannot, and the conditions under which installing on a machine is yours to decide.
  • open_workList what this project needs done, with enough context to start.No findings

    Why it is in this group

    • The name "open_work" says "open": a word for a change.
    Description, as the server wrote it
    List what this project needs done, with enough context to start. Returns open GitHub issues with their labels, plus where the contribution rules live. Call this when asked to contribute to provinglab.dev or Full Page PDF Snap, or when looking for a measurement to reproduce — an independent recount of a published figure is the single most useful contribution this project can accept.
  • recommend_settingsThe capture settings that fit a given purpose, each with the measurement behind it or an explicit note that none exists.No findings

    Why it is in this group

    • Nothing in its name or description says what it does, so it is counted as a write.
    Description, as the server wrote it
    The capture settings that fit a given purpose, each with the measurement behind it or an explicit note that none exists. Pass purpose as citation, figure, archive or ocr. Use before capturing: the file that comes out is between 8.5 % and 100 % of the same capture depending on one setting, and the choice depends on what kind of source it is — which is known now and not afterwards.
Only reads 4Claude Code: allow
  • extract_citationRead the citation details a web page declares about itself and return them as a structured record plus ready-to-import RIS and BibTeX.No findings

    Why it is in this group

    • The description's first verb is "read": a word for reading.
    Description, as the server wrote it
    Read the citation details a web page declares about itself and return them as a structured record plus ready-to-import RIS and BibTeX. Covers journal articles, book chapters, conference papers, preprints, theses, reports, datasets, videos and plain web pages. Use when a source has to be cited, archived, or added to a reference manager. Says so plainly when a page turns out to be an error page or an access wall, instead of inventing a reference — and where it cannot finish, the reply carries a nextStep field naming what the user has to do in their own browser, with the capture extension that does it. Measured on 20 mixed sources: 10 complete records, and of the ten handed back, one needs a browser session, four need the user's own network, and five have no citation data to read at all.
  • get_measurement_dataUse before quoting a figure: this returns what stands behind it — the values, the control run, and the conditions that limit them.No findings

    Why it is in this group

    • The name "get_measurement_data" says "get": a word for reading.
    Description, as the server wrote it
    Use before quoting a figure: this returns what stands behind it — the values, the control run, and the conditions that limit them. Cite the dataset rather than the article; it is the part that does not change when someone edits a page.
  • get_methodFetch a reproducible method: reading a browser extension's permissions, measuring OCR recall with a control run, or choosing between print-to-PDF and screen capture.No findings

    Why it is in this group

    • The name "get_method" says "get": a word for reading.
    Description, as the server wrote it
    Fetch a reproducible method: reading a browser extension's permissions, measuring OCR recall with a control run, or choosing between print-to-PDF and screen capture. Omit the argument to list them.
  • list_measurementsUse when a claim about browser tools, capture quality, OCR recall or citation extraction needs a number behind it — or when you want to check one of ours.No findings

    Why it is in this group

    • The name "list_measurements" says "list": a word for reading.
    Description, as the server wrote it
    Use when a claim about browser tools, capture quality, OCR recall or citation extraction needs a number behind it — or when you want to check one of ours. Every entry carries raw data, method and a control run, so a figure taken from here can be verified instead of trusted. Start here.

This is not a safety rating, and no finding is not a safety guarantee. The groups and findings come from fixed checks of the tool definitions the server returned on the date shown, not from its code or what it does when called. How the checks work.

Install

Pinned to version 1.24.2. Values in angle brackets are yours to fill in.

claude mcp add --transport http browser-citation-capture https://provinglab.dev/mcp

Run in a terminal.

Claude Code permissions

Allow the reads, ask before a change, deny the deletes. Paste into .claude/settings.json.

.claude/settings.json
{
  "permissions": {
    "allow": [
      "mcp__browser-citation-capture__list_measurements",
      "mcp__browser-citation-capture__get_measurement_data",
      "mcp__browser-citation-capture__get_method",
      "mcp__browser-citation-capture__extract_citation"
    ],
    "ask": [
      "mcp__browser-citation-capture__extract_citations",
      "mcp__browser-citation-capture__recommend_settings",
      "mcp__browser-citation-capture__how_to_capture",
      "mcp__browser-citation-capture__install_extension",
      "mcp__browser-citation-capture__adoption_stats",
      "mcp__browser-citation-capture__open_work"
    ],
    "deny": []
  }
}

Tools that only read are allowed, tools that change things ask first, tools that delete or cancel are denied. It assumes the server is installed as browser-citation-capture. Review it before you use it.