cern-inspire-mcp-server
by cyanheads · remote · local (npm) · no sign-in to list tools · v0.1.3 · published by GitHub user cyanheads
Search INSPIRE-HEP papers, authors, experiments, HEPData records; get citation metrics and BibTeX.
8 tools: 1 change things and 7 only read.
Scanned Oct 21, 2026
- Deletes or cancels0Claude Code: deny
- Can't be undone0Claude Code: ask
- Changes things1Claude Code: ask: see these tools
- Only reads7Claude Code: allow: see these tools
1 check matched something in the tool definitions. No finding is not a safety guarantee. How the checks work.
claude mcp add --transport http cern-inspire https://cern-inspire.caseyjhand.com/mcpFindings
Matches of fixed checks, with the text they matched.
The description names a tool "cern_inspire" that this server does not list.
What this check looks forMatched text
description: "Decode the vocabulary the other cern_inspire tools take: INSPIRE search syntax (field oper..."
Tools
Open a tool for its reasons and full description. Descriptions are the publisher's own words, shown as they are.
8 tools
Changes things 1Claude Code: ask
cern_inspire_export_citationsExport INSPIRE-HEP's citation entries for the papers a literature query selects, as BibTeX or LaTeX \bibitem entries (EU or US style), keyed by INSPIRE texkeys and ready to paste i…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.
- The server marks it read-only (readOnlyHint: true), but an annotation never lowers a class.
Description, as the server wrote it Export INSPIRE-HEP's citation entries for the papers a literature query selects, as BibTeX or LaTeX \bibitem entries (EU or US style), keyed by INSPIRE texkeys and ready to paste into a bibliography. Name specific papers with "recid:451647 or arxiv:1207.7214 or doi:10.1016/…", or export a topic, author, or citing set with any query cern_inspire_search_literature accepts. Up to 50 entries per page; page through larger sets (only the first 10,000 matches are reachable). Entries are INSPIRE's verbatim text (long author lists arrive abbreviated as "First, Name and others").
Annotations the server declares
- readOnlyHint: true
- idempotentHint: true
- openWorldHint: true
Only reads 7Claude Code: allow
cern_inspire_get_citation_summaryCompute INSPIRE-HEP's citation summary for one author or for any literature query: h-index, citation totals, average citations per paper, and paper counts per citation bucket (0, 1…No findings
Why it is in this group
- The name "cern_inspire_get_citation_summary" says "get": a word for reading.
Description, as the server wrote it Compute INSPIRE-HEP's citation summary for one author or for any literature query: h-index, citation totals, average citations per paper, and paper counts per citation bucket (0, 1–9, 10–49, 50–99, 100–249, 250–499, 500+), each for all citeable papers and for published papers, plus citations received per year. Pass exactly one of author (a BAI, ORCID, INSPIRE ID, or author recid — resolve a name with cern_inspire_search_authors first) or query (any INSPIRE literature query: a topic, collaboration, institution, or "a <BAI>"). Document type and subject filters narrow every figure. year_from and year_to narrow the summary to papers from those years, and exclude_self_citations recounts it without self-citations; any of them leaves out citations per year, which INSPIRE cannot narrow that way.
Annotations the server declares
- readOnlyHint: true
- idempotentHint: true
- openWorldHint: true
cern_inspire_get_paperFetch one paper's full INSPIRE-HEP record by recid, arXiv ID, or DOI: authors with affiliations and identifiers, abstract, publication references, arXiv and DOI identifiers, keywor…No findings
Why it is in this group
- The name "cern_inspire_get_paper" says "get": a word for reading.
Description, as the server wrote it Fetch one paper's full INSPIRE-HEP record by recid, arXiv ID, or DOI: authors with affiliations and identifiers, abstract, publication references, arXiv and DOI identifiers, keywords, subjects, citation counts, linked experiments, texkeys, and whether HEPData holds its numerical tables (record DOI, latest version, table count, hepdata.net link). Also returns ready-made literature queries for the papers citing it and for its references. Large collaboration papers can list thousands of authors; max_authors caps the list while authorCount gives the full number.
Annotations the server declares
- readOnlyHint: true
- idempotentHint: true
- openWorldHint: true
cern_inspire_list_referenceDecode the vocabulary the other cern_inspire tools take: INSPIRE search syntax (field operators, boolean logic, sort orders, the 10,000-result window, and how malformed queries beh…1 finding
Why it is in this group
- The name "cern_inspire_list_reference" says "list": a word for reading.
Findings
- Warn
The description names a tool "cern_inspire" that this server does not list.
What this check looks forMatched text
description: "Decode the vocabulary the other cern_inspire tools take: INSPIRE search syntax (field oper..."
Description, as the server wrote it Decode the vocabulary the other cern_inspire tools take: INSPIRE search syntax (field operators, boolean logic, sort orders, the 10,000-result window, and how malformed queries behave), identifier forms (recid, arXiv, DOI, BAI, ORCID, INSPIRE ID, institution recid, texkey, HEPData DOIs), the document_types and subjects filter values, citation-summary buckets, and HEPData record versions and DOIs. Static content with no upstream call; use it to build a query or to recover from an empty or unexpectedly broad result.
Annotations the server declares
- readOnlyHint: true
- idempotentHint: true
- openWorldHint: false
cern_inspire_search_authorsFind physicist profiles in INSPIRE-HEP by name, INSPIRE BAI, ORCID, INSPIRE ID, or author recid.No findings
Why it is in this group
- The name "cern_inspire_search_authors" says "search": a word for reading.
Description, as the server wrote it Find physicist profiles in INSPIRE-HEP by name, INSPIRE BAI, ORCID, INSPIRE ID, or author recid. Each profile carries its recid, BAI, ORCID, current and past positions, advisors, arXiv categories, links, awards, and a literatureQuery that selects the person's papers in cern_inspire_search_literature. A name returns ranked candidates (a bare surname can match tens of thousands of profiles, and a less-cited namesake can rank first), so confirm the person from positions and categories before passing a bai or recid to cern_inspire_get_citation_summary. An identifier matches exactly.
Annotations the server declares
- readOnlyHint: true
- idempotentHint: true
- openWorldHint: true
cern_inspire_search_experimentsFind experiments, collaborations, and facilities in INSPIRE-HEP (ATLAS, CMS, DUNE, Belle II, …) by name, accelerator, or INSPIRE legacy name (CERN-LHC-CMS); digits alone look up an…No findings
Why it is in this group
- The name "cern_inspire_search_experiments" says "search": a word for reading.
Description, as the server wrote it Find experiments, collaborations, and facilities in INSPIRE-HEP (ATLAS, CMS, DUNE, Belle II, …) by name, accelerator, or INSPIRE legacy name (CERN-LHC-CMS); digits alone look up an experiment recid. Each record carries the accelerator, host institutions, collaboration and subgroups, classification, lifecycle dates (proposed, approved, started, completed, ongoing), INSPIRE's paper count, a description, and a literatureQuery to pass to cern_inspire_search_literature or cern_inspire_get_citation_summary for the experiment's papers.
Annotations the server declares
- readOnlyHint: true
- idempotentHint: true
- openWorldHint: true
cern_inspire_search_hepdataFind HEPData measurement records by physics content — process, observable, energy, collaboration — when the paper is unknown, through INSPIRE-HEP's index of every HEPData submissio…No findings
Why it is in this group
- The name "cern_inspire_search_hepdata" says "search": a word for reading.
Description, as the server wrote it Find HEPData measurement records by physics content — process, observable, energy, collaboration — when the paper is unknown, through INSPIRE-HEP's index of every HEPData submission. Each hit carries the paper recids (pass to cern_inspire_get_paper), collaborations, keywords (reactions such as "P P --> TOP TOPBAR X", observables, centre-of-mass energies), the HEPData record DOI (recordDoi, the citation for the data), latest version, table count, and hepdataUrl, the hepdata.net record page that holds the table values; this tool does not return the values themselves. Only the first 10,000 results of a query are reachable.
Annotations the server declares
- readOnlyHint: true
- idempotentHint: true
- openWorldHint: true
cern_inspire_search_literatureSearch INSPIRE-HEP papers with INSPIRE query syntax or free text, filtered by document type, subject, and year, sorted by relevance, recency, or citations.No findings
Why it is in this group
- The name "cern_inspire_search_literature" says "search": a word for reading.
Description, as the server wrote it Search INSPIRE-HEP papers with INSPIRE query syntax or free text, filtered by document type, subject, and year, sorted by relevance, recency, or citations. Returns one page of papers with recid, title, first author, date, citation counts, arXiv ID, DOI, publication, and an abstract snippet; pass a recid to cern_inspire_get_paper for the full record or to cern_inspire_export_citations ("recid:N") for BibTeX. Empty recognized field clauses are invalid; other malformed syntax can widen or empty the match, so check an unexpectedly broad or empty result against cern_inspire_list_reference topic search_syntax. Only the first 10,000 results of a query are reachable.
Annotations the server declares
- readOnlyHint: true
- idempotentHint: true
- openWorldHint: true
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 0.1.3. Values in angle brackets are yours to fill in.
claude mcp add --transport http cern-inspire https://cern-inspire.caseyjhand.com/mcpRun in a terminal.
Claude Code permissions
Allow the reads, ask before a change, deny the deletes. Paste into .claude/settings.json.
{
"permissions": {
"allow": [
"mcp__cern-inspire__cern_inspire_search_literature",
"mcp__cern-inspire__cern_inspire_get_paper",
"mcp__cern-inspire__cern_inspire_search_authors",
"mcp__cern-inspire__cern_inspire_get_citation_summary",
"mcp__cern-inspire__cern_inspire_search_experiments",
"mcp__cern-inspire__cern_inspire_search_hepdata",
"mcp__cern-inspire__cern_inspire_list_reference"
],
"ask": [
"mcp__cern-inspire__cern_inspire_export_citations"
],
"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 cern-inspire. Review it before you use it.
