io.github.cyanheads/openalex-mcp-server

Aggregate OpenAlex entities into groups and count them. Use for trend analysis (group works by publication_year), distribution analysis (group by oa_status, type, country), and comparative analysis (group by institution or topic). Combine with filters to scope the analysis. Returns up to 200 groups per page — use order "key" and cursor pagination for fields with many distinct values. OpenAlex can wrap a key-ordered walk to earlier groups. Stop when a page's first key repeats an earlier key, or when a page is short or empty.

List valid field names for an OpenAlex entity type and context (filter, group_by, or select). Use proactively before constructing a filter or group_by to avoid invalid-field 400 errors. Pass `query` to rank the list by name similarity — useful when you have a partial or guessed field name. Ranking never drops a field: the full list comes back either way.

Walk the citation graph one hop from a seed work. Direction picks the edge: incoming citations (`cites`), the seed's own references (`cited_by`), or OpenAlex's algorithmically-related works (`related_to`). Note: `direction` follows OpenAlex's filter convention, which inverts the common English reading — `cites` returns works that cite the seed; `cited_by` returns works the seed cites. Results use the works schema; combine with filters/sort to narrow further. A page holds `per_page` works and `next_cursor` continues it.

Resolve a name or an identifier to an OpenAlex ID. ALWAYS use this before filtering by entity — names are ambiguous, IDs are not. A name returns up to 10 autocomplete matches with disambiguation hints. An identifier — OpenAlex ID, DOI, ORCID, ROR, PMID, or ISSN, bare or in URL form — resolves directly to the record it addresses instead of running a name search. Short names share the bare OpenAlex ID shape (keyword p53 reads as publisher ID P53), so a bare OpenAlex ID that resolves nothing is searched as a name next. Two identifiers can address more than one entity type: a ROR names an organization's institution, funder, and publisher records alike, so it returns each one that exists (institution first) unless entity_type picks one of those three; and a Crossref Funder Registry DOI (10.13039/…) resolves to the funder unless entity_type is works. A PMCID is recognized as well, bare or as a PubMed Central URL, but OpenAlex indexes no PMCIDs, so it resolves nothing — pass the work's PMID or DOI instead. An award ID (G…, bare or as an OpenAlex URL) is not looked up, since OpenAlex has no award autocomplete: it returns no matches and a notice naming the openalex_search_entities call that opens the award. Under entity_type, a bare G… is searched as a name of that type instead.

Search, filter, sort, or retrieve by ID. Covers all OpenAlex entity types (works, authors, sources, institutions, topics, keywords, publishers, funders, awards). Pass `id` to retrieve a single entity. Otherwise, use `query` and/or `filters` for discovery. Filters take a record object; an unambiguous native string such as "issn:0920-8542" is also accepted when enabled and disclosed in `notice`. Native clauses split on commas outside paired double quotes and the first colon; duplicate keys and bare fragments are rejected. Any filter value sent unquoted must have paired double quotes; balanced search phrases remain valid. Supports keyword search with boolean operators, exact phrase matching, AI semantic search, and seeded random samples. Use openalex_resolve_name to resolve names to IDs before filtering. Searches and ID lookups return a curated set of fields by default; pass `select` to override with specific fields, or `["*"]` for the full record. A page holds `per_page` records and `next_cursor` continues it — semantic search and a seeded `sample` continue with `page` instead; an `id` lookup returns every selected array whole, and `slice` pages one array by count.