How to Use the CrossRef MCP in Windsurf

Give Cascade instant access to 140 million academic papers right inside Windsurf.

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Connect CrossRef MCP to Windsurf

Create your Vinkius account to connect CrossRef to Windsurf and route execution through our secure gateway. The platform manages server hosting, runtime updates, and security layers. Configuration requires no manual server provisioning.

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Setup CrossRef with Windsurf

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Search 140M+ scholarly works with Windsurf

Cascade doesn't need you to copy-paste abstracts anymore. You just ask your agent to find recent papers on a topic, and it hits the `search_crossref` tool on the MCP Server to pull back exact titles, citation counts, and full bibliographic data. The agent reads the results, figures out which papers matter most, and drops the findings directly into your markdown notes. No breaking your flow to dig through academic search engines.

Resolve DOIs instantly

Handing a raw DOI to your AI used to mean getting hallucinated metadata back. Now, you feed 10.1038/nature12373 to the `get_crossref_doi` tool, and the MCP Server returns the actual journal, year, authors, and abstract. Cascade chains this perfectly. It grabs a list of DOIs from your bibliography file, resolves every single one, and formats them into proper APA citations without asking for permission.

Map out author publication histories

Tracking down a researcher's entire body of work takes seconds. Tell Cascade to look up a specific scientist, and it triggers the `search_crossref_author` tool to pull their publications sorted by relevance. You get immediate citation counts for each paper. This lets your agent instantly build a literature review or track an academic's career trajectory while you focus on writing the actual paper.

Setup guide

Set up CrossRef MCP in Windsurf

Prerequisites

Windsurf IDE installed (macOS, Windows, or Linux)
Active Vinkius subscription with a valid endpoint token

1

Open MCP configuration

Click the Cascade assistant icon in the sidebar, then click the hammer icon (🔨) at the top of the panel. Select "Configure" to open ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json.
2

Add the CrossRef MCP

Paste the JSON snippet shown on the right into the mcpServers object. Replace [YOUR_TOKEN_HERE] with your endpoint token from cloud.vinkius.com.
3

Refresh MCPs

Go back to the hammer icon (🔨) in Cascade and click "Refresh". Windsurf will detect the new server. No full restart is needed — the connection is hot-reloaded.
4

Verify in Cascade

Start a new Cascade conversation and ask something like "Show my CrossRef payment history." If connected, Cascade will call the CrossRef tools directly. You will see a green dot next to the server name in the MCP panel.

mcp_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "crossref-mcp": {
      "url": "https://edge.vinkius.com/[YOUR_TOKEN_HERE]/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Get your connection token →

Independent Platform Disclaimer: Vinkius is an independent platform and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, sponsored by, verified by, or otherwise authorized by CrossRef. All third-party trademarks, logos, and brand names are the property of their respective owners. Their use on this website is strictly for informational purposes to identify service compatibility and interoperability.

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Common questions about CrossRef MCP in Windsurf

Open your Settings, navigate to Cascade, and find the MCP Servers UI. You can also edit `~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json` directly to add the endpoint. Click refresh, and Cascade auto-discovers the search tools.

Yes. When Cascade runs a DOI lookup, the response includes the complete abstract if the publisher provided it. Your agent can then summarize that text or compare it against other papers.

The agent executes a targeted author query to retrieve their specific publications. It returns the exact titles, publication years, and citation metrics so you know which papers had the most impact.

Vinkius handles the underlying authentication for you. You just need your single endpoint token to connect the server to your IDE.

Your specific search queries and DOI lookups run through an isolated V8 sandbox. The system destroys the ephemeral environment after execution, ensuring nobody logs your literature review topics or author searches.

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