Is the OpenAlex API key free and how do I get one?

Yes, the API key is completely free. OpenAlex provides 100,000 credits per day at no cost. Create your free account at openalex.org, then navigate to Settings → API to generate your key. The key is required since February 2026 when OpenAlex retired the 'polite pool' system.

How does OpenAlex compare to Scopus and Web of Science?

OpenAlex is a fully open, CC0-licensed alternative covering 250M+ works — comparable in scope to Scopus (90M+) and far exceeding Web of Science (90M+). It provides citation metrics, h-indexes, institutional data, and open access detection. The key difference: OpenAlex is completely free with no institutional subscription required, while Scopus and WoS cost thousands of dollars per year.

What data is available for each scholarly work?

Each work includes: title, authors with institutional affiliations, publication year, journal/source, DOI, work type, citation count, open access status and URL, research topics/concepts, and a reconstructed abstract. Author profiles add h-index, total publications, and career affiliations. Institutions include country, type, and research area specializations.

OpenAlex MCP Server for Claude Desktop 5 tools — connect in under 2 minutes

Name: OpenAlex
Availability: InStock
Author: Vinkius

modelcontextprotocol.io/quickstart/user

Built by Vinkius GDPR 5 Tools IDE

Claude Desktop is Anthropic's native application for interacting with Claude AI models on macOS and Windows. It was the first consumer application to ship with built-in MCP support, making it the reference implementation for the Model Context Protocol standard.

Get MCP Server for AI Agents

ASK AI ABOUT THIS MCP SERVER

Open in ChatGPT Open in Claude Open in Perplexity

Vinkius supports streamable HTTP and SSE.

RecommendedModern Approach — Zero Configuration

Vinkius Desktop App

The modern way to manage MCP Servers — no config files, no terminal commands. Install OpenAlex and 2,500+ MCP Servers from a single visual interface.

Download Free Open SourceNo signup required

Classic Setup·json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "openalex": {
      // Your Vinkius token. get it at cloud.vinkius.com
      "url": "https://edge.vinkius.com/[YOUR_TOKEN_HERE]/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Fully ManagedVinkius Servers

60%Token savings

High SecurityEnterprise-grade

IAMAccess control

EU AI ActCompliant

DLPData protection

V8 IsolateSandboxed

Ed25519Audit chain

<40msKill switch

Stream every event to Splunk, Datadog, or your own webhook in real-time

* Every MCP server runs on Vinkius-managed infrastructure inside AWS - a purpose-built runtime with per-request V8 isolates, Ed25519 signed audit chains, and sub-40ms cold starts optimized for native MCP execution. See our infrastructure

About OpenAlex MCP Server

Connect your AI agent to the world's largest fully open catalog of scholarly works — a free, CC0-licensed replacement for enterprise platforms like Scopus and Web of Science.

Claude Desktop is the definitive way to connect OpenAlex to your AI workflow. Add Vinkius Edge URL to your config, restart the app, and Claude immediately exposes all 5 tools in the chat interface. ask a question, Claude calls the right tool, and you see the answer. Zero code, zero context switching.

What you can do

Works Search — Search 250M+ works with complete metadata including authors, institutional affiliations, citation counts, open access status, and reconstructed abstracts
Author Profiles — Find researchers worldwide with publication counts, total citations, h-index metrics, and current institutional affiliation
Institution Discovery — Explore the research output of universities, labs, hospitals, and government agencies globally with full bibliometric data
Research Trends — Discover the most researched scientific topics ranked by total number of published works to understand where the scientific community is focusing
Open Access Detection — Every work indicates its open access status (green, gold, hybrid, bronze) for instant full-text availability assessment

The OpenAlex MCP Server exposes 5 tools through the Vinkius. Connect it to Claude Desktop in under two minutes — no API keys to rotate, no infrastructure to provision, no vendor lock-in. Your configuration, your data, your control.

How to Connect OpenAlex to Claude Desktop via MCP

Follow these steps to integrate the OpenAlex MCP Server with Claude Desktop.

Open Claude Desktop Settings

Go to Settings → Developer → Edit Config to open claude_desktop_config.json

Add the MCP Server

Paste the configuration above into the mcpServers section

Restart Claude Desktop

Close and reopen Claude Desktop to load the new server

Start using OpenAlex

Look for the 🔌 icon in the chat. your 5 tools are now available

Why Use Claude Desktop with the OpenAlex MCP Server

Claude Desktop by Anthropic provides unique advantages when paired with OpenAlex through the Model Context Protocol.

Claude Desktop is the reference MCP client. it was designed alongside the protocol itself, ensuring the most complete and stable MCP implementation available

Zero-code configuration: add a server URL to a JSON file and Claude instantly discovers and exposes all available tools in the chat interface

Claude's extended thinking capability lets it reason through multi-step tool usage, chaining multiple API calls to answer complex questions

Enterprise-grade security with local config storage. your tokens never leave your machine, and connections go directly to Vinkius Edge network

OpenAlex + Claude Desktop Use Cases

Practical scenarios where Claude Desktop combined with the OpenAlex MCP Server delivers measurable value.

Interactive data exploration: ask Claude to query DNS records, look up WHOIS data, and cross-reference results in a single conversation

Ad-hoc security audits: type a domain name and let Claude enumerate subdomains, check DNS history, and flag configuration anomalies. all through natural language

Executive briefings: generate comprehensive domain intelligence reports by asking Claude to compile findings into a formatted summary

Learning and training: new team members can explore API capabilities conversationally without needing to read documentation

OpenAlex MCP Tools for Claude Desktop (5)

These 5 tools become available when you connect OpenAlex to Claude Desktop via MCP:

get_openalex_trending_topics

Essential for understanding global research trends. Discover the most researched scientific topics and concepts globally

get_openalex_work

Accepts OpenAlex ID (e.g. W2741809809 or full URL) or DOI (e.g. 10.1038/nature12373). Get full details of an academic work by OpenAlex ID or DOI

search_openalex_authors

Returns works count, total citations, h-index, current institution, and top research concepts. Find researchers with publication metrics, h-index, and institutional affiliations

search_openalex_institutions

Returns publication counts, citation metrics, country, and top research areas. Covers universities, research labs, hospitals, and government agencies globally. Find research institutions, universities, and organizations worldwide

search_openalex_works

Returns title, authors with institutional affiliations, journal, year, citation count, open access status, concepts, and reconstructed abstracts. CC0 licensed data. Search 250M+ academic works in the world's largest open scholarly database

Example Prompts for OpenAlex in Claude Desktop

Ready-to-use prompts you can give your Claude Desktop agent to start working with OpenAlex immediately.

"Which institutions publish the most research on quantum computing worldwide?"

"Search for Geoffrey Hinton and show me his publication metrics and affiliations."

"What are the most researched scientific topics globally right now?"

Troubleshooting OpenAlex MCP Server with Claude Desktop

Common issues when connecting OpenAlex to Claude Desktop through the Vinkius, and how to resolve them.

Server not appearing after restart

Ensure the JSON is valid (no trailing commas). Check the file path: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json (macOS) or %APPDATA%\\Claude\\ (Windows).

Authentication error

Verify your Vinkius token is correct. Go to cloud.vinkius.com to regenerate it if needed.

Tools not showing in chat

Click the 🔌 icon at the bottom of the chat input. If it shows 0 tools, the server may still be connecting. wait a few seconds.

OpenAlex + Claude Desktop FAQ

Common questions about integrating OpenAlex MCP Server with Claude Desktop.

How does Claude Desktop discover MCP tools?

When Claude Desktop starts, it reads the claude_desktop_config.json file and connects to each configured MCP server. It calls the tools/list endpoint to fetch the schema for every available tool, then surfaces them as clickable options in the chat interface via the 🔌 icon.

What happens if the MCP server is temporarily unavailable?

Claude Desktop handles disconnections gracefully. if the server is unreachable at startup, the tools simply won't appear. Once the server becomes available again, restarting Claude Desktop will re-establish the connection. There is no timeout penalty or error loop.

Can I connect multiple MCP servers simultaneously?

Yes. You can add as many servers as you need in the mcpServers section of the config file. Each server appears as a separate tool provider, and Claude can use tools from multiple servers in a single conversation turn.

Is there a limit on the number of tools per server?

Claude Desktop can handle hundreds of tools per server. However, for optimal LLM performance, Vinkius servers are designed to expose focused, well-documented tool sets rather than overwhelming the model with too many options.

Does Claude Desktop support Streamable HTTP transport?

Yes. Claude Desktop supports both SSE (Server-Sent Events) and the newer Streamable HTTP transport that Vinkius uses. Simply provide the server URL. Claude auto-negotiates the transport protocol.