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CERN Open Data MCP Server

Bring Particle Physics
to Claude Desktop

Learn how to connect CERN Open Data to Claude Desktop and start using 16 AI agent tools in minutes. Fully managed, enterprise secure, and ready to use without writing a single line of code.

MCP Inspector GDPR Free for Subscribers
Check Cern Opendata StatusGet GlossaryGet Portal StatisticsGet RecordGet Record By DoiList CategoriesList ExperimentsList Record FilesSearch By CategorySearch By Collision EnergySearch By Collision TypeSearch By ExperimentSearch DatasetsSearch DocumentationSearch SoftwareSearch Supplementaries

Compatible with every major AI agent and IDE

ClaudeClaude
ChatGPTChatGPT
CursorCursor
GeminiGemini
WindsurfWindsurf
VS CodeVS Code
JetBrainsJetBrains
VercelVercel
+ other MCP clients
CERN Open Data

What is the CERN Open Data MCP Server?

Connect to the CERN Open Data Portal and access the world's largest repository of open particle physics data — over 66,000 datasets from the Large Hadron Collider and LEP experiments.

What you can do

  • Dataset Discovery — Search across 66,000+ records with powerful filters for experiment (CMS, ATLAS, ALICE, LHCb, DELPHI, OPERA), collision type (pp, e+e−, Pb-Pb), collision energy (7–13.6 TeV), and physics category
  • Physics Categories — Browse datasets by research topic including Higgs boson, Exotica (Dark Matter, Gravitons, Extra Dimensions, Leptoquarks), B physics, heavy-ion collisions, and more
  • Record Intelligence — Retrieve complete metadata for any record: abstracts, authors with ORCID, DOI, event counts, file listings with ROOT/EOS URIs, and processing configurations
  • Portal Analytics — Get comprehensive statistics across all facets: experiments, collision types, energies, file formats, years, and event count distributions
  • Physics Glossary — Search 1,000+ glossary entries for definitions of particle physics terms, detector components, and analysis techniques
  • Software & Documentation — Find analysis frameworks, reconstruction software, guides, and supplementary materials needed to reproduce published results

How it works

  1. Subscribe to this server
  2. No API key required — the CERN Open Data Portal is a fully public service
  3. Start querying particle physics data from Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-compatible client

Your AI agent becomes a particle physics research assistant with direct access to LHC collision data. All data is sourced from the official CERN Open Data Portal powered by InvenioRDM.

Who is this for?

  • Particle Physicists — discover and access collision datasets, reconstruction configurations, and analysis software without navigating complex web interfaces
  • Data Scientists & ML Researchers — find labeled physics datasets for machine learning applications in particle identification, anomaly detection, and event classification
  • Educators & Students — access curated educational datasets and physics glossary entries for teaching and learning particle physics
  • Science Communicators — retrieve real data from Higgs boson discoveries, Dark Matter searches, and other landmark physics results for accurate reporting

Built-in capabilities (16)

check_cern_opendata_status

Use this to verify the integration is working correctly before performing data queries. The API uses the InvenioRDM REST framework. Verify CERN Open Data API connectivity and portal status

get_glossary

Returns term names, definitions, and associated experiments. Covers fundamental particles, detector components, analysis techniques, and physics phenomena. Use this to explain technical physics terms like "luminosity", "transverse momentum", "pseudorapidity", "b-tagging", or "muon spectrometer". Invaluable for science communication and educational contexts. Search the CERN particle physics glossary for term definitions

get_portal_statistics

), record types (Dataset, Documentation, Software, Glossary, Supplementaries), data-taking years, keywords, availability status, and event count distributions. This is the single most informative endpoint for understanding the scope and composition of available CERN data. Get comprehensive CERN Open Data portal statistics and facets

get_record

Returns the full title, abstract, experiment, authors with ORCID identifiers, collision parameters, publication dates, DOI, file distribution summary (number of files, events, size), usage instructions, and a direct link. Use this after finding a record via search to obtain complete details. Example: recid "1" returns the CMS BTau primary dataset. Get detailed metadata for a specific CERN Open Data record

get_record_by_doi

Returns the resolved record ID, title, experiment, type, and direct link if found. Useful when you have a DOI from a publication or reference and need to find the corresponding open dataset. DOIs follow the format "10.7483/OPENDATA.CMS.XXX". Returns a "not found" result if the DOI does not match any record. Resolve a DOI to a CERN Open Data record

list_categories

Returns category names and dataset counts. Categories span the full range of particle physics research: Higgs boson searches, exotic particles (Dark Matter, Extra Dimensions, Gravitons), B physics, heavy-ion collisions, and more. Subcategories within Exotica and Higgs Physics provide finer granularity. List all physics categories and subcategories with dataset counts

list_experiments

Currently includes CMS (the largest contributor with ~52,000 datasets), DELPHI (LEP era), ATLAS, ALICE, LHCb, OPERA (neutrino physics), TOTEM, JADE, and PHENIX. Use this as a starting point to understand what data is available before drilling into specific experiments. List all available CERN experiments and their dataset counts

list_record_files

Returns filename, size in bytes, checksum, ROOT/EOS URI for direct data access, and file format. Useful for understanding what data is available in a dataset before downloading. Large datasets may contain hundreds of ROOT files. Example: record 1 contains AOD format files from CMS BTau data. List all data files in a CERN Open Data record

search_by_category

Major categories include: Exotica (~13,000 datasets, including Dark Matter, Extra Dimensions, Gravitons, Heavy Fermions, Leptoquarks), Higgs Physics (~10,400, Standard Model and Beyond Standard Model), Higgs (~10,700), Beyond 2 Generations (~1,600), 2 Fermion (~1,200), B physics and Quarkonia (~500), 4 Fermion (~380), Heavy-Ion Physics (~220). Some categories have subcategories — use the subcategory parameter for more precise filtering. Search datasets filtered by physics category

search_by_collision_energy

Available energies include: 13TeV (~50,500 datasets, LHC Run 2), 181-210 GeV (~11,700, LEP2), 7TeV (~1,100, LHC Run 1), 8TeV (~900, LHC Run 1), 5.02TeV (~310, heavy-ion), 2.76TeV (~120, heavy-ion), 130-140 GeV (~120, LEP), 13.6TeV (LHC Run 3). The vast majority of data comes from 13 TeV proton-proton collisions at the LHC. Search datasets filtered by collision energy

search_by_collision_type

Available collision types: pp (proton-proton, ~52,000 datasets), e+e- (electron-positron, ~12,700), Pb-Pb (lead-lead, ~140), pPb (proton-lead, ~140). Proton-proton collisions from the LHC dominate the dataset. Electron-positron data comes primarily from the LEP era (DELPHI). Use this to focus on a specific collision topology. Search datasets filtered by particle collision type

search_by_experiment

Available experiments include CMS (~52,000 datasets), DELPHI (~12,700), ATLAS (~160), ALICE (~150), LHCb (~108), OPERA (~900), and TOTEM. Combine with a text query for targeted searches within an experiment. This is the fastest way to scope results to a single collaboration. Search datasets filtered by a specific LHC experiment

search_datasets

Supports full-text queries combined with filters for experiment, collision type, collision energy, physics category, file type, and year. Returns paginated results with metadata including record ID, title, abstract, event counts, file sizes, and direct links. Use this as the primary discovery tool for finding specific physics data. Example queries: "Higgs boson", "dark matter", "top quark pair production". Search CERN Open Data datasets with full-text query and filters

search_documentation

Returns document titles, abstracts, subtypes (Guide, Policy, About, Activities, Authors, Report, Help, Stripping), and direct links. Use this to find instructions on how to use specific datasets, understand detector configurations, or learn about data processing workflows. Search CERN guides, policies, and documentation

search_software

Returns software title, description, associated experiment, and subtypes (Analysis, Framework, Tool, Validation, Workflow). Use this to find reconstruction software, analysis frameworks like CMSSW, or specific analysis code associated with published physics results. Search CERN analysis software, frameworks, and tools

search_supplementaries

These ~5,900 records provide the technical context needed to reproduce physics analyses. Filter by subtype to find specific configuration types. Essential for researchers reproducing or extending published analyses. Search CERN supplementary materials and configurations

Why Claude Desktop?

Claude Desktop is the definitive way to connect CERN Open Data to your AI workflow. Add Vinkius Edge URL to your config, restart the app, and Claude immediately exposes all 16 tools in the chat interface. ask a question, Claude calls the right tool, and you see the answer. Zero code, zero context switching.

  • 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

See it in action

CERN Open Data in Claude Desktop

AI AgentVinkius
High Security·Kill Switch·Plug and Play
Why Vinkius

CERN Open Data and 4,000+ other MCP servers. One platform. One governance layer.

Teams that connect CERN Open Data to Claude Desktop through Vinkius don't need to source, host, or maintain individual MCP servers. Every tool call runs inside a hardened runtime with credential isolation, DLP, and a signed audit chain.

4,000+MCP Servers ready
<40msCold start
60%Token savings
Raw MCP
Vinkius
Server catalogFind and host yourself4,000+ managed
InfrastructureSelf-hostedSandboxed V8 isolates
Credential handlingPlaintext in configVault + runtime injection
Data loss preventionNoneConfigurable DLP policies
Kill switchNoneGlobal instant shutdown
Financial circuit breakersNonePer-server limits + alerts
Audit trailNoneEd25519 signed logs
SIEM log streamingNoneSplunk, Datadog, Webhook
HoneytokensNoneCanary alerts on leak
Custom domainsNot applicableDNS challenge verified
GDPR complianceManual effortAutomated purge + export
Enterprise Security

Why teams choose Vinkius for CERN Open Data in Claude Desktop

The CERN Open Data 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. All 16 tools execute in hardened sandboxes optimized for native MCP execution.

Your AI agents in Claude Desktop only access the data you authorize, with DLP that blocks sensitive information from ever reaching the model, kill switch for instant shutdown, and up to 60% token savings. Enterprise-grade infrastructure, zero maintenance.

CERN Open Data
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

The Vinkius Advantage

How Vinkius secures CERN Open Data for Claude Desktop

Every tool call from Claude Desktop to the CERN Open Data MCP Server is protected by DLP redaction, cryptographic audit chains, V8 sandbox isolation, kill switch, and financial circuit breakers.

< 40msCold start
Ed25519Signed audit chain
60%Token savings
FAQ

Frequently asked questions

01

Do I need an API key to use this server?

No. The CERN Open Data Portal API is completely public and requires no authentication. Simply subscribe to this server and enter any placeholder value in the API key field to start querying particle physics datasets immediately.

02

What kind of data can I access from CERN?

You can access over 66,000 datasets from major LHC experiments (CMS, ATLAS, ALICE, LHCb) and legacy experiments (DELPHI, OPERA). This includes real collision data, Monte Carlo simulations, derived datasets, analysis software, physics glossary entries, and detailed documentation. Data covers Higgs boson searches, Dark Matter studies, exotic particle searches, heavy-ion physics, and more.

03

Can I use CERN data for machine learning projects?

Absolutely. CERN provides labeled datasets specifically designed for ML applications, including particle identification, jet classification, event reconstruction, and anomaly detection. Use the search tools with queries like 'machine learning' or filter by file type 'csv' or 'nanoaodsim' to find ML-ready formats. The CMS experiment alone has published thousands of simulated datasets with known physics labels.

04

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.

05

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.

06

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.

07

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.

08

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.

09

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).

10

Authentication error

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

11

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.

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