Compatible with every major AI agent and IDE
What is the CORE (Open Access Research) MCP Server?
Connect to CORE, the world's largest aggregator of open access research papers. This MCP server allows your AI agent to search, retrieve, and analyze millions of scholarly articles, journals, and institutional repositories through natural conversation.
What you can do
- Global Search — Search across all CORE resources including articles, journals, and repositories using a single text query.
- Article Retrieval — Fetch full metadata, version history, and direct PDF download links for specific research papers using CORE IDs.
- Journal & Repository Discovery — Search and inspect specific journals by ISSN or explore institutional repositories to find authoritative sources.
- OAI Resolution — Resolve Open Archives Initiative (OAI) identifiers to access original metadata and repository pages.
- Deep Metadata Inspection — Analyze article history and updates to ensure you are working with the latest scientific information.
How it works
- Subscribe to this server
- Enter your CORE API Key
- Start researching directly from Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-compatible client
Who is this for?
- Researchers & Academics — quickly find relevant papers and download PDFs without leaving your writing or coding environment.
- Students — gather citations, explore related research history, and find open access versions of paywalled content.
- Data Scientists — access a massive corpus of open access metadata for literature reviews and scientific data analysis.
Built-in capabilities (10)
Get a specific article by CORE ID
Get the history of an article
Get the PDF download URL for an article
Get a specific journal by ISSN
Get a specific repository by ID
Global search across CORE
Resolve an OAI identifier
Search for articles
Search for journals
Search for repositories
Why Windsurf?
Windsurf's Cascade agent chains multiple CORE (Open Access Research) tool calls autonomously. query data, analyze results, and generate code in a single agentic session. Paste Vinkius Edge URL, reload, and all 10 tools are immediately available. Real-time tool feedback appears inline, so you see API responses directly in your editor.
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Windsurf's Cascade agent autonomously chains multiple tool calls in sequence, solving complex multi-step tasks without manual intervention
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Purpose-built for agentic workflows. Cascade understands context across your entire codebase and integrates MCP tools natively
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JSON-based configuration means zero code changes: paste a URL, reload, and all 10 tools are immediately available
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Real-time tool feedback is displayed inline, so you see API responses directly in your editor without switching contexts
CORE (Open Access Research) in Windsurf
CORE (Open Access Research) and 4,000+ other MCP servers. One platform. One governance layer.
Teams that connect CORE (Open Access Research) to Windsurf 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.
Raw MCP | Vinkius | |
|---|---|---|
| Server catalog | Find and host yourself | 4,000+ managed |
| Infrastructure | Self-hosted | Sandboxed V8 isolates |
| Credential handling | Plaintext in config | Vault + runtime injection |
| Data loss prevention | None | Configurable DLP policies |
| Kill switch | None | Global instant shutdown |
| Financial circuit breakers | None | Per-server limits + alerts |
| Audit trail | None | Ed25519 signed logs |
| SIEM log streaming | None | Splunk, Datadog, Webhook |
| Honeytokens | None | Canary alerts on leak |
| Custom domains | Not applicable | DNS challenge verified |
| GDPR compliance | Manual effort | Automated purge + export |
Why teams choose Vinkius for CORE (Open Access Research) in Windsurf
The CORE (Open Access Research) 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 10 tools execute in hardened sandboxes optimized for native MCP execution.
Your AI agents in Windsurf 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.

* 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
How Vinkius secures
CORE (Open Access Research) for Windsurf
Every tool call from Windsurf to the CORE (Open Access Research) MCP Server is protected by DLP redaction, cryptographic audit chains, V8 sandbox isolation, kill switch, and financial circuit breakers.
Frequently asked questions
How do I get the PDF of a specific research article?
Use the get_article_pdf tool with the CORE Article ID. The agent will return the direct download URL for the open access PDF version of the paper.
Can I search for specific journals or repositories?
Yes! You can use search_journals or search_repositories for general text queries, or use get_journal (with an ISSN) and get_repository (with a Repository ID) for direct lookups.
What does the OAI resolution tool do?
The resolve_oai tool takes an OAI identifier (like oai:oro.open.ac.uk:75049) and resolves it to the CORE metadata page or the original repository link, helping you find the source of the research.
How does Windsurf discover MCP tools?
Windsurf reads the mcp_config.json file on startup and connects to each configured server via Streamable HTTP. Tools are listed in the MCP panel and available to Cascade automatically.
Can Cascade chain multiple MCP tool calls?
Yes. Cascade is an agentic system. it can plan and execute multi-step workflows, calling several tools in sequence to accomplish complex tasks without manual prompting between steps.
Does Windsurf support multiple MCP servers?
Yes. Add as many servers as needed in mcp_config.json. Each server's tools appear in the MCP panel and Cascade can use tools from different servers in a single flow.
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