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Connect Unpaywall Open Access Papers to ChatGPT and Claude

Set it up once and it works in ChatGPT, Claude, Cursor, and any other client you love. It all runs safely in the background, so you can relax and focus on what really matters. Find legal full-text PDFs using DOIs without paywalls.

Ask AI about this Connector

Developed, maintained, and hosted by Vinkius.

MCP VERIFIED · PRODUCTION READY · VINKIUS GUARANTEED

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Works with modern AI clients that support MCP, including ChatGPT, Claude, Cursor, and more.

ChatGPTClaudeCursorPerplexityGeminiMicrosoft CopilotRaycastMeta AI

Your AI does the work. We keep it safe and sound.

No other AI tool gives you this. Your workflow runs in the client you already love, your account stays protected, and you decide what the agent can and cannot do. It is the whole reason to make the switch.

Each Connector lives inside our infrastructure, the same place where your workflow runs. The three things below are already part of it, working quietly in the background so you never have to think about them. Nothing to add, nothing to set up, nothing to worry about.

A futuristic MCP client docking bay
V8 Isolate01

Each Connector runs inside its own sealed environment.

Each Connector runs inside its own sealed V8 runtime — no access to your files, your system, or other servers. A Connector never sees past its own request.

Kill Switch02

One switch stops every agent. Instantly.

One action deactivates every Connector, revokes every token, and ends every session at once. AI Governance keeps the record.

FinOps per User03

Spending limits that pause instead of surprise.

Every user keeps their own connections and credentials, isolated from everyone else. Anything that would cross your spending limit is held for your approval, not billed.

Three controls, built into the layer your AI connects through.

Curated set · 1 capability

We ship only the actions that matter.

Capability set01 / 01

01

1 capability in this set.

Part of 1 available through Unpaywall.

  1. 01

    Get article oa status

    This capability checks the Open Access status of a specific DOI. It returns whether the paper is freely available and provides the location of the full-text version.

Real work

What teams actually run

01

Literature Reviews

Your agent scans a list of DOIs to find accessible versions of all cited works.

02

Automated Data Collection

A data scientist uses the agent to pull open-access papers for training or analysis.

03

Quick Fact Checking

A researcher provides a DOI to immediately see if a paper's findings are accessible.

04

Academic Study

A student asks their agent to find free versions of specific textbook references.

Automate a task

Put Unpaywall to work on one thing.

Step-by-step automations your AI runs through this Connector: the workflow, the prompts to start with, and the exact capabilities behind each move.

One connector, every AI

Unpaywall works with the most popular AI clients.

These are the most popular clients, each with a step-by-step guide: one link, set up once, with governance and visibility built in. And because everything runs on the MCP standard, the same connection also works in any other compatible client — nothing to rebuild.

ClaudeClaudeChatGPTChatGPTGeminiGeminiPerplexityPerplexityGrokGrokMicrosoft CopilotMicrosoft CopilotCursorCursorVS CodeVS CodeWindsurfWindsurfJetBrainsJetBrainsClineClineLangChainLangChainVercel AI SDKVercel AI SDKLovableLovableZ.aiZ.aiRaycastRaycastQwen CodeQwen CodeKimi CodeKimi CodeLe ChatLe Chat

Building your own app? The connector is yours to use.

You don't need a client to put Unpaywall to work: the same hosted connection plugs into your own applications and agent code, with the same governance on every request. Build with it, chat with it — one connection for both.

Observed, not estimated

911ms average. Fast in production.

Unpaywall is checked daily against the live service.

Daily averagePeak 1066ms
Oct 3Today
Fastest day
715ms
Slowest day
1066ms
14-day trend
Improving-12%

Connect your client

One URL. Every client.

Activate the Connector, copy your link, and paste it into the client you already use. 1 capability arrives ready to run.

Preview access · not provider authentication

The vk_preview_* token belongs to Vinkius preview infrastructure. It lets Claude discover and display the capabilities of Unpaywall, so you can see the experience inside your AI.

It does not authenticate your account with Unpaywall. Actions requiring credentials or live account data may not run until you activate the Connector and authorize the service.

Unpaywall Connector

You're all set. Choose your MCP client and follow the setup instructions.

Connector linkhttps://edge.vinkius.com/vk_preview_FhVinYZ5ipCUoRhSWZX441L0cACxRSjvwvPVvMMz/mcp

Claude Desktop

Follow the steps below to connect in seconds.

  1. 1In Claude Desktop, open Settings → Connectors.
  2. 2Click “Add custom connector” and paste the connector link above as the remote MCP server URL.
  3. 3Click Add and start a new chat — Unpaywall capabilities are ready to use.
Configuration · claude_desktop_config.jsonCopy
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "unpaywall-open-access-papers-mcp": {
      "url": "https://edge.vinkius.com/vk_preview_FhVinYZ5ipCUoRhSWZX441L0cACxRSjvwvPVvMMz/mcp"
    }
  }
}
  • Claude
  • ChatGPT
  • Cursor
  • VS Code
  • Windsurf
  • Claude Code
  • JetBrains
  • Cline

Step-by-step instructions for each client are in the guide. How to connect

Guided setup for Claude? Set up Unpaywall in Claude and other AIs

See all the AI clients this connector works with ↑

Who it's for

Built for the work Unpaywall owners hand off.

This MCP is built for anyone who needs to access academic literature without subscription barriers.

  • 01

    Researchers

    They hand off DOI lookups to the agent to find full-text versions of papers quickly.

  • 02

    Students

    They use the agent to find legally available versions of required reading.

  • 03

    Data Scientists

    They automate the collection of open-access research papers for large-scale analysis.

FAQ

Questions Unpaywall owners ask.

  • 01

    How do I find free versions of research papers?

    You can provide a DOI to your AI agent, which uses this MCP to search the Unpaywall database for legal, open-access versions.

  • 02

    Is the access provided by this MCP legal?

    Yes, this MCP specifically locates legal, open-access versions of papers hosted on publisher sites or institutional repositories.

  • 03

    What information do I need to provide?

    You need to provide a DOI for the paper you want to find. You will also need to provide an email address to comply with Unpaywall's API policy.

  • 04

    Which AI clients can use this MCP?

    You can use this with any MCP-compatible client, including Claude, Cursor, and Windsurf.

  • 05

    Can it find papers that are behind a paywall?

    If a paper is only available through a paid subscription and has no open-access version, the capability will report that it is behind a paywall.

  • 06

    How do I check if a specific research paper is available for free?

    Use the get_article_oa_status capability with the paper's DOI. Your agent will query the Unpaywall database and return the Open Access status along with direct links to the PDF if available.

  • 07

    Does this capability provide legal versions of the papers?

    Yes. Unpaywall only indexes legal, author-archived, or publisher-provided Open Access versions of scholarly articles. It does not access pirated content.

  • 08

    What information is required to use this server?

    You need the DOI (Digital Object Identifier) of the article and a valid email address to authenticate with the Unpaywall API.

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