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Vinkius

OpenAlex Connector for AI agents.

5 live capabilities

Pull publication metrics and research trends from over 250 million scholarly works.

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AI Agent

Why people use OpenAlex

OpenAlex Scholarly Search for Academic Research

With this Connector, your agent does the hunting for you. You just ask for the data, and it pulls the publication counts, citation metrics, and affiliations into a clean list. You get a complete map of the research landscape in seconds.

  • Claude
  • ChatGPT
  • Gemini
  • Cursor
  • Visual Studio Code
  • Windsurf

What Vinkius changes

You get instant access to a massive scholarly database without the subscription fees.

Use it from Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor or another AI client you already have.

One account · 5,900+ Connectors

  1. Real-world use case 01

    Finding open access CRISPR research

    A researcher needs to find all papers on CRISPR from the last 3 years that are actually open access.

  2. Real-world use case 02

    Mapping university research output

    A librarian wants to see which universities in Europe are leading the way in quantum computing research.

  3. Real-world use case 03

    Analyzing a professor's career impact

    A student is looking for the most cited works of a specific professor to understand their career trajectory.

Complete set · 5capabilities

The complete OpenAlex capability set.

These are the exact actions your AI can choose when you ask it to work with OpenAlex.

Capability set01 / 02

01—03

3 capabilities in this set.

Part of 5 available through OpenAlex.

  1. 01 Capability

    Get openalex trending topics

    See what scientific topics are currently getting the most attention worldwide. This helps you understand which research areas are currently moving the needle.

  2. 02 Capability

    Get openalex work

    Pull full metadata and details for a specific paper using its DOI or OpenAlex ID. This is useful for getting deep data on a single record without manual searching.

  3. 03 Capability

    Search openalex authors

    Get publication counts, h-index metrics, and current affiliations for specific researchers. This lets you see a person's career impact and institutional ties at a glance.

Capability set02 / 02

04—05

2 capabilities in this set.

Part of 5 available through OpenAlex.

  1. 04 Capability

    Search openalex institutions

    Discover research output and citation metrics for universities, labs, and government agencies. This is great for mapping out institutional influence and geographic research hubs.

  2. 05 Capability

    Search openalex works

    Search the database for papers with abstracts, citation counts, and open access status. This lets you find millions of scholarly works quickly while checking for free availability.

Set up in minutes

One URL. Then ask OpenAlex to work.

Claude and ChatGPT only need the Connector URL. Copy it once, add it in settings, and use OpenAlex from the conversation.

Choose your client

Live preview
Advanced clients IDE · CLI

Claude · Web + desktop

Official guide ↗

Connector URL · ready to paste

Streamable HTTP
https://edge.vinkius.com/vk_preview_VOY4fyGhNsUQoKOSjh0Q3A3hhrOEVH1pqXavvzDA/mcp
  1. Step 01

    Open Connectors

    In Claude Web or Claude Desktop, open Settings and choose Connectors.

  2. Step 02

    Add the URL

    Choose Add custom connector, name it OpenAlex, and paste the URL above.

  3. Step 03

    Turn it on in chat

    Select +, open Connectors, and enable OpenAlex for the conversation.

Where the request belongs

Work OpenAlex can move forward.

Built around the request

For the academic researcher who's tired of paying thousands for database access and the librarian trying to map out institutional output.

01

Academic Researcher

Finds specific papers and citation counts for literature reviews on a Tuesday afternoon.

02

University Librarian

Monitors which labs are producing the most output in specific fields.

03

Science Policy Analyst

Identifies global research trends to see where funding is actually going.

Build the capability set

Add more capabilities.

Each Connector adds new actions and data without changing how you work.

Browse Connectors
OpenAlex logo
01 14 capabilities

OpenAlex

Automate scholarly research via OpenAlex. search millions of works, authors, and institutions directly from any AI agent.

View Connector
Scopus logo
02 10 capabilities

Scopus

Access the world's largest abstract and citation database. Search for research papers, authors, and institutional profiles directly.

View Connector
CrossRef logo
03 3 capabilities

CrossRef

Search 140M+ scholarly works across all scientific disciplines. with DOI resolution, citation counts, author lookup, and full bibliographic metadata from the world's largest DOI registry.

View Connector
Stanford OpenAlex logo
04 16 capabilities

Stanford OpenAlex

Explore the global research landscape with open access to scholarly works, authors, institutions, and citation graphs.

View Connector
Stanford Semantic Scholar logo
05 16 capabilities

Stanford Semantic Scholar

Discover academic papers with AI-powered search that understands research context, finds citations, and recommends related work.

View Connector
Semantic Scholar logo
06 4 capabilities

Semantic Scholar

Search 200M+ academic papers with AI-powered TLDR summaries, influential citation tracking, and researcher profiles from the Allen Institute for AI.

View Connector

Bring your own AI

Change the model, client or framework. Keep OpenAlex connected.

  • Claude
  • ChatGPT
  • Gemini
  • Cursor
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  • CrewAI
  • Vercel AI SDK

Before you connect

Questions about OpenAlex.

The practical details behind the request, access and result.

Can OpenAlex MCP find specific research papers?

Yes. It allows your agent to search a database of over 250 million scholarly works to find specific papers based on titles, authors, or DOIs.

Does OpenAlex MCP include citation counts?

Yes, it pulls bibliometric data including total citations, h-indexes, and publication counts for both individual researchers and institutions.

Can I use OpenAlex MCP to find open access works?

Absolutely. Every work in the catalog indicates its open access status, helping you identify which papers are available for free full-text access.

How does OpenAlex MCP help with research trends?

It allows your agent to identify the most-researched scientific topics globally, helping you see where the scientific community is currently focusing its efforts.

Can OpenAlex MCP find researcher affiliations?

Yes. It provides current institutional affiliations for researchers, making it easy to see where major scientific work is being conducted.

Is OpenAlex MCP a free alternative to Scopus?

Yes, it is a fully open-source alternative to enterprise platforms like Scopus and Web of Science, providing massive amounts of scholarly data without the subscription fees.

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.

One connection away

Give your agent a direct line to OpenAlex.

Connect OpenAlex once. Keep it beside 5,900+ managed Connectors when the next task needs more.

Explore every Connector No credit card required · Free tier available