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OpenAlex MCP server for AI agents and assistants

Securely connect your AI agents and chatbots (Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, etc) with OpenAlex MCP or direct API to search works, fetch author profiles, retrieve institution metadata, and explore related topics through natural language.

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OpenAlex logoOpenAlex
Api Key

OpenAlex is an open catalog of scholarly works, authors, institutions, sources, topics, and research metadata. Use it to discover research and enrich apps with structured academic metadata.

14 Tools

Try OpenAlex now

Type what you want done — sign in and watch it run live in the Tool Router playground.

TOOL ROUTER PLAYGROUND
OpenAlex
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TOOLS

Supported Tools

Every OpenAlex action and event your agent gets out of the box.

Add Collection Entities

Bulk-add one or more matching OpenAlex entity IDs to an owned collection without duplicating existing memberships.

Autocomplete Entities

Resolve a partial name or title to likely OpenAlex entity IDs before filtering or retrieving metadata.

Create Collection

Create a private, single-entity-type OpenAlex collection, optionally with an initial bounded set of entity IDs.

Delete Collection

Permanently delete exactly one owned private OpenAlex collection and all of its collection memberships.

Download Work Content

Download an OpenAlex-cached PDF or gzipped GROBID TEI file for a work.

Get Collection

Get metadata for one private OpenAlex collection owned by the connected user.

Get Metadata Entity

Retrieve one OpenAlex work, author, source, institution, topic, keyword, publisher, funder, award, taxonomy item, country, continent, or language by its supported identifier.

Get Rate Limit Status

Validate the connected OpenAlex API key and inspect daily budget, prepaid balance, reset timing, and current endpoint costs before expensive queries or downloads.

List Collection Entities

List one page of entity IDs in an owned private collection together with collection metadata and page totals.

List My Collections

List private OpenAlex collections owned by the connected API-key user, optionally finding collections that contain an entity.

Query Metadata Entities

Search, filter, sort, sample, select, or group one OpenAlex metadata resource other than works, including authors, venues, organizations, taxonomy, geography, awards, and enumerations.

Query Works

Search, filter, sort, sample, select, or group scholarly works.

Remove Collection Entities

Bulk-remove one or more entity memberships from an owned private OpenAlex collection without deleting the underlying OpenAlex entities.

Update Collection

Update a private collection's name or description, or change its entity type while the collection is empty.

SETUP GUIDE

Connect OpenAlex MCP Tool with your Agent

1

Install Composio

typescript
npm install @composio/core ai @ai-sdk/mcp @ai-sdk/openai
Install the Composio SDK and your agent framework
2

Create a session with MCP enabled

typescript
import { Composio } from "@composio/core";

const composio = new Composio();
const { mcp } = await composio.create("your-user-id", {
  toolkits: ["openalex"],
  mcp: true,
});
Create a session scoped to OpenAlex and read its MCP URL and headers
3

Connect your agent to the MCP server

typescript
import { createMCPClient } from "@ai-sdk/mcp";
import { openai } from "@ai-sdk/openai";
import { generateText, stepCountIs } from "ai";

const client = await createMCPClient({
  transport: { type: "http", url: mcp.url, headers: mcp.headers },
});

const { text } = await generateText({
  model: openai("gpt-5.6-sol"),
  tools: await client.tools(),
  prompt: "Find recent papers on causal inference",
  stopWhen: stepCountIs(10),
});

console.log(text);
await client.close();
Pass the session's MCP URL and headers to your agent and run a OpenAlex request
SETUP GUIDE

Connect OpenAlex API Tool with your Agent

1

Install Composio

typescript
npm install @composio/core @composio/openai openai
Install the Composio SDK, the OpenAI provider, and the OpenAI SDK
2

Create a Composio session

typescript
import OpenAI from "openai";
import { Composio } from "@composio/core";
import { OpenAIResponsesProvider } from "@composio/openai";

const composio = new Composio({ provider: new OpenAIResponsesProvider() });
const client = new OpenAI();

const session = await composio.create("your-user-id", { toolkits: ["openalex"] });
const tools = await session.tools();
Initialize Composio with the OpenAI Responses provider and create a session scoped to OpenAlex
3

Run OpenAlex tools with your agent

typescript
let response = await client.responses.create({
  model: "gpt-5.6-sol",
  tools,
  input: [{ role: "user", content: "Find recent papers on causal inference" }],
});

while (response.output.some((o) => o.type === "function_call")) {
  const outputs = await composio.provider.handleToolCalls(session, response.output);
  response = await client.responses.create({
    model: "gpt-5.6-sol",
    tools,
    previous_response_id: response.id,
    input: outputs,
  });
}

console.log(response.output_text);
Send a request, execute the OpenAlex tool calls through the session, and print the final answer

Why Use Composio?

AI Native OpenAlex Integration

  • Supports both OpenAlex MCP and direct API based integrations
  • Structured, LLM-friendly schemas for reliable tool execution
  • Rich coverage for reading, writing, and querying your OpenAlex data

Managed Auth

  • Built-in OAuth handling with automatic token refresh and rotation
  • Central place to manage, scope, and revoke OpenAlex access
  • Per user and per environment credentials instead of hard-coded keys

Agent Optimized Design

  • Tools are tuned using real error and success rates to improve reliability over time
  • Comprehensive execution logs so you always know what ran, when, and on whose behalf

Enterprise Grade Security

  • Fine-grained RBAC so you control which agents and users can access OpenAlex
  • Scoped, least privilege access to OpenAlex resources
  • Full audit trail of agent actions to support review and compliance
FRAMEWORKS

Use OpenAlex with any AI Agent Framework

Choose a Framework you want to connect OpenAlex with

ChatGPT logo

ChatGPT

Use OpenAlex MCP with ChatGPT

Claude Cowork logo

Claude Cowork

Use OpenAlex MCP with Claude Cowork

Hermes logo

Hermes

Use OpenAlex MCP with Hermes

Atomic Agent logo

Atomic Agent

Use OpenAlex MCP with Atomic Agent

Rolling this out across your team?

Give your team centralized access control across every framework with Composio’s MCP Gateway.

EXPLORE MCP GATEWAY
FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Yes, OpenAlex requires you to configure your own API key credentials. Once set up, Composio handles secure credential storage and API request handling for you.

Yes! Composio's Tool Router enables agents to use multiple toolkits. Learn more.

Yes. Composio is SOC 2 Type II compliant and is built to keep your OpenAlex connection and credentials secure. OAuth tokens and API keys are encrypted, and sensitive customer data is protected at rest and in transit.

Composio also undergoes independent security testing and continuously monitors its systems for security threats. You can review the latest reports and policies in the Composio Trust Center.

Composio maintains and updates all toolkit integrations automatically, so your agents always work with the latest API versions.

Create the key in your OpenAlex account settings, then paste it once on Composio's connection page. Composio stores it encrypted and uses it only for the OpenAlex actions your agent runs. Nobody else in your workspace can read it, and you can revoke it inside OpenAlex at any time.

When you connect a OpenAlex account through Composio, every action runs under that account, so anything the agent creates, sends, or changes shows up in OpenAlex as done by you. Keep an approval step in your prompt for actions with side effects, such as sending or deleting, and have the agent draft first.

Whatever the credentials you connect allow inside OpenAlex. If OpenAlex lets you scope a key to specific permissions, create a scoped one so the agent can only do what you intend. You can revoke the key inside OpenAlex at any time.

Yes. Composio supports multiple connected accounts for the same app, and that works in Claude, ChatGPT, or any other assistant you connect through Composio. Give each OpenAlex connection a name such as work or personal, and the assistant uses the one you mention in the request. Each account keeps its own credentials and nothing is merged.

The connection stops working the moment OpenAlex rejects the old key. Create a new key in OpenAlex and reconnect the account from the Composio dashboard or by asking your agent to reconnect OpenAlex. Nothing else changes.

Composio's free Hobby plan includes 100,000 tool calls per month with no credit card, which covers most personal OpenAlex use. Paid plans add higher limits and team features. Your OpenAlex plan and its API limits still apply as usual.

Built-in connectors usually give one AI access to a limited set of apps. Many people use Composio because it lets their AI connect to more apps than it normally supports, or connect to multiple accounts for the same app (e.g. connect Claude to multiple OpenAlex accounts).

With Composio, you connect OpenAlex once and then use it across different AI assistants without setting it up separately in each one. Connect your apps to Composio once, then connect Composio to whichever AI you use, whether that's Claude, ChatGPT, Hermes, or your own custom assistant.

Start with OpenAlex.It takes 30 seconds.

Managed auth, hosted MCP servers, and every OpenAlex tool your agent needs.Free to start.

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