bioRxiv

Name: bioRxiv MCP Server
Availability: InStock
Author: bioRxiv

Healthcare7 toolsNo Auth Required

Search bioRxiv and medRxiv preprints from your AI agent. 7 read-only tools, no sign-in, operated by Anthropic over openRxiv's public API — and nothing it returns has been peer reviewed.

Verified connector

Listed by Anthropic as an Anthropic-built connector in its Connectors Directory.

Connection checked by Agentman on 18 August 2026.

Anthropic states this reflects the level of review a connector received, not a security audit.

Connect bioRxiv via MCP

https://hcls.mcp.claude.com/biorxiv/mcp

Works in any MCP-compatible client. In Agentman Studio it is one click — no config file to edit.

bioRxiv Tools & Capabilities (7)

search_preprintsRead-only

Search bioRxiv/medRxiv preprints. Returns DOI, title, authors, abstract preview, category. WHEN TO USE: - Literature review and research discovery - Finding recent research in specific fields - Tracking new submissions by date or category SEARCH METHODS (use only ONE): - Date range: date_from + date_to (e.g., '2024-01-01' to '2024-06-30') - RECOMMENDED - Recent days: recent_days=30 (last 30 days) - Recent count: recent_count=50 (searches last ~90 days, returns up to 'limit' results) IMPORTANT: All searches use date ranges internally. recent_count searches a 90-day window. If no search method specified, defaults to last 60 days. SERVERS: - 'biorxiv': Biological sciences (default) - 'medrxiv': Medical/health sciences CATEGORIES (27 available): biochemistry, bioinformatics, cancer biology, cell biology, genetics, genomics, immunology, microbiology, molecular biology, neuroscience, and 17 more. Use get_categories tool for full list. LIMITATIONS: - NO keyword/text search - filter by category and date only - Results are NOT peer-reviewed preprints EXAMPLES: - Last 30 days of neuroscience: recent_days=30, category='neuroscience' - Cancer biology Q1 2024: date_from='2024-01-01', date_to='2024-03-31', category='cancer biology' PAGINATION: Use cursor for next page (cursor=100 for results 100-199) RELATED: get_preprint (full details by DOI), get_categories (list all categories)

get_preprintRead-only

Get complete metadata for a specific preprint by DOI. WHEN TO USE: - You have a DOI and need full details - Need abstract, authors, PDF URL, funding info - Checking if preprint was published in a journal RETURNS: title, all authors, corresponding author + institution, full abstract, category, license, version, PDF URL, web URL, funding details, published DOI (if available) DOI FORMATS (all accepted): - '10.1101/2024.01.15.123456' - 'https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.01.15.123456' SERVERS: - 'biorxiv': For bioRxiv preprints (DOI contains biorxiv dates like 2024.01.15) - 'medrxiv': For medRxiv preprints IMPORTANT: Preprints are NOT peer-reviewed RELATED: search_preprints (find DOIs), search_published_articles (find journal version)

get_categoriesRead-only

List all 27 bioRxiv subject categories for filtering searches. WHEN TO USE: - Before search_preprints to see valid category values - To understand research area classifications RETURNS: Category names and API-compatible format (e.g., 'cancer biology' -> 'cancer_biology') FULL LIST: animal behavior and cognition, biochemistry, bioengineering, bioinformatics, biophysics, cancer biology, cell biology, clinical trials, developmental biology, ecology, epidemiology, evolutionary biology, genetics, genomics, immunology, microbiology, molecular biology, neuroscience, paleontology, pathology, pharmacology and toxicology, physiology, plant biology, scientific communication and education, synthetic biology, systems biology, zoology

search_published_preprintsRead-only

Find preprints that have been published in peer-reviewed journals. WHEN TO USE: - Track which preprints became journal articles - Find the peer-reviewed version of a preprint - Analyze preprint-to-publication patterns - Filter articles by whether they were published by a specific journal SEARCH METHODS (use only ONE): - Date range: date_from + date_to - Recent count: recent_count=50 - Recent days: recent_days=30 FILTERS: - include_details: True for full metadata (slower), False for summary (faster) - publisher: Filter by DOI prefix (e.g., '10.1038' for Nature) - see below COMMON PUBLISHER PREFIXES: - '10.1038' - Nature Publishing Group - '10.1126' - Science/AAAS - '10.1016' - Elsevier - '10.1371' - PLOS - '10.7554' - eLife - '10.1073' - PNAS EXAMPLE: Find recently published medRxiv papers: server='medrxiv', recent_days=30

search_by_funderRead-only

Search for preprints funded by a specific organization using ROR ID. WHEN TO USE: - Track research output from specific funding bodies - Analyze funder-specific publication patterns - Monitor grant-funded research areas REQUIRES: funder_ror_id (9-character ROR ID) COMMON FUNDER ROR IDS: - '021nxhr62' - NIH (National Institutes of Health) - '01cwqze88' - NSF (National Science Foundation) - '02mhbdp94' - European Commission - '029chgv08' - Wellcome Trust - '05a28rw58' - HHMI (Howard Hughes Medical Institute) - '006wxqw41' - MRC (Medical Research Council UK) - '00f54p054' - BBSRC (UK) - '01s5ya894' - Chan Zuckerberg Initiative Find more ROR IDs at: https://ror.org/search RETURNS: DOI, title, authors, abstract preview, category (same as search_preprints) IMPORTANT: Date range required. Earliest date is 2025-04-10 (funder metadata inception) SERVERS: 'biorxiv' or 'medrxiv'

get_content_statisticsRead-only

Get bioRxiv submission statistics over time. WHEN TO USE: - Analyze bioRxiv growth trends - Track submission patterns (new vs revised papers) - Generate platform statistics reports RETURNS (per month/year): new_papers, revised_papers, new_authors, cumulative_papers, cumulative_authors, period (YYYY-MM or YYYY) INTERVALS: 'monthly' (default) or 'yearly' NOTE: Returns all historical data from bioRxiv inception to present

get_usage_statisticsRead-only

Get bioRxiv usage/engagement statistics over time. WHEN TO USE: - Analyze readership trends - Track engagement metrics (views, downloads) - Compare abstract vs full-text vs PDF engagement RETURNS (per month/year): abstract_views, full_text_views, pdf_downloads, cumulative_abstract, cumulative_full_text, cumulative_pdf, period (YYYY-MM or YYYY) INTERVALS: 'monthly' (default) or 'yearly' NOTE: Returns all historical data from bioRxiv inception to present

Read from the server on 2026-08-18, including each tool's own safety annotations.

Limits

Unrefereed is the default state of every result, and this is the sharpest limit here. bioRxiv's screening covers plagiarism and non-scientific or dangerous content, not scientific validity. An agent that presents a preprint finding as established produces confidently wrong output, and in a clinical or public-health context that is a real harm. Anthropic operating the connector adds nothing here, and neither do we.
Withdrawals are nearly invisible. No tool has a withdrawal or retraction field. Only get_preprint carries the optional type value that can read withdrawn, and search results omit it. Because posted manuscripts cannot be removed, withdrawn work stays searchable indefinitely.
There is no keyword, author or full-text search. search_preprints filters by date and category only, and says so in its own description. "Find preprints about X" has to become a category plus a date window plus your own filtering.
The category filter does not work for medRxiv. The 27-value enum is bioRxiv's subject list, and openRxiv's API silently ignores a mismatched category rather than erroring — returning unfiltered results. Search medRxiv by date and server only.
The statistics tools are bioRxiv-only. Neither takes a server parameter, and openRxiv's content-summary endpoint returns bioRxiv figures regardless of any server argument. Its usage endpoint serves medRxiv separately, but no tool reaches it.
Funder search cannot see anything before 2025-04-10, the inception of funder metadata in openRxiv's submission system. Earlier grant-funded work is unreachable by funder however it was funded.
The connector returns metadata and abstracts, not full text. get_preprint returns PDF and web URLs; no tool retrieves or parses the manuscript body.
Publication linkage is not a quality verdict. A missing published_doi may mean under review, or simply unrecorded. Of 43,632 bioRxiv preprints posted in 2024, 18,960 had a linked journal publication when we checked.
A DOI is not a stable handle on content. Preprints are revised in place under new version numbers and the DOI resolves to the latest — which is why all six corpus tools are openWorldHint: true. Record the version alongside anything you cache or cite.
Documented DOI examples use a superseded prefix. Tool descriptions show 10.1101/...; new postings use 10.64898/.... Both are live. Never construct a DOI from the pattern.
The vendor's own tool lists are stale in four places — directory, tutorial, instructions and one output schema. The live list is the only reliable one.
The Claude Code plugin points at a third-party endpoint (mcp.deepsense.ai) rather than the directory's Anthropic-operated host. That host returned a CDN 403 to our probe, so we establish nothing about it either way. This page describes the directory endpoint only.
No tool writes anything, and none takes personal data. All seven are read-only, and no input schema accepts a manuscript, comment, credential, account or patient identifier. The connector cannot post a preprint, flag one, or correct the record.
We did not call any tool. Our check was a read-only initialize, tools/list and prompts/list handshake; every statement about tool behaviour comes from the server's own descriptions and schemas. Corpus counts come from openRxiv's public API directly.

Frequently asked questions

Has anything on bioRxiv been peer reviewed?

No. Every preprint the connector returns is unrefereed by definition. openRxiv screens submissions for plagiarism and non-scientific or dangerous content, but that is a screen, not a review of the science. bioRxiv's own FAQ warns that articles may contain errors and report information not yet accepted or endorsed by the scientific community. Treat every result as a claim, not a finding.

Can this connector tell me if a preprint was withdrawn or retracted?

Only indirectly, and only through one tool. No tool has a withdrawal or retraction field. get_preprint returns an optional type field that reads withdrawn for a withdrawn version, and we confirmed that value live on 2026-08-18. Search results do not carry it, so an agent that only searches cannot see a withdrawal at all.

Does the bioRxiv connector cover medRxiv too?

Yes, partly. Four of the seven tools take a server parameter accepting biorxiv or medrxiv. But the category filter enum lists bioRxiv's 27 subject areas only, and none of medRxiv's clinical categories such as neurology or oncology appear in it. The two statistics tools and get_categories have no server parameter and return bioRxiv figures regardless.

Can I search bioRxiv preprints by keyword or author?

No, and this surprises most people. search_preprints filters by date range and subject category only. Its own description states there is no keyword, author or full-text search. To find work on a topic you narrow to a category and a date window, then read titles and abstract previews from the results yourself. Plan queries around dates, not terms.

Does the bioRxiv connector need a sign-in or an API key?

No. We opened an anonymous handshake against the endpoint on 2026-08-18 and it returned all seven tool definitions with no credential. The directory records the server as authless, and the host publishes no OAuth protected-resource descriptor at any of the paths we probed. bioRxiv's own API is free and public, so no account exists to sign into.

Why is openWorldHint false on get_categories but true everywhere else?

Because get_categories is the only tool that does not query the live corpus. It returns a fixed list of 27 subject areas the server already knows, so its answer is closed and enumerable. The other six read preprints that are posted, revised and withdrawn continuously, so the same call legitimately returns different results tomorrow.

Who operates this connector, and who owns bioRxiv?

Anthropic lists it at anthropic tier and runs the endpoint on its own hcls.mcp.claude.com host. bioRxiv is not Anthropic's. It is operated by openRxiv, a non-profit founded by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and funded by a consortium of universities and foundations. Anthropic running the plumbing says nothing about the quality of the preprints flowing through it.