OokCite MCP Server

Give any LLM the ability to validate DOIs, format citations, and catch hallucinated references. Works with any MCP client: Claude, Codex, Cursor, Windsurf, OpenCode, Qwen agents, and more.

Quick Start

One command to install and configure:

npx @turtletech/ookcite-mcp setup

This auto-detects your MCP clients (Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, Codex) and writes the config for you. Add an API key for higher rate limits:

npx @turtletech/ookcite-mcp setup --key YOUR_API_KEY

No API key required for basic usage (10 lookups/day). Sign up for more.

Install (Alternative Methods)

npm (recommended):

npm install -g @turtletech/ookcite-mcp

cargo-binstall (fastest, no Node.js):

cargo binstall ookcite-mcp

cargo install (from source):

cargo install ookcite-mcp

Pre-built binaries: Download from GitHub Releases for Linux (x86_64, aarch64), macOS (x86_64, aarch64), and Windows.

Configure

If you used setup, you're done. Otherwise, add to your MCP client config:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ookcite": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@turtletech/ookcite-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

With an API key:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ookcite": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@turtletech/ookcite-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "OOKCITE_API_KEY": "your_key_here"
      }
    }
  }
}

If you installed globally (npm install -g or cargo install), you can use "command": "ookcite-mcp" directly instead of npx.

Common config file locations:

| Client | Config file | | ---------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------- | | Claude Desktop (Linux) | ~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json | | Claude Desktop (macOS) | ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json | | Claude Code | .mcp.json (project) or ~/.claude/settings.json (global) | | Cursor | Settings > MCP Servers | | Codex | ~/.codex/config.json |

Tools

| Tool | Purpose | | ------------------- | --------------------------------------------- | | validate_doi | Check if a DOI exists (anti-hallucination) | | lookup_isbn | Look up a book by ISBN | | reverse_lookup | Find a paper from messy citation text | | format_citation | Format a DOI in any of 2900+ CSL styles | | verify_references | Batch-check a list of DOIs | | batch_format | Format multiple citations at once | | search_styles | Find CSL style IDs by name | | group_cite | Generate grouped in-text markers (e.g. [1-3]) |

Anti-Hallucination

Add this to your system prompt:

Before citing any paper, use validate_doi to confirm the reference exists. If validation fails, do not include the citation.

How It Works

The MCP server connects to the public OokCite API to look up and format citations. It's a thin MCP wrapper around the OokCite REST API with no local database, and no heavy dependencies.

Rate limits apply: 10 lookups/day anonymous, 30/day with a free account. Sign up for more, or upgrade (starting at $4/month) for more.

Documentation

• Full MCP setup guide
• OokCite app
• TurtleTech

License

MIT. see LICENSE.