# Scholar Sidekick (remote · scholar-sidekick.com)

Catch AI-fabricated citations (real DOI + fake title). Retraction, open-access, 10,000+ CSL styles.

- Trust score: 87/100 (high trust)
- Change this week: 0
- Registry status: active
- Liveness: live
- Owner verified: no
- Last scored: 2026-09-20

## Components

- remote · `scholar-sidekick.com`: 87/100 (this document), [markdown](https://verifymcp.io/servers/mlava-scholar-sidekick-mcp/api-mcp.md), [page](https://verifymcp.io/servers/mlava-scholar-sidekick-mcp/api-mcp)
- npm · `scholar-sidekick-mcp`: 93/100, [markdown](https://verifymcp.io/servers/mlava-scholar-sidekick-mcp/scholar-sidekick-mcp.md), [page](https://verifymcp.io/servers/mlava-scholar-sidekick-mcp/scholar-sidekick-mcp)

## Channel facts

- Endpoint: `https://scholar-sidekick.com/api/mcp`
- Transports: `streamable-http`
- Auth: `none`
- Version: `0.8.11`

## Trust breakdown

How this component scores in each security and reliability category. Every signal is checked automatically against the live server, and we only credit what we can confirm. Scores are 0–100 per category. Scoring method: https://verifymcp.io/docs/scoring (what has changed: https://verifymcp.io/docs/scoring/changelog)

Scored 2026-09-20.

- **Endpoint Security**: 80/100
  - The endpoint's TLS certificate is valid, in date, and uses a strong key.
  - No authorisation is required to call this server. Every tool declares its destructiveHint and none is destructive, so open access doesn't expose one.
  - HTTPS is enforced; there's no plaintext access path.
  - The HSTS (Strict-Transport-Security) header is present.
  - DNSSEC check failed: this domain isn't protected by DNSSEC.
- **Transport & Reachability**: 100/100
  - Verified streamable-http transport via a live MCP handshake.
- **Schema Quality & AI Usability**: 74/100
  - 100% of prompts and resources have a non-trivial description (not blank, and not just the item's name).
  - AI-judged instruction clarity (excellent).
  - Context-footprint check failed: tool/resource definitions use about 4747 tokens (~431/item across 11 items; 7 tools + 4 resources), over budget; trim descriptions and params.
  - Usage-examples check failed: none of the tools include examples.
- **Stability & Change Management**: 100/100
  - No destabilizing schema changes in the last 30 days.
- **Tool Coverage**: 100/100
  - 100% of tools have a non-trivial description (not blank, and not just the tool's name).
  - 100% of tool parameters carry a description.
  - Structured output schemas are declared (100% of tools); any adoption earns full credit.
- **Tool Safety**: 100/100
  - No prompt-injection markers were found in the server instructions, tool names or descriptions we captured.
  - We read all 7 captured tool definition(s), and no name or description among them implies an irreversible operation.
  - An AI judge read all 9 captured unit(s) of tool text and found none that tries to manipulate the model reading it.
- **Capabilities**: 100/100
  - Implements a supported MCP spec version (2025-11-25); the latest is 2026-07-28.

## Install

### How do I install the Scholar Sidekick MCP server?

Scholar Sidekick is a hosted endpoint at https://scholar-sidekick.com/api/mcp, so there is nothing to install locally. Ready-made configuration for Claude, Cursor, VS Code, Codex and 5 more is on this page, copied from each client's own documentation.

### Claude

```bash
claude mcp add --transport http mlava-scholar-sidekick-mcp 'https://scholar-sidekick.com/api/mcp'
```

### Cursor

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mlava-scholar-sidekick-mcp": {
      "url": "https://scholar-sidekick.com/api/mcp"
    }
  }
}
```

### VS Code

```json
{
  "servers": {
    "mlava-scholar-sidekick-mcp": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://scholar-sidekick.com/api/mcp"
    }
  }
}
```

### Codex

```toml
[mcp_servers.mlava-scholar-sidekick-mcp]
url = "https://scholar-sidekick.com/api/mcp"
```

### opencode

```json
{
  "$schema": "https://opencode.ai/config.json",
  "mcp": {
    "mlava-scholar-sidekick-mcp": {
      "type": "remote",
      "url": "https://scholar-sidekick.com/api/mcp",
      "enabled": true
    }
  }
}
```

### OpenClaw

```bash
openclaw mcp add mlava-scholar-sidekick-mcp --url 'https://scholar-sidekick.com/api/mcp' --transport streamable-http
```

### Hermes

```yaml
mcp_servers:
  mlava-scholar-sidekick-mcp:
    url: "https://scholar-sidekick.com/api/mcp"
```

### Netclaw

```json
{
  "McpServers": {
    "mlava-scholar-sidekick-mcp": {
      "Transport": "http",
      "Url": "https://scholar-sidekick.com/api/mcp"
    }
  }
}
```

### Vellum

```bash
assistant mcp add mlava-scholar-sidekick-mcp -t streamable-http -u 'https://scholar-sidekick.com/api/mcp'
```

### Other

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mlava-scholar-sidekick-mcp": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://scholar-sidekick.com/api/mcp"
    }
  }
}
```

The mcpServers block is a cross-client convention. Remote transports vary, so check your client's docs.

## Changelog

Every change recorded for this component, newest first. Days that predate change tracking, or that we cannot explain, say so: "we were watching and nothing happened" and "we were not watching" are different claims.

### 2026-09-10 (score 87, 0)

- [security] Stability: 0.97 → pass

### 2026-09-08 (score 87, +1)

No change was recorded against any check on this day. Stability & Change Management went from 90 to 93. That category is still filling its 30-day observation window: 27 days of observed history at the previous scan, 28 at this one. The score rises as the window fills, whether or not the server changes.

### 2026-09-06 (score 86, +1)

No change was recorded against any check on this day. Stability & Change Management went from 83 to 87. That category is still filling its 30-day observation window: 25 days of observed history at the previous scan, 26 at this one. The score rises as the window fills, whether or not the server changes.

### 2026-09-05 (score 85, 0)

- [security] Tool “checkOpenAccess” rewrote its description, which is the text the model reads
- [security] Tool “checkRetraction” rewrote its description, which is the text the model reads

### 2026-09-04 (score 85, +1)

- [functional] Server version: 0.8.10 → 0.8.11

### 2026-09-02 (score 84, +1)

- [security] Tool “auditBibliography” rewrote its description, which is the text the model reads
- [functional] Server version: 0.8.9 → 0.8.10
- [functional] Server version: 0.8.8 → 0.8.9

### 2026-08-31 (score 83, +1)

No change was recorded against any check on this day. Stability & Change Management went from 63 to 67. That category is still filling its 30-day observation window: 19 days of observed history at the previous scan, 20 at this one. The score rises as the window fills, whether or not the server changes.

### 2026-08-29 (score 82, +1)

No change was recorded against any check on this day. Stability & Change Management went from 57 to 60. That category is still filling its 30-day observation window: 17 days of observed history at the previous scan, 18 at this one. The score rises as the window fills, whether or not the server changes.

## MCP tools (7)

### `verifyCitation` (~990 tokens)

Verify Citation

Verify a claimed citation against the resolved record at its identifier. Detects the dominant AI-driven fabrication pattern documented by Topaz et al. (Lancet 2026): a real, resolvable identifier (DOI / PMID / PMCID / arXiv / etc.) paired with a title that does NOT correspond to the paper at that identifier. Use when the user pastes a citation and asks 'is this real?' or 'check this DOI' — most fabricated citations resolve cleanly under doi.org but their cited title and the resolved title disagree. Single citation per call. Required: `title` plus exactly one identifier (doi, pmid, pmcid, isbn, arxiv, issn, ads, or whoIrisUrl). Optional refinements: author (first-author family name), year, container (journal). Set `screenWithLlm: true` to invoke the Stage 3 LLM screen on low-confidence mismatches (catches informal-abbreviation false positives); LLM access is gated to authenticated first-party keys and paid RapidAPI tiers — anonymous callers get 400 LLM_SCREEN_FORBIDDEN. Returns: { verdict: 'matched' | 'mismatch' | 'not_found' | 'ambiguous', confidence: 'high' | 'medium' | 'low', matched: <resolved record or null>, mismatches: [{field, claimed, resolved, similarity}], candidates: [{item, registries, score}] (when title-search ran), _provenance: {stages_run, resolved_via, registries_searched, llm_screen} }. Verdict semantics: 'matched' = claim agrees with resolved record; 'mismatch' = identifier resolves but title does not match (Topaz fabrication pattern); 'ambiguous' = identifier resolves to one paper but the claimed title matches a DIFFERENT paper found via title-search (CITADEL 'citation error' subtype — wrong identifier for a real paper); 'not_found' = neither the identifier nor the title resolves anywhere. No sibling tool overlaps: resolveIdentifier returns metadata for a known-good identifier; verifyCitation is the only tool that cross-checks claimed title vs resolved metadata. Read-only and idempotent — safe to retry. Works anonymously for the non-LLM path; th…

Input parameters:

- `ads` (string): NASA ADS bibcode (19 chars).
- `arxiv` (string): arXiv ID (e.g. '2301.08745' or 'arXiv:2301.08745'; old-style 'hep-ph/0501023' accepted).
- `author` (string): First-author family name as cited. Refines the verdict — a title-vs-resolved-title match plus an author mismatch raises suspicion of fabrication. Pass only the family name (e.g. 'Topaz', not 'Topaz,…
- `container` (string): Journal or container name as cited (e.g. 'The Lancet', 'Neuroscience'). Soft signal — surfaced as a mismatch field but does not gate the verdict.
- `doi` (string): DOI as cited (with or without https://doi.org/ prefix). Provide whichever identifier(s) the cited reference carries; the verifier uses the first one in priority order doi > pmid > pmcid > arxiv > ads…
- `isbn` (string): ISBN (10- or 13-digit, hyphens tolerated).
- `issn` (string): ISSN for journal-level resolution.
- `pmcid` (string): PubMed Central ID (e.g. 'PMC1234567' or 'PMCID:1234567').
- `pmid` (string): PubMed ID as cited (digits only, or with 'PMID:' prefix).
- `screenWithLlm` (boolean): Opt-in Stage 3 LLM screen. Fires only when the pre-LLM verdict is mismatch with low confidence (the informal-abbreviation false-positive bucket). Gated: requires an authenticated first-party API key…
- `title` (string, required): The title as it appears in the cited reference. This is the field the verifier cross-checks against the resolved record at the supplied identifier. Required.
- `whoIrisUrl` (string): WHO IRIS URL (https://iris.who.int/...).
- `year` (integer): Publication year as cited. Wrong year alone does not flip the verdict, but >=2-year gap from the resolved record lowers confidence.

Output parameters:

- `_provenance` (object)
- `candidates` (array)
- `confidence` (string)
- `matched`: The resolved record at the identifier, or null on not_found.
- `mismatches` (array)
- `verdict` (string)

### `auditBibliography` (~866 tokens)

Audit Bibliography

Verify a WHOLE bibliography in one call — the batch counterpart to verifyCitation. Each entry runs the same fabrication check (real, resolvable identifier paired with a title that does NOT match the resolved paper; Topaz et al., Lancet 2026) plus a retraction lookup, and the tool returns a per-entry verdict table and a corpus summary. Use when the user pastes a reference list, a .bib / .ris file, or asks to 'check all these citations at once' / 'audit my bibliography' / 'which of these references are fake or retracted'. Input: EITHER `bibliography` (raw BibTeX / RIS / CSL-JSON text — format auto-detected) OR `claims` (an array of pre-parsed {title + identifier} objects), not both. Capped at 25 entries per call; excess is dropped and reported via `truncated`. `checks` defaults to ['retraction'] (pass [] to skip); `screenWithLlm` opt-in per entry (same auth gating as verifyCitation). Returns: { format, entries: [{ index, sourceKey?, status: 'ok'|'error', verdict: 'matched' | 'mismatch' | 'not_found' | 'ambiguous', confidence, matched, mismatches, retraction: { checked, doi, isRetracted, hasCorrections, hasConcern, notices } | null, _provenance }], parseErrors: [{ index, error, message }], truncated, summary: { total, matched, mismatch, ambiguous, not_found, errored, retracted } }. Reading the result: `index` is 1-BASED (entry 1 is the first reference) — do not add 1 again when reporting it. `sourceKey` is the entry's own key in the source file (BibTeX cite key, RIS `ID`, CSL-JSON `id`) and is the reliable way to point a user at the offending reference; it is absent on the claims[] path. `entries` and `parseErrors` share one index space, so a given input position appears in exactly one of them — report parseErrors as UNCHECKED, never as clean. `summary.total` counts verifiable entries only, excluding parseErrors and anything past the cap; `summary.retracted` is a separate axis from the verdict counts (an entry can be both matched and retracted), so never sum those fie…

Input parameters:

- `bibliography` (string): Raw bibliography text to parse and audit — BibTeX, RIS, or CSL-JSON. Provide EITHER this or `claims`, not both. Format is auto-detected from the content; override with `format`. Capped at 25 entries…
- `checks` (array): Per-entry enrichment checks. Defaults to ['retraction'] (flags retracted / corrected / expression-of-concern works via Crossref + Retraction Watch, keyed on each resolved DOI). Pass [] to skip the re…
- `claims` (array): Pre-parsed citations to audit — an alternative to `bibliography` for agents that already hold structured references. Each needs a `title` plus whatever identifiers the citation carries.
- `format` (string): Override format auto-detection for `bibliography`.
- `screenWithLlm` (boolean): Opt-in Stage 3 LLM screen applied per entry (same gating as verifyCitation: authenticated first-party key or paid RapidAPI tier). Default false.

Output parameters:

- `entries` (array): One result per verifiable entry: { index, sourceKey?, status: 'ok'|'error', verdict, confidence, matched, mismatches, retraction, _provenance }. `index` is 1-BASED and counts position in the submitte…
- `format`: Detected input format ('bibtex' | 'ris' | 'csl-json'), or null for the claims[] path.
- `parseErrors` (array): Entries that could not be parsed or lacked a title: { index, error, message }. Same 1-based `index` space as `entries`, so the two arrays never collide: a given input position appears in exactly one…
- `summary` (object): Corpus roll-up: { total, matched, mismatch, ambiguous, not_found, errored, retracted }. `total` counts verifiable entries only, so it excludes `parseErrors` and anything past the cap. `retracted` is…
- `truncated` (number): Count of entries dropped beyond the 25-entry cap. Non-zero means the audit is incomplete — split the bibliography and call again for the rest.

### `checkRetraction` (~554 tokens)

Check Retraction

Check whether a single scholarly work has been retracted, corrected, or had an expression of concern raised. Use when the user asks 'has this paper been retracted?' or wants to verify a paper's standing before citing it (clinical, regulatory, evidence-synthesis contexts). For multi-paper bibliography audits (clinical guidelines, systematic reviews), loop one call per identifier — the tool intentionally rejects batch input to keep retraction-status results unambiguous per work. Sourced from Crossref `updated-by` (which mirrors Retraction Watch). Resolves DOI/PMID/PMCID/arXiv/ADS inputs to a DOI before lookup; ISBN inputs always return doi=null and reason='no_doi' since books are not in the retraction graph. arXiv inputs check the linked published-journal DOI when arXiv records one; a preprint without one returns doi=null and reason='no_doi' (preprints are outside the Crossref retraction graph — arXiv marks withdrawals on the abstract page instead). Single identifier per call — does NOT accept comma/newline batches; loop one call per identifier for multiple papers. Returns: { doi, resolvedFrom?, reason?, result } where result has isRetracted, hasCorrections, hasConcern (booleans), notices (array of {type, label, doi, date, source} where type is a raw Crossref update type such as 'retraction', 'correction', 'erratum' or 'expression_of_concern'), and title; result is null when no DOI could be resolved and reason explains why ('no_doi'). No sibling tool overlaps this — resolveIdentifier returns metadata but not retraction status. Read-only and idempotent — safe to retry. Works anonymously against the public Scholar Sidekick API (rate-limited free tier); set SCHOLAR_API_KEY (a free ssk_ key from https://scholar-sidekick.com/account) for higher limits, or RAPIDAPI_KEY for paid RapidAPI tiers. Rate limits follow your tier; Crossref is queried server-side with its own caching.

Input parameters:

- `id` (string, required): A single scholarly identifier to check. 1–500 characters. Non-DOI inputs are resolved to a DOI server-side before the lookup; if no DOI can be derived, the tool returns doi=null with reason='no_doi'.…

Output parameters:

- `doi`: Resolved DOI, or null when none could be derived.
- `reason` (string): Why result is null (e.g. 'no_doi').
- `resolvedFrom` (object)
- `result`: Retraction status, or null when no DOI resolved.

### `checkOpenAccess` (~497 tokens)

Check Open Access

Check whether a single scholarly work is openly accessible and where to find the best legal version. Use when the user asks 'is this open access?', 'where can I read this for free?', or wants the OA license/version before reusing or redistributing. Sourced from Unpaywall. Resolves DOI/PMID/PMCID/arXiv/ISBN/ADS inputs to a DOI before lookup; inputs that don't map to a DOI return doi=null and reason='no_doi'. arXiv inputs check the linked published-journal DOI when arXiv records one; a preprint without one returns doi=null and reason='no_doi' (Unpaywall does not index arXiv preprints, which are freely readable on arXiv regardless). Single identifier per call — does NOT accept comma/newline batches; loop one call per identifier for multiple papers. Returns: { doi, resolvedFrom?, reason?, result } where result has isOa (boolean), oaStatus ('gold' | 'green' | 'hybrid' | 'bronze' | 'closed'), title, bestLocation ({url, hostType: 'publisher' | 'repository', license, version: 'submittedVersion' | 'acceptedVersion' | 'publishedVersion'} or null), and locations (array of the same shape); result is null when no DOI could be resolved and reason explains why ('no_doi'). No sibling tool overlaps this — resolveIdentifier returns metadata but not OA status. Read-only and idempotent — safe to retry. Works anonymously against the public Scholar Sidekick API (rate-limited free tier); set SCHOLAR_API_KEY (a free ssk_ key from https://scholar-sidekick.com/account) for higher limits, or RAPIDAPI_KEY for paid RapidAPI tiers. Rate limits follow your tier; Unpaywall is queried server-side with its own caching.

Input parameters:

- `id` (string, required): A single scholarly identifier to check. 1–500 characters. Non-DOI inputs are resolved to a DOI server-side before the lookup; if no DOI can be derived, the tool returns doi=null with reason='no_doi'.…

Output parameters:

- `doi`
- `reason` (string)
- `resolvedFrom` (object)
- `result`: Open-access status, or null when no DOI resolved.

### `resolveIdentifier` (~359 tokens)

Resolve Identifier

Resolve scholarly identifiers to structured CSL JSON metadata (title, authors, journal, year, identifiers). Use when the user wants raw bibliographic data to inspect, transform, or feed into another tool — not a formatted citation. Common single-shot conversions: PMID → PMCID, arXiv → DOI, ISBN → CSL JSON, WHO IRIS URL → structured metadata. Accepts DOI, PMID, PMCID, ISBN, arXiv ID, ISSN, NASA ADS bibcode, or WHO IRIS URL, with or without prefixes (PMID:, arXiv:, ISBN hyphens, https://doi.org/...). Pass a single identifier or a comma/newline-separated batch — one round trip per call. Returns: a JSON array of CSL items, each with id, type, title, author[], issued.date-parts, container-title, DOI/PMID/PMCID/ISBN/ISSN/URL when available. Use formatCitation instead when the user wants a finished citation string in a specific style; use exportCitation when they want a downloadable bibliography file. Read-only and idempotent — safe to retry. Works anonymously against the public Scholar Sidekick API (rate-limited free tier); set SCHOLAR_API_KEY (a free ssk_ key from https://scholar-sidekick.com/account) for higher limits, or RAPIDAPI_KEY for paid RapidAPI tiers. Rate limits follow your tier; the underlying REST API caches repeated identical requests and surfaces cache state in the x-scholar-cache response header.

Input parameters:

- `text` (string, required): One or more identifiers to resolve (DOIs, PMIDs, PMCIDs, ISBNs, arXiv IDs, ISSNs, ADS bibcodes) separated by newlines or commas

Output parameters:

- `items` (array): Resolved CSL JSON items, one per identifier.

### `formatCitation` (~525 tokens)

Format Citation

Format scholarly identifiers into a finished citation in a specific style. Use when the user wants a paste-ready citation string for a manuscript, slide, message, footnote, or in-line reference. Style defaults to vancouver if unspecified; ask the user before defaulting if any ambiguity exists (e.g. 'Harvard' and 'Chicago' have multiple variants — confirm which one). Supports five hand-tuned builtins (vancouver, ama, apa, ieee, cse) plus any of 10,000+ CSL style IDs (chicago-author-date, harvard-cite-them-right, modern-language-association, nature, bmj, the-lancet, etc.). Alias and dependent-style resolution apply, so 'harvard' resolves to 'harvard-cite-them-right' and the canonical ID is reported back as styleUsed. Output defaults to text; pass output=html for marked-up HTML or output=json for structured CSL items. Accepts the same identifier formats as resolveIdentifier (DOI/PMID/PMCID/ISBN/arXiv/ISSN/ADS/WHO IRIS, prefixes tolerated), single or comma/newline-separated batch — one round trip per call. Returns: one of { text, html, items } depending on the output parameter, followed by a metadata block ({formatter: 'builtin' | 'csl', styleUsed, requestId, warnings?}) appended as a second text content item — surface this to the user when they care about reproducibility. Use resolveIdentifier instead when the user wants raw metadata to inspect or transform; use exportCitation when they want a downloadable bibliography file. Read-only and idempotent — safe to retry. Works anonymously against the public Scholar Sidekick API (rate-limited free tier); set SCHOLAR_API_KEY (a free ssk_ key from https://scholar-sidekick.com/account) for higher limits, or RAPIDAPI_KEY for paid RapidAPI tiers. Rate limits follow your tier.

Input parameters:

- `footnote` (boolean): Format as footnotes instead of bibliography entries
- `lang` (string): Locale for formatting (e.g. en-US, en-GB, fr-FR)
- `output` (string): Output format (default: text)
- `style` (string): Citation style: vancouver (default), ama, apa, ieee, cse, or any CSL style ID
- `text` (string, required): One or more identifiers (DOIs, PMIDs, ISBNs, arXiv IDs, etc.) separated by newlines or commas

Output parameters:

- `formatter` (string): Which engine formatted: 'builtin' or 'csl'.
- `html` (string): Formatted citation HTML (when output=html).
- `items` (array): Structured CSL items (when output=json).
- `lang` (string): Locale used for formatting.
- `styleUsed` (string): Canonical style ID after alias/dependent-style resolution.
- `text` (string): Formatted citation text (when output=text).
- `warnings` (array)

### `exportCitation` (~460 tokens)

Export Citation

Export scholarly identifiers to a bibliography file format ready to write to disk or paste into a reference manager. Use when the user wants a file (.bib, .ris, .nbib, .xml, .rdf, .csv) for Zotero, Mendeley, EndNote, RefWorks, BibTeX/LaTeX, Pandoc, or Excel. Format parameter is required: bib (BibTeX — LaTeX), ris (RIS — most widely supported by reference managers), csl (CSL JSON — Pandoc/Quarto), endnote-xml, endnote-refer, refworks, medline (NBIB — PubMed round-trips, clinical workflows), zotero-rdf, csv (spreadsheet-friendly), or txt (plain-text bibliography rendered with the optional style parameter — txt is the only format that uses style; the others have their own structured shape and ignore it). Accepts the same identifier formats as resolveIdentifier (DOI/PMID/PMCID/ISBN/arXiv/ISSN/ADS/WHO IRIS, prefixes tolerated), single or comma/newline-separated batch — one round trip per call. Returns: { content: string, format: string } where content is the entire bibliography in the requested format as a single string — write it to a file (.bib/.ris/.nbib/etc.) or paste it directly into the target tool. Use formatCitation instead when the user wants in-line citation text (manuscript, slide); use resolveIdentifier when they want raw structured metadata. Read-only and idempotent — safe to retry. Works anonymously against the public Scholar Sidekick API (rate-limited free tier); set SCHOLAR_API_KEY (a free ssk_ key from https://scholar-sidekick.com/account) for higher limits, or RAPIDAPI_KEY for paid RapidAPI tiers. Rate limits follow your tier.

Input parameters:

- `format` (string, required): Export format
- `lang` (string): Locale for formatting (e.g. en-US)
- `style` (string): Citation style (used only for txt export)
- `text` (string, required): One or more identifiers (DOIs, PMIDs, ISBNs, etc.) separated by newlines or commas

Output parameters:

- `content` (string): The entire bibliography in the requested format, as one string.
- `format` (string): The export format that was produced.

## Diagnostics

Captured diagnostic sections: TLS, DNSSEC, Authorisation, Transports. The full working is on the page: https://verifymcp.io/servers/mlava-scholar-sidekick-mcp/api-mcp#diagnostics

## Score history

- 2026-09-20: 87
- 2026-09-19: 87
- 2026-09-18: 87
- 2026-09-17: 87
- 2026-09-16: 87
- 2026-09-15: 87
- 2026-09-14: 87
- 2026-09-13: 87
- 2026-09-12: 87
- 2026-09-11: 87
- 2026-09-10: 87
- 2026-09-09: 87
- 2026-09-08: 87
- 2026-09-07: 86
- 2026-09-06: 86
- 2026-09-05: 85
- 2026-09-04: 85
- 2026-09-03: 84
- 2026-09-02: 84
- 2026-09-01: 83
- 2026-08-31: 83
- 2026-08-30: 82
- 2026-08-29: 82
- 2026-08-28: 81
- 2026-08-27: 81
- 2026-08-26: 81
- 2026-08-25: 79
- 2026-08-24: 78
- 2026-08-23: 78
- 2026-08-22: 78

## Common questions

### What is the Scholar Sidekick MCP server?

Scholar Sidekick is an MCP server listed in the public MCP registry as io.github.mlava/scholar-sidekick-mcp. Catch AI-fabricated citations (real DOI + fake title). Retraction, open-access, 10,000+ CSL styles. This page covers its hosted endpoint (https://scholar-sidekick.com/api/mcp).

### Is the Scholar Sidekick MCP server safe to use?

Scholar Sidekick scores 87 out of 100 on VerifyMCP. That is a record of what we were able to check automatically, not an endorsement. The category breakdown on this page shows every signal behind the number, including the ones we could not confirm.

### What tools does the Scholar Sidekick MCP server expose?

Scholar Sidekick exposes 7 tools: verifyCitation, auditBibliography, checkRetraction, checkOpenAccess, resolveIdentifier, and 2 more. Their descriptions and schemas cost roughly 4,251 tokens of context every time the server is loaded.

### Does the Scholar Sidekick MCP server require authentication?

No. We connected to Scholar Sidekick without credentials and it answered, so anything it exposes is reachable by anyone who knows the address.

### Is the Scholar Sidekick MCP server still maintained?

Scholar Sidekick is still listed as active in the MCP registry. We last reached this channel on 20 September 2026. Those dates come from our own scans of the registry and the channel itself, not from anything the publisher announced.

## Links

- Remote endpoint: https://scholar-sidekick.com/api/mcp
- Repository: https://github.com/mlava/scholar-sidekick-mcp
- Website: https://scholar-sidekick.com/mcp
- Changelog RSS feed: https://verifymcp.io/servers/mlava-scholar-sidekick-mcp/api-mcp.xml
- Changelog JSON feed: https://verifymcp.io/servers/mlava-scholar-sidekick-mcp/api-mcp.json
- HTML version of this page: https://verifymcp.io/servers/mlava-scholar-sidekick-mcp/api-mcp