# Elife (npm · @pipeworx/mcp-elife)

eLife MCP — keyless open-access life-sciences & biomedical journal articles.

- Trust score: 84/100 (high trust)
- Registry status: active
- Liveness: live
- Owner verified: no
- Last scored: 2026-11-05

## Components

- remote · `gateway.pipeworx.io`: 77/100, [markdown](https://verifymcp.io/servers/pipeworx-io-elife/elife-mcp.md), [page](https://verifymcp.io/servers/pipeworx-io-elife/elife-mcp)
- npm · `@pipeworx/mcp-elife`: 84/100 (this document), [markdown](https://verifymcp.io/servers/pipeworx-io-elife/pipeworx-mcp-elife.md), [page](https://verifymcp.io/servers/pipeworx-io-elife/pipeworx-mcp-elife)

## Channel facts

- Registry: `npm`
- Package: `@pipeworx/mcp-elife`
- Version: `0.2.2`
- Transport: `stdio`

## Trust breakdown

How this component scores in each security and reliability category. Every signal is checked automatically from public evidence about the published package, including repeated runs of it in an isolated sandbox, 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 2026-11-05.

- **Supply Chain Security**: 100/100
  - No malware found by supply-chain analysis.
  - No known CVEs affecting this package version or its production dependencies.
  - No install/post-install scripts declared.
  - No production dependencies, so there is no dependency health to assess.
- **Provenance & Transparency**: 97/100
  - Source repository is publicly reachable at the declared URL.
  - Cryptographically verified build provenance (signed, bound to pipeworx-io/mcp-elife).
  - Clear OSI-approved license (MIT).
  - Actively maintained (last published 3 days ago).
  - Disclosure check failed: no security disclosure policy was found in the source repository.
- **Schema Quality & AI Usability**: 77/100
  - AI-judged instruction clarity (good).
  - Tool/resource definitions use about 291 tokens (~97/item across 3 items; 3 tools + 0 resources), lean.
  - Usage-examples check failed: none of the tools include examples.
- **Stability & Change Management**: 20/100
  - Stability observed for 6 of 30 days with no destabilising changes; credit accrues until the full window elapses.
- **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.
- **Tool Safety**: 100/100
  - No prompt-injection markers were found in the server instructions, tool names or descriptions we captured.
  - We read all 3 captured tool definition(s), and no name or description among them implies an irreversible operation.
  - An AI judge read all 4 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 Elife MCP server?

Elife runs locally as an npm package, launched with npx -y @pipeworx/mcp-elife. 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 pipeworx-io-elife -- npx -y @pipeworx/mcp-elife
```

### Cursor

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "pipeworx-io-elife": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@pipeworx/mcp-elife"
      ]
    }
  }
}
```

### VS Code

```json
{
  "servers": {
    "pipeworx-io-elife": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@pipeworx/mcp-elife"
      ]
    }
  }
}
```

### Codex

```bash
codex mcp add pipeworx-io-elife -- npx -y @pipeworx/mcp-elife
```

### opencode

```json
{
  "$schema": "https://opencode.ai/config.json",
  "mcp": {
    "pipeworx-io-elife": {
      "type": "local",
      "command": [
        "npx",
        "-y",
        "@pipeworx/mcp-elife"
      ],
      "enabled": true
    }
  }
}
```

### OpenClaw

```bash
openclaw mcp add pipeworx-io-elife --command npx --arg -y --arg @pipeworx/mcp-elife
```

### Hermes

```yaml
mcp_servers:
  pipeworx-io-elife:
    command: "npx"
    args: ["-y", "@pipeworx/mcp-elife"]
```

### Netclaw

```json
{
  "McpServers": {
    "pipeworx-io-elife": {
      "Transport": "stdio",
      "Command": "npx",
      "Arguments": [
        "-y",
        "@pipeworx/mcp-elife"
      ]
    }
  }
}
```

### Vellum

```bash
assistant mcp add pipeworx-io-elife -t stdio -c npx -a -y @pipeworx/mcp-elife
```

### Other

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "pipeworx-io-elife": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@pipeworx/mcp-elife"
      ]
    }
  }
}
```

## 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.

### 2026-11-04 (score 84, +1)

No change was recorded against any check on this day. Stability & Change Management went from 13 to 17. That category is still filling its 30-day observation window: 4 days of observed history at the previous scan, 5 at this one. The score rises as the window fills, whether or not the server changes.

### 2026-11-02 (score 83, +12)

- [security improvement] Known CVEs: unverified → pass
- [functional improvement] Dependency health: unverified → pass

### 2026-11-01 (score 71, −10)

- [security regression] Known CVEs: pass → unverified
- [security regression] Tool safety: pass → unverified
- [security] Stability: Stability not yet verified: we do not have a sandbox capture of the MCP schema this version of the package serves yet.
- [functional regression] Tool coverage: 100 → unverified
- [functional regression] Capabilities: pass → unverified
- [functional regression] Dependency health: pass → unverified
- [functional improvement] Stability: unverified → 0.07
- [functional] First check of Schema quality: unverified
- [functional] Package version: 0.2.1 → 0.2.2

### 2026-10-30 (score 81)

First indexed and scored.

## MCP tools (3)

### `search_articles` (~99 tokens)

Search eLife — the open-access journal for life sciences & biomedicine — for articles by keyword (gene, disease, method, organism, author, etc.). Returns matching articles with id, title, type, DOI, publication date, authors, and subjects. Keyless.

Input parameters:

- `limit` (number): Max results (default 15, max 100).
- `query` (string, required): Search keywords, e.g. "crispr base editing".

### `get_article` (~69 tokens)

Get the full metadata and abstract for a single eLife article by its id (e.g. "107545"). Returns title, DOI, type, publication date, authors, abstract, and subjects. Keyless.

Input parameters:

- `id` (string, required): eLife article id, e.g. "107545".

### `latest_articles` (~71 tokens)

List the most recently published eLife articles (newest first). eLife is the open-access journal for life sciences & biomedicine. Returns id, title, type, DOI, publication date, and authors. Keyless.

Input parameters:

- `limit` (number): Max results (default 15, max 100).

## Diagnostics

Captured diagnostic sections: Provenance, Dependencies. The full working is on the page: https://verifymcp.io/servers/pipeworx-io-elife/pipeworx-mcp-elife#diagnostics

## Score history

- 2026-11-05: 84
- 2026-11-04: 84
- 2026-11-03: 83
- 2026-11-02: 83
- 2026-11-01: 71
- 2026-10-31: 81
- 2026-10-30: 81

## Common questions

### What is the Elife MCP server?

Elife is an MCP server listed in the public MCP registry as io.github.pipeworx-io/elife. eLife MCP, keyless open-access life-sciences & biomedical journal articles. This page covers its npm package (@pipeworx/mcp-elife).

### Is the Elife MCP server safe to use?

Elife scores 84 out of 100 on VerifyMCP. We found no known CVEs affecting it as of 5 November 2026. It declares no install or post-install scripts. Its build provenance is signed and verified. 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 Elife MCP server expose?

Elife exposes 3 tools: search_articles, get_article, latest_articles. Their descriptions and schemas cost roughly 239 tokens of context every time the server is loaded.

### Is the Elife MCP server still maintained?

Elife is still listed as active in the MCP registry. We last reached this channel on 5 November 2026. Those dates come from our own scans of the registry and the channel itself, not from anything the publisher announced.

### What licence is the Elife MCP server under?

Elife declares the MIT licence, which is OSI-approved. That covers the source only, and says nothing about the cost of any service it calls.

### What did VerifyMCP test on the Elife MCP server?

VerifyMCP ran 16 checks on Elife, covering Malware scan, Known CVEs, Install scripts, Dependency health and 12 more. Endpoint Security and Transport & Reachability do not apply to an npm package, so they were not tested. The score does not measure everything, and the scoring documentation lists what it leaves out.

## Links

- npm package: https://www.npmjs.com/package/@pipeworx/mcp-elife
- Socket report: https://socket.dev/npm/package/@pipeworx/mcp-elife
- Repository: https://github.com/pipeworx-io/mcp-elife
- Website: https://pipeworx.io/packs/elife
- Changelog RSS feed: https://verifymcp.io/servers/pipeworx-io-elife/pipeworx-mcp-elife.xml
- Changelog JSON feed: https://verifymcp.io/servers/pipeworx-io-elife/pipeworx-mcp-elife/changelog.json
- Trust report (JSON): https://verifymcp.io/servers/pipeworx-io-elife/pipeworx-mcp-elife.json
- HTML version of this page: https://verifymcp.io/servers/pipeworx-io-elife/pipeworx-mcp-elife