Connect OpenAlex to Claude
Query OpenAlex directly from Claude. Arlet links the two through one MCP connection and takes care of API keys.
This server connects your AI client to the OpenAlex REST API (api.openalex.org), a fully open index of the world's research: works, authors, institutions and sources, released under CC0.
Tools:
- search_works: keyword search over all fields with year range, open-access and type filters; sort by relevance, citations or date. Returns title, authors, venue, year, DOI, citation count and open-access link.
- get_work: one work by OpenAlex id or DOI.
- search_authors: researchers by name, with ORCID, works/citation counts, h-index and last known institutions.
- search_institutions: universities, companies and labs by name and country, with ROR id.
- search_sources: journals, conference series and repositories with ISSN, publisher and open-access status.
Abstract handling: the abstract text is returned only for open-access works under a CC licence (or public domain). For everything else the record carries metadata and a link, because abstract text remains the publisher's copyright. Metadata itself is CC0 and may be reused freely.
API key: optional. Anonymous requests share a small free daily budget; a free OpenAlex account gives an API key with a 10x larger daily allowance and paid top-ups beyond that. The key stays in your own Arlet environment variables and usage is attributed to you.
Search terms should be in English: OpenAlex indexes English titles, abstracts and full text.
How to connect OpenAlex to Claude
- 1
In the Arlet dashboard, open Data tools, find OpenAlex and switch it on. No API key setup is needed.
- 2
In Claude, open Organization settings → Connectors from the account menu at the bottom left, then click + Add.
- 3
Choose Custom → Web, enter "Arlet" as the Name and https://mcp.arlet.dev/mcp/ as the Remote MCP server URL, then click Add. Authentication settings are auto-detected, so keep the defaults.
- 4
The first time you use it, sign in with Google. After that, every service you switched on in Arlet is available from Claude.
Adding a connector is done by an organization admin on Team / Enterprise plans. On Pro / Max you can add it for yourself from Settings → Connectors with the same steps.