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name: setup description: This skill should be used when the user asks to "set up paper search", reports "paper-search command not found", wants to "replace paper search MCP", or needs help with paper search credentials.

Set up Paper Search CLI

Use fcakyon/paper-search-cli for paper searches, DOI lookup, PDF downloads, and text extraction. It requires uv and Python 3.10+; Docker and an MCP server are unnecessary.

1. Run uv --version. If missing, follow the uv installation instructions.

2. Install the CLI:

   uv tool install 'git+https://github.com/fcakyon/paper-search-cli'
   

3. Run paper-search --help and paper-search sources. If the command is not on PATH, run uv tool update-shell and open a new shell.

4. Check a public source:

   paper-search search 'object detection' -s crossref -n 3
   

Inspect the JSON errors field before declaring the search successful. An empty result or a provider error does not confirm working access.

For updates, run uv tool upgrade paper-search-cli.

Credentials

Use the CLI's .env.example for provider keys. Its current configuration path is ~/.config/paper-search-mcp/.env; the legacy path and PAPER_SEARCH_MCP_* names remain supported. Do not print secret values.

IEEE, Scopus, and Web of Science need credentials. Scopus and Web of Science require explicit source selection. Unpaywall needs an email. Metadata access does not guarantee access to a PDF.

Migrate from the MCP plugin

This plugin no longer registers the Docker MCP server. Reload the updated plugin to discard its old registration. If the user separately configured a paper-search MCP entry, identify that entry and remove it only when requested; preserve other servers. Run CLI commands directly without waiting for an MCP connection.