mcp

# CiteStamp MCP server

Ground citations before your agent emits them.

[CiteStamp](https://citestamp.com) is a free citation-health tool for researchers: it
checks references against the public scholarly registries (Crossref, DataCite, OpenAlex)
and flags the ones that **do not resolve to a known work** or that **a publisher has
marked retracted**, the hallucinated-citation failure mode LLM users keep hitting.

This repo is the install guide for the **hosted MCP server** over CiteStamp's CC0
citation graph. There is nothing to build or run locally; the server is remote.

| | |
|---|---|
| Endpoint | `https://mcp.citestamp.com/mcp` |
| Transport | streamable-http |
| Protocol | `2025-06-18` |
| Auth | None. Anonymous at 10 requests/min per IP. An optional free key (email info@citestamp.com) raises that to 60/min; Pro to 600/min |
| Data | CC0 citation graph; human-signed and machine-inferred claims kept strictly apart |

## The tools (all read-only)

- `what_supports` / `what_refutes`: typed edges bearing on a claim
- `what_cites` / `references_of`: the citing and cited works around a reference
- `edges_about`: edges on a topic
- `retraction_listing`: whether the Retraction Watch database lists a DOI as retracted, from the dated
  export CiteStamp joins weekly. Not listed means not in that export; it does not check the publisher record

Every result carries its tier: **accountable** edges are signed by a human identity
(ORCID); **inferred** edges are machine-derived. Your agent can ask for signed-only.

## Add it to your client

No key is needed. Every snippet below works as written.

### Gemini CLI (extension)
```bash
gemini extensions install https://github.com/citestamp/mcp
```
Or add the server by hand in `~/.gemini/settings.json`:
```json
{ "mcpServers": { "citestamp": { "httpUrl": "https://mcp.citestamp.com/mcp" } } }
```

### Gemini Spark (custom app)
In the Gemini web app: Settings & help → Connected Apps → under "Custom apps for Spark"
click **Add a custom app** → enter `https://mcp.citestamp.com/mcp` → Next. Type `@` in a
prompt and pick CiteStamp to make Gemini use it. Custom apps need access to Gemini Spark
on a personal Google Account with Keep Activity on.

### Claude (claude.ai / Desktop)
Settings → Connectors → **Add custom connector** → URL `https://mcp.citestamp.com/mcp`.
Leave authentication empty.

### Claude Code
```bash
claude mcp add --transport http citestamp https://mcp.citestamp.com/mcp
```

### Cursor (`~/.cursor/mcp.json`)
```json
{ "mcpServers": { "citestamp": { "url": "https://mcp.citestamp.com/mcp" } } }
```

### Cline (MCP settings)
```json
{ "mcpServers": { "citestamp": {
    "type": "streamableHttp",
    "url": "https://mcp.citestamp.com/mcp" } } }
```

### VS Code (`.vscode/mcp.json`)
```json
{ "servers": { "citestamp": {
    "type": "http",
    "url": "https://mcp.citestamp.com/mcp" } } }
```

If a snippet drifts from your client's current config schema, your client's MCP docs
win; the endpoint is the stable part.

## Optional: raise the rate limit

A key is never required. If you hold one, send it as a header on the same endpoint:

```
Authorization: Bearer <your key>
```

For Claude Code that is `--header "Authorization: Bearer <your key>"`; for the JSON
configs, add `"headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer <your key>" }` to the server entry.
A bad key is a loud 401, never a silent downgrade to anonymous, so add the header only
once you have a key.

## What this is not

CiteStamp reports what public registries say at a dated point in time. It does not
judge the truth or quality of any work, and its only verdict vocabulary is
"does not resolve to a known work" and "marked retracted by the publisher".
Statements about works, never about people.

## Links

- Integration guide + REST API: https://citestamp.com/for-ai
- Check a bibliography in the browser (free, nothing uploaded): https://citestamp.com/check
- Reference-health badge for any DOI: https://citestamp.com/citestamped/<doi>
- Privacy: https://citestamp.com/privacy · Contact: info@citestamp.com

CiteStamp is built by 3Rivers Enterprises LLC, Fort Wayne, Indiana.