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yashimosh/biblio-mcp

Analysis updated 2026-05-18

★ 3TypeScriptAudience · developerComplexity · 2/5Setup · easy

TLDR

An MCP server that lets an AI assistant search Anna's Archive, Library Genesis, Sci-Hub, and Z-Library through one interface.

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((biblio-mcp))
    What it does
      Unified library search
      MD5-based deduplication
      Mirror rotation on failure
    Tech stack
      Node.js
      TypeScript
      MCP protocol
    Use cases
      Search books via AI assistant
      Resolve paper PDFs by DOI
      Fetch download links
    Audience
      Developers
      MCP tool users
    Setup
      npx biblio-mcp
      Add to client config
      No API keys needed

Code map

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filefunction / class

What do people build with it?

USE CASE 1

Search for a book across several library sources at once from an AI assistant.

USE CASE 2

Resolve an academic paper's PDF link from its DOI.

USE CASE 3

Fetch and save a book file locally through a conversational request.

What is it built with?

TypeScriptNode.jsMCP

How does it compare?

yashimosh/biblio-mcp000madz000/payload-test-api-route-handleraliansari22/pdfclear
Stars333
LanguageTypeScriptTypeScriptTypeScript
Setup difficultyeasyeasyeasy
Complexity2/52/52/5
Audiencedeveloperdevelopergeneral

Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.

How do you get it running?

Difficulty · easy Time to first run · 5min

Runs via npx with no account or API key required.

No license terms are described in the explanation.

In plain English

biblio-mcp is a Model Context Protocol server that gives an AI assistant, such as Claude Code, Claude Desktop, or Cursor, the ability to search for books and papers across several library sites through natural language requests. It combines Anna's Archive, Library Genesis, Sci-Hub, and Z-Library into one server, rather than requiring a separate tool for each source, and requires no API keys or account login to use. A search query is sent to Anna's Archive, Library Genesis, and Z-Library at the same time, and the results are merged and de-duplicated using the MD5 hash each library uses to identify a file, combining metadata from whichever source has the most complete record. Each source lists several mirror domains, and if one is down or blocked, the server automatically tries the next and remembers which one worked for future searches. If one source fails entirely, results from the others are still returned, and the failure is reported rather than silently hidden. The server exposes six tools to a connected AI assistant: searching for books, getting full details for one book by its hash, listing every available download link for a file, downloading a file to a local folder, searching academic papers through Library Genesis, and resolving a paper's PDF through Sci-Hub using its DOI, URL, or title. A typical flow described in the README is to search for a book, review the results, then fetch download links and save the file, all through conversational requests to the assistant. It is written in Node.js, requires version 18 or newer, and can be run directly with npx without a manual install, or built locally from source. Configuration is a short block added to whichever MCP client's settings file is being used, and the server communicates over standard input and output, so any compatible client can connect to it.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1
Help me add yashimosh/biblio-mcp to my Claude Code MCP configuration.
Prompt 2
Show me how search_books deduplicates results by MD5 hash in biblio-mcp.
Prompt 3
Explain how mirror rotation works when a source domain is down in this server.
Prompt 4
Walk me through the typical search-then-download flow this MCP server supports.

Frequently asked questions

What is biblio-mcp?

An MCP server that lets an AI assistant search Anna's Archive, Library Genesis, Sci-Hub, and Z-Library through one interface.

What language is biblio-mcp written in?

Mainly TypeScript. The stack also includes TypeScript, Node.js, MCP.

What license does biblio-mcp use?

No license terms are described in the explanation.

How hard is biblio-mcp to set up?

Setup difficulty is rated easy, with roughly 5min to a first successful run.

Who is biblio-mcp for?

Mainly developer.

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