A flexible arXiv search and analysis service with MCP protocol support for searching, downloading, and analyzing academic papers from arXiv
Server has 4 tools with basic schemas and descriptions, but significant gaps limit production readiness. All tools have descriptions (10-50 chars, below ideal 50-200 char range) and input schemas are present but minimal. Parameter descriptions are sparse or missing entirely. Error handling is generic ('Error: {str(e)}') with no recovery guidance. No tool annotations (readOnlyHint/destructiveHint). Output schemas are undocumented. The download_paper tool is marked WRITE but has no confirmation/dry-run pattern despite being destructive.
Download a paper and create a resource for it
List all existing papers available as resources
Read the full content of a stored paper in markdown format
Search for papers on arXiv with advanced filtering
Descriptions are too short (10-50 chars vs. baseline 194 chars). 'Search for papers on arXiv with advanced filtering' lacks WHEN to use, prerequisites, or output structure guidance.
Output schemas are not documented. LLMs cannot plan downstream calls or extract fields. search_papers returns what? A list of papers with which fields?
Error handling is generic ('Error: {str(e)}') with no recovery guidance. Errors do not tell LLM what to do next or whether to retry.
download_paper is marked WRITE (destructive) but has no confirmation/dry-run pattern. Agents can accidentally download large PDFs without safeguards.
Inferred effective spec: <=2025-11-25.
| Scored | Grade | Overall | Spec posture | Rubric |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-09-23 | D | 55 | <=2025-11-25 | v2 |
No tool annotations (readOnlyHint, destructiveHint, idempotentHint). LLMs cannot infer which tools are safe to retry or have side effects.