# Does PubMed have an MCP server?

**Sort of — Community only.** PubMed does not maintain an official MCP server. Community-built servers exist.

> The PubMed connector in Claude's directory (pubmed.mcp.claude.com) is built and hosted by Anthropic, not by NLM/NCBI.

## Facts

- Verdict: Community only (Sort of)
- Access: Local server — Runs on your machine over stdio, launched by your MCP client.
- Repository: [cyanheads/pubmed-mcp-server](https://github.com/cyanheads/pubmed-mcp-server) — ★ 152, last push 2026-09-28, Apache-2.0
- Maintainer: Casey Hand
- Language: TypeScript
- Category: [Biology, Medicine and Bioinformatics](https://mcpyet.com/category/biology-medicine-and-bioinformatics/)
- Verified against vendor docs: 2026-09-29
- GitHub data refreshed: 2026-09-29 (re-checked every 6 hours)

## What it does

> Search PubMed/Europe PMC, fetch articles and full text (PMC/EPMC/Unpaywall), citations, MeSH terms via MCP. STDIO or Streamable HTTP.
> — how [cyanheads/pubmed-mcp-server](https://github.com/cyanheads/pubmed-mcp-server) describes itself

Project site: <https://www.npmjs.com/package/@cyanheads/pubmed-mcp-server>

## The receipts

- **Top community server:** [cyanheads/pubmed-mcp-server](https://github.com/cyanheads/pubmed-mcp-server) — ★ 152, pushed 2026-09-28, Apache-2.0 (active)

## How to connect it

Runs on your machine over stdio, launched by your MCP client.

### Claude Code

```sh
claude mcp add pubmed -- npx -y <package-from-readme>
```

Swap in the exact package and flags from the repo README — most servers need an API key passed as an environment variable. Add `--scope user` to make it available in every project.

### Claude Desktop

Open **Settings → Developer → Edit Config** and add the server to `claude_desktop_config.json`, then restart Claude Desktop:

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "pubmed": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "<package-from-readme>"
      ],
      "env": {
        "API_KEY": "…"
      }
    }
  }
}
```

### Cursor

Add to `.cursor/mcp.json` in your project, or `~/.cursor/mcp.json` for every project:

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "pubmed": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "<package-from-readme>"
      ],
      "env": {
        "API_KEY": "…"
      }
    }
  }
}
```

### VS Code

Add to `.vscode/mcp.json`, then pick the server from Copilot's agent-mode tools menu:

```json
{
  "servers": {
    "pubmed": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "<package-from-readme>"
      ]
    }
  }
}
```

### ChatGPT

ChatGPT connects to **remote servers only**, and this one runs on your machine. Either expose it through an MCP gateway that gives it a public URL, or use a client with native local support (Claude or Cursor).

## Before you connect this

A community server is unaudited third-party code that will hold your PubMed API credentials and see whatever data they unlock. Independent research puts SSRF vulnerabilities in roughly a third of public MCP servers, and 41% ship with no authentication at all.

- Read the source before running it — especially any network calls it makes.
- Check who maintains it and whether commits are recent (this one: last push 2026-09-28).
- Issue a scoped, revocable API key rather than an account-wide token.
- Prefer read-only credentials until you trust it with writes.

## How we know

NLM/NCBI publish no MCP server: nothing on ncbi.nlm.nih.gov or in the ncbi GitHub org, and no NIH namespace in the MCP Registry. Top dedicated server: cyanheads/pubmed-mcp-server (~150 stars, released this week, in the MCP Registry), chosen over andybrandt/mcp-simple-pubmed (~170 stars, last commit March 2026).

- GitHub data refreshed 2026-09-29, then every 6 hours.
- Vendor docs verified on 2026-09-29.
- Corrections: hello@mcpyet.com.

## Also in Biology, Medicine and Bioinformatics

- [Longevity Genie](https://mcpyet.com/mcp/longevity-genie.md) — Official (Yes)
- [Longevity Genie](https://mcpyet.com/mcp/longevity-genie-synergy-age.md) — Official (Yes)
- [STRING](https://mcpyet.com/mcp/string-db.md) — Official (Yes)

---

Source: https://mcpyet.com/mcp/pubmed/ — data refreshed 2026-09-29