Tool reference

The Scite MCP server exposes 25 tools across three groups. Call tools/list to get the live catalog with full input schemas; this page is the narrative index.

Literature

Search papers, read full-text excerpts, and pull Smart Citations.

Evidence

Patents, trials, grants, FDA device and drug records, adverse events, and safety alerts.

Collections

Create and maintain saved sets of papers.

The catalog

Tool	Group	What it does
`search_literature`	Literature	Search the scientific literature; return metadata, full-text excerpts, and Smart Citations
`search_patents`	Evidence	Search patent families
`search_clinical_trials`	Evidence	Search ClinicalTrials.gov records
`get_clinical_trial`	Evidence	Fetch one trial by NCT id
`search_grants`	Evidence	Search NIH, NSF, SBIR/STTR, Wellcome, EU, and other funders
`get_grant`	Evidence	Fetch one grant by id
`search_device510k`	Evidence	Search FDA 510(k) clearance metadata
`get_device510k`	Evidence	Fetch one clearance by K number
`search_510k_summaries`	Evidence	Search the full text of 510(k) summary PDFs
`get_510k_summary`	Evidence	Fetch one 510(k) summary document
`search_mhra`	Evidence	Search UK MHRA safety alerts and publications
`get_mhra_alert`	Evidence	Fetch one MHRA alert
`search_maude`	Evidence	Search FDA MAUDE device adverse-event reports
`get_maude_report`	Evidence	Fetch one MAUDE report
`search_faers`	Evidence	Search FDA FAERS drug adverse-event reports
`get_faers_report`	Evidence	Fetch one FAERS report
`search_drugs`	Evidence	Search FDA labels, Orange Book, and Drugs@FDA
`get_drug`	Evidence	Fetch one drug record
`create_collection`	Collections	Create a Collection from a DOI list
`get_collection`	Collections	Fetch a Collection by slug
`search_collections`	Collections	List the Collections you can access
`update_collection`	Collections	Change a Collection’s name, description, DOIs, or visibility
`delete_collection`	Collections	Permanently delete a Collection
`add_dois_to_collection`	Collections	Add DOIs to a Collection
`remove_dois_from_collection`	Collections	Remove DOIs from a Collection

Access requirements

Every tool above is visible in tools/list when your credential carries the mcp scope. Access is enforced when you call the tool, not when you list it, so a tool can appear in the catalog and still return an error on tools/call.

Group	Requirement
Literature	A Scite premium subscription
Evidence	Pro, or the dataset’s `evidence:<dataset>:mcp` scope
Collections	A signed-in Scite account on a premium subscription

Organization licenses work differently from individual accounts on Evidence tools. If your account is on an organization license, reaching the Pro tier does not unlock Evidence — your license needs the explicit evidence:<dataset>:mcp entitlement. Email sales to have one added. When a tool call fails an access check, the server returns JSON-RPC error -32003 with the required plan or scope in the error payload:

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": "1",
  "error": {
    "code": -32003,
    "message": "A scite pro subscription is required to use this tool. Upgrade at https://scite.ai/pricing.",
    "data": {
      "required_plan": "pro",
      "upgrade_url": "https://scite.ai/pricing"
    }
  }
}

After an upgrade, new entitlements can take up to 15 minutes to reach an active MCP session. To apply them immediately, disconnect and reconnect the Scite MCP server in your client.

Tool annotations

Each tool carries MCP annotations that describe its behavior. Clients use these to decide what needs confirmation.

Annotation	Tools
`readOnlyHint: true`	All Literature and Evidence tools, plus `get_collection` and `search_collections`
`destructiveHint: true`	`delete_collection`, `remove_dois_from_collection`
`openWorldHint: false`	Every tool — results come from Scite’s own datasets

Conventions

Two query conventions run through the catalog, and they are not the same one.

search_literature uses named parameters: term, dois, limit, offset, and 25+ typed filters. This matches the Search API.
Every Evidence tool uses the compact q / f / p / s / sortDir form. This matches the Evidence API.

Search-then-fetch is the intended pattern for Evidence. Search results are deliberately slim to save context; call the matching get_* tool only when you need fields the search result doesn’t already carry.

Scite MCP: setup, authentication, and the JSON-RPC protocol
Prompts: the prebuilt workflows the server ships
Glossary: Smart Citation terminology used across tool responses

Get Started

Concepts

Guides

MCP

Reference

Literature

Evidence

Collections

The catalog

Access requirements

Tool annotations

Conventions

Literature

Evidence

Collections

​The catalog

​Access requirements

​Tool annotations

​Conventions

​Related

The catalog

Access requirements

Tool annotations

Conventions

Related