AccuraCite Now Has an MCP Server
By Thu Tran
TL;DR: In a previous post we argued that wiring an LLM up to a single academic-API tool call doesn't solve citation hallucination — the consensus logic underneath is what actually catches a fake, and MCP is just a distribution layer for that logic. We've now built that distribution layer: accuracite-mcp, an MCP server that exposes AccuraCite's full multi-provider consensus pipeline as two tools, verify_citation and find_citations, usable directly from Claude Desktop, Cursor, or any other MCP client.
What it actually does
accuracite-mcp doesn't call one academic API and trust whatever comes back. Every request goes through the same pipeline the web app and REST API use: fan out to six academic databases concurrently, require corroboration across independent sources before accepting a match, and flag anything that doesn't clear that bar instead of guessing. That's the distinction the previous post drew a hard line around — a tool call isn't a fix by itself, but a consensus engine exposed as a tool call is.
Two tools:
verify_citation— pass in a citation string (APA, MLA, raw title+author, whatever), get backverified,mismatch, ornot_found, plus the real record's metadata when one exists.find_citations— pass in a claim, get back real, published sources that actually support it.
Setup
Get an API key at accuracite.com/api_management — available on every plan, including Free, drawing from your account's regular monthly credit pool. No separate API-only tier to buy into.
Add this to your MCP client's config (Claude Desktop's claude_desktop_config.json, or the equivalent for your client):
Restart your client, and verify_citation / find_citations show up as tools it can call while you're drafting.
Why this is a distribution layer, not a new checking method
Nothing about the underlying verification changed to ship this. The MCP server is a thin wrapper: it takes the tool call, forwards it to the same /api/v1/verify and /api/v1/generate endpoints documented in the API docs, and returns the same structured status an API caller or the web app would get. The value isn't a new algorithm — it's that the algorithm now shows up inline, in the editor or chat where a citation gets drafted, instead of requiring a separate copy-paste into a web form after the fact.
FAQ
Does this replace the REST API? No — it calls the same REST API endpoints. Use the MCP server when you want AccuraCite available as a tool inside an MCP client; use the REST API directly for a script, CI check, or any integration that isn't an MCP client.
Does it cost more than using the web app or API directly? No. Both tools draw from the same credit pool as everything else on your plan — 1 credit per verification, 4 per citation search, same as the API and web app.
Can I inspect the server's code?
Yes — the published accuracite-mcp npm package is a single, short file (fetch a URL, forward the response), readable directly out of your node_modules after install. It isn't open source, and the verification logic it calls lives in AccuraCite's backend, same as the REST API and web app.