---
title: "Semantic Scholar MCP Tool for Citation Graphs | BioMCP"
description: "Use BioMCP to add Semantic Scholar TLDRs, citations, references, and recommendations to literature-review workflows for AI agents."
---

# Semantic Scholar

Semantic Scholar matters when you already have the paper and need the graph around it: the TLDR, the follow-up literature, the references it builds on, and the related papers worth checking next. It turns a flat article lookup into a literature-review workflow that an agent can keep extending without losing the thread.

In BioMCP, Semantic Scholar is an automatic optional `search article --source all` leg when the filter set is compatible, and it is also individually selectable with `--source semanticscholar`. Both routes use shared-pool mode at 1 req/2sec without `S2_API_KEY` and authenticated mode at 1 req/sec with the key. The dedicated helper commands on this page are the graph-oriented reason to come here: `get article <id> tldr`, `article citations`, `article references`, and `article recommendations`.

## What BioMCP exposes

| Command | What BioMCP gets from this source | Integration note |
|---|---|---|
| `search article` | Optional compatible search-leg enrichment plus source status | Semantic Scholar joins article search automatically when the filter set allows it and can be selected alone with `--source semanticscholar` |
| `get article <id> tldr` | TLDR text, influence counts, and related article metadata | Dedicated Semantic Scholar helper |
| `article citations <id>` | Citation graph rows | Dedicated Semantic Scholar helper |
| `article references <id>` | Reference graph rows | Dedicated Semantic Scholar helper |
| `article recommendations <id>` | Related-paper recommendations | Dedicated Semantic Scholar helper |

## Example commands

```bash
biomcp search article -k "BRAF melanoma" --source semanticscholar --limit 5
```

Returns article rows whose source is Semantic Scholar.

```bash
biomcp get article 22663011 tldr
```

Returns a Semantic Scholar section with TLDR text and influence metadata.

```bash
biomcp article citations 22663011 --limit 3
```

Returns a citation graph table with intents, influential flags, and context columns.

```bash
biomcp article references 22663011 --limit 3
```

Returns a reference graph table with the same citation-context fields.

```bash
biomcp article recommendations 22663011 --limit 3
```

Returns a recommendations table with PMID, title, journal, and year columns.

## API access

Optional `S2_API_KEY` for dedicated quota and higher reliability. Configure it with the [API Keys](../getting-started/api-keys.md) guide and request one from the [Semantic Scholar API page](https://www.semanticscholar.org/product/api).

Without `S2_API_KEY`, BioMCP uses the shared unauthenticated pool at
1 req/2sec. A shared-pool HTTP 429 fails fast with guidance to set the key
instead of retrying against the same public pool. With `S2_API_KEY`, BioMCP
sends authenticated requests at 1 req/sec and honors authenticated numeric
`Retry-After` responses before retrying, bounded by BioMCP's shared 5-second
per-attempt cap and 15-second total retry-sleep budget. Source status and
debug-plan output report `auth_mode` as `shared_pool` or `authenticated`, but
never print the secret key or key prefix.

## Runtime behavior

`search article` exposes Semantic Scholar both as an automatic compatible leg
inside `--source all` and as a standalone source with `--source semanticscholar`.
The standalone route uses the same client, auth mode, rate limits, and graceful
degradation behavior as the compatible federated route.

JSON search responses can include redacted Semantic Scholar source status under
`_meta.source_status[]`, and `--debug-plan` mirrors that redacted status in the
article leg so operators can distinguish `ok`, `degraded`, and `unavailable`
without exposing credentials. Degradation of the optional Semantic Scholar leg
should not be read as a PubMed, Europe PMC, or PubTator failure.

## Official source

[Semantic Scholar](https://www.semanticscholar.org/) is the official literature-graph product behind BioMCP's TLDR and citation helper workflows.

## Related docs

- [Article](../user-guide/article.md)
- [How to find articles](../how-to/find-articles.md)
- [API Keys](../getting-started/api-keys.md)
