Getting Started with the Consensus MCP

Getting Started

Consensus MCP lets AI assistants search 200+ million peer-reviewed research papers. Connect your preferred client below — you'll be searching in under 2 minutes.

Server URL: https://mcp.consensus.app/mcp

The /mcp path is required. Using https://mcp.consensus.app alone will not work.

Connect Your Client

Claude Desktop

1. Go to Settings → Connectors
2. Click Browse Connectors
3. Search for Consensus
4. Click Connect — OAuth sign-in will open automatically

ChatGPT

1. Click Apps from the left sidebar
2. Search for Consensus
3. Click Connect and sign in with your Consensus account

Search results display in an interactive widget showing top papers with citations and direct links.

Claude Code

claude mcp add --transport http consensus https://mcp.consensus.app/mcp

OAuth will open in your browser automatically on first use. You can also trigger it manually with the /mcp command inside Claude Code.

Codex

codex mcp add consensus --url https://mcp.consensus.app/mcp
codex mcp login consensus

Cursor

Add via Settings → Tools & MCP → New MCP Server, or edit your config directly:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "consensus": {
      "url": "https://mcp.consensus.app/mcp"
    }
  }
}

VS Code (GitHub Copilot)

Add to your MCP configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "consensus": {
      "url": "https://mcp.consensus.app/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Windsurf

Add via Settings → Cascade → MCP Servers, or edit your config directly:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "consensus": {
      "serverUrl": "https://mcp.consensus.app/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Other MCP Clients

Any MCP compatible client can connect using the server URL https://mcp.consensus.app/mcp with HTTP transport. If your client supports OAuth, authentication will be handled automatically.

Verify Your Connection

Try asking your AI assistant:

What does the research say about the effects of exercise on depression?

You should see results citing specific papers with titles, journals, years, citation counts, and direct links.

Plans and Access

Your results depend on your Consensus plan, not your AI subscription (Claude Pro, ChatGPT Plus, etc. have no effect on Consensus results).

No account is needed to get started, connect directly and try it out.

Create a free account at consensus.app/sign-up or upgrade at consensus.app/pricing.

Enterprise and API Key Access

For enterprise access with unlimited rate limits, include your API key as a Bearer token:

Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY

Contact Consensus for enterprise API access at consensus.app/home/api.

Search Tool

Parameters

Response

Each search returns:

• papers — Array of paper objects with: title, authors, abstract, journal, year, citation_count, and url (direct link to the paper on Consensus)
• total_results — Total number of papers found
• query — The original search query

Pro plans and above also include study_type and takeaway for each paper. Enterprise includes doi.

Example Prompts

• "What does the research say about the effectiveness of remote work on productivity?"
• "Find RCTs and meta-analyses since 2020 on cognitive behavioral therapy for anxiety"
• "Search for high quality human studies on gut microbiome and mental health with at least 100 participants"
• "Recent research on large language model hallucination from top tier journals"

Troubleshooting

OAuth login is only supported for streamable HTTP servers (Codex)

You added the server with -- --transport http instead of --url. Remove and re-add:

codex mcp remove consensus
codex mcp add consensus --url https://mcp.consensus.app/mcp
codex mcp login consensus

Authentication successful but server reconnection failed (Claude Code)

Fully quit and restart Claude Code — do not just use the reconnect option. Your credentials are saved and will work after restart.

Tools stop working after a few hours (401 errors)

Your OAuth token has expired. Re-authenticate:

• Claude Code: Type /mcp, select Consensus, choose Clear authentication, re-authenticate, then restart Claude Code
• Codex: Run codex mcp logout consensus then codex mcp login consensus
• Cursor: Disconnect and reconnect the server in Settings then Tools and MCP
• Claude Desktop: Disconnect and reconnect the connector in Settings then Connectors

Server shows failed or no tools appear

1. Verify the URL includes /mcp at the end
2. Remove and re-add the server using the commands above
3. Restart your client completely

Consensus search has not been loaded yet (Claude Code)

This is normal. Claude loads tool definitions on demand when many tools are present. Retry the query and it will work on the second attempt.

No results found

Try broadening your search query or removing filters. Use specific academic terminology rather than casual language.

Rate limit exceeded (429 error)

Wait a few moments before searching again. If using automated workflows, implement backoff logic between requests.

Security

• Endpoint: Only connect to the official URL: https://mcp.consensus.app/mcp
• API keys: Store securely using environment variables. Never share keys in prompts or public conversations. Rotate if compromised.
• Data handling: Search queries are sent to the Consensus API over HTTPS/TLS. Results contain publicly available academic paper metadata. No personal data is stored from MCP requests.

Supported Platforms

Additional Resources

• Consensus Website
• Consensus API Documentation
• Model Context Protocol Specification