get_full_text

get_full_text reads the complete text of open-access papers, as Markdown. search returns abstracts and short excerpts. When your assistant needs a paper’s methods, results tables, or full argument, it passes the paper’s id from search results or a Thread’s citations to get_full_text. It works the same way in every MCP client, ChatGPT included.

How it works

Search or run a Thread

Your assistant calls search, or reads a Thread with get_thread. Each search result has an id: line, marked full text available when the paper is open access and get_full_text is available to you. Each paper a Thread cites has a paper_id in its citations.

Read

Your assistant calls get_full_text with up to 3 of those ids, or DOIs. Each paper comes back as Markdown, up to 40,000 characters at a time.

Continue a long paper

A paper longer than 40,000 characters ends with a Continue: get_full_text(cursor="...") line. Calling it returns the next part, at no extra cost. If the line ends with · may cost 1 credit, Consensus couldn’t promise a free re-read this time, so the next part may be charged again.

Parameters

Pass paper_ids, dois, or both, up to 3 combined. To read the next part of a paper, pass cursor on its own instead.

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
`paper_ids`	string array	No	Paper ids: the `id:` shown under each `search` result, or a `paper_id` from a Thread’s `citations`. Up to 3 combined with `dois`.
`dois`	string array	No	DOIs, with or without a `https://doi.org/` prefix. Up to 3 combined with `paper_ids`.
`cursor`	string	No	The cursor from a `Continue:` line, to read that paper’s next part. Pass it alone, without `paper_ids` or `dois`.

Response

get_full_text returns text: each paper you asked for, in order, then the credits the call used.

3f1c... · chars 0 to 39,912 of 61,234
## Introduction

Creatine is ...

## Methods

...
Continue: get_full_text(cursor="<cursor>")

8b2d... · blocked: not open access, retracted, or no open-access copy held
https://consensus.app/papers/details/8b2d.../?utm_source=claude_code

Charged 1 credit.

Illustrative and trimmed. Each paper starts with a header line: its id (and its DOI, when you passed one), then which characters of its Markdown this part covers. A paper that doesn’t come back says why instead:

Header ends with	Meaning	Charged
`chars <start> to <end> of <total>`	The paper is open access. This part of its Markdown follows.	1 credit, once a day
`blocked: not open access, retracted, or no open-access copy held`	The paper isn’t open access, it was retracted, or its copy in Consensus isn’t its open-access copy, so no text comes back. Its Consensus link follows.	No
`no full text: open access, but Consensus holds no text for it`	The paper is open access, but there’s no text to return. Its Consensus link follows.	No
`not found: no Consensus paper has this id` (or `DOI`)	No Consensus paper matches.	No

Which papers count as open access is the same rule the API uses: gold, diamond, green, and hybrid papers whose text came from an open source such as arXiv or PubMed Central, never from a publisher feed. See which papers have complete text.

Example prompts

“Find open-access RCTs on creatine and working memory, then read the methods of the two largest.”
“Read the full text of 10.2903/j.efsa.2024.9100 and summarize how the panel weighed the evidence.”
“Read the two papers that Thread cites most and check whether their dosing protocols match.”
“Search Consensus for meta-analyses on mindfulness for anxiety and compare the inclusion criteria of the open-access ones.”

Good to know

Cost: 1 credit per paper returned, from the same monthly allowance as search and the API. Blocked and not-found papers cost nothing. A paper charged to you in the last 24 hours normally comes back free, so continuing with a cursor or reading a paper again the same day usually costs nothing. When a Continue: line ends with · may cost 1 credit, the next part may be charged. See plans and access.
Cursors expire: a cursor works for about a day. After that, call get_full_text with the paper’s id again, which may cost 1 credit.
Plans: requires a paid plan. On a Free plan or without an account, your assistant doesn’t see the tool. Upgrade to a paid plan to use it.
Rate limit: 3 get_full_text calls per second.
Same as the API: get_full_text returns the same text as GET /v1/papers/full_text, which takes up to 20 papers per request.

Introduction

Tools

Connect your client

How it works

Parameters

Response

Example prompts

Good to know