arxiv-latex-mcp is an MCP (Model Context Protocol) server, mainly used to let Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, or other MCP clients directly access and process arXiv papers by retrieving the LaTeX source of the paper. Under the hood, it uses arxiv-to-prompt to handle the downloading and processing of LaTeX.
Purpose and Value Many PDF chat applications often perform poorly when handling papers that are dense with mathematical content and formulas. By using the original LaTeX source of arXiv papers, large language models can accurately understand and process formulas and symbols. This approach is especially valuable in fields such as computer science, mathematics, and engineering, where precise interpretation of mathematical expressions is required.
Main Capabilities As an MCP server, it exposes available tools to MCP clients so that clients can retrieve and process paper content. According to the materials, after installation, the following tools can be seen in the "Available MCP tools" list in Claude Desktop:
- get_paper_prompt — retrieves the complete flattened LaTeX of a paper
- get_paper_abstract — retrieves only the abstract
- list_paper_sections — lists the section titles of the paper
- get_paper_section — retrieves a specific section by path
Usage If using Claude Desktop, it can be installed via Desktop Extensions: just double-click the .mcpb file. The .mcpb file needs to be downloaded from the specified location and supports macOS, Windows, and Linux. Otherwise, the server can be run directly from PyPI using uvx. You can also install it with pip install arxiv-latex-mcp and then run arxiv-latex-mcp, or use other running methods. If you want to run from a local code checkout, you need to add the corresponding configuration in the configuration file. You may need to replace the command field with the full path to uv: on macOS/Linux, run which uv, and on Windows, run where uv to confirm it. After saving the above configuration, you need to restart the application.
Usage Example After installation and configuration are complete,you can try asking a question about a paper on arXiv, for example: "Explain the first theorem in 2202.00395".
Limitations The materials do not provide specific information such as fees, pricing, platform restrictions, processing speed, or performance guarantees, so no related content is provided for now.
