Institutional access

download_paper and read_paper look for open copies in parallel and prefer the publisher’s version when it is available. For papers your institution licenses, Scholar can also use an EZproxy prefix and cookies you export from your own browser.

Configure your library

1. Copy the login prefix from your library’s proxied links or bookmarklet. It usually ends in url= or qurl=, for example https://proxy.library.example.edu/login?url=.
2. Sign in to the library in your browser and open a paper your institution subscribes to.
3. Export the proxy domain’s cookies in Netscape cookies.txt format and store the file privately.
4. Set these variables in the environment that starts Scholar. For an MCP client, put them in its server configuration’s env block.

export LIBRARY_PROXY_PREFIX="https://proxy.library.example.edu/login?url="
export LIBRARY_PROXY_COOKIES="$HOME/private/library-cookies.txt"

Only cookies belonging to the configured proxy are loaded. HTTP redirects stay scoped to that proxy’s domain tree, and cookie values stay out of tool responses. The same settings apply to MCP tools, the Python API and CLI research commands.

scholar-mcp read '10.xxxx/a-paper-your-library-licenses'

The older LIBRARY_PROXY_BASE setting is still accepted in place of a full prefix. LIBRARY_PROXY_COOKIE accepts a raw Cookie header, with <data>/library_cookie.txt as its fallback file.

Versions and download results

The library route joins when free copies do not provide the published version. A free manuscript can still be returned if the library route fails. The download result identifies the copy and version it delivered; an available PDF is validated before it is stored.

Refresh an expired session

Library sessions expire according to the library’s policy. When the proxy returns a login page, Scholar reports that the exported session needs refreshing. Sign in again in your browser, export a fresh cookie file, and retry the paper.

If a publisher requires a browser check or the library does not cover the paper, the response includes the reason and a library link to open directly. Access depends on the institution’s subscription and the session you supplied.

Match your browser’s network route

Some libraries bind sessions to the network route used during sign-in. If your terminal uses an HTTP proxy while your browser connects directly, add the library proxy host and its subdomains to NO_PROXY so Scholar uses the same route.

See Configuration for these settings and Clients for each client’s configuration location.