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Phở Research Tools

@thaohienhomesMCP server · External

Checks AI-written references against Crossref, PubMed and OpenAlex. Formats citations, PRISMA.

v1.0.1MITTypeScript
Freeno charge per call
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One address for any MCP client. No sign-in needed on this server.

What it does

3 read2 other

Grouped by tool name.

What it costs

Free

Odel charges nothing per call. The publisher may charge for its own service.

Tools

5 · grouped by tool name · checked 7 Oct 2026

Read · 3Look things up

  • verify_references
  • search_papers
  • check_retractions

Other · 2Neither hinted nor named

  • format_citations
  • prisma_flow_diagram
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README4 min read

An open-source MCP server that lets any AI assistant check its own references. It verifies citations, flags retractions, formats bibliographies and draws PRISMA 2020 diagrams, using only open scholarly databases: Crossref, PubMed and OpenAlex.

AI models invent references. This server gives Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor or any MCP client a way to look each one up in a public database before you trust it.

ToolWhat it does
verify_referencesChecks each reference: verified, real but with wrong details (with the corrected record), likely fabricated, not found, retracted, or ambiguous.
check_retractionsRetraction, expression-of-concern and correction notices for a list of DOIs.
search_papersSearches OpenAlex and PubMed. Every result has a DOI or PMID; retracted papers are left out and preprints are labelled.
format_citationsAPA 7, MLA 9, Chicago, Harvard, Vancouver, IEEE or AMA, or BibTeX, RIS and CSL-JSON, formatted from the real record.
prisma_flow_diagramA PRISMA 2020 flow diagram (PNG + SVG) with a check that the counts add up.

All five tools are read-only. Results are database lookups, not model opinions: likely_fabricated means the DOI is not registered or no matching record exists.

Use the hosted server (no install)

Add this URL as a custom connector / MCP server in your client:

https://mcp.pho.chat/mcp
  • Claude Code: claude mcp add --transport http pho-research https://mcp.pho.chat/mcp
  • Claude (web, desktop): Settings → Connectors → Add custom connector.
  • ChatGPT: Settings → Apps & Connectors → Developer mode → Create.
  • Cursor, VS Code, others: see apps/mcp/README.md.

No account is needed. Anonymous use has a daily allowance; a free account at pho.chat raises it. Prefer a web page? The same tools run at pho.chat/tools.

Verified Citations skill

This repository also ships Verified Citations, an Agent Skill that makes an assistant use the tools above on every reference it writes: find sources with search_papers instead of recalling them, run verify_references before showing anything, format with format_citations, and say which references were corrected, retracted or removed.

Claude Code (plugin: skill + MCP server in one step)

bash
claude plugin marketplace add thaohienhomes/pho-research-tools
claude plugin install verified-citations@pho-research-tools

The plugin adds the skill and connects the pho-research MCP server. Run /mcp to check the server shows as connected. From a local checkout, pass the folder path to marketplace add instead.

skills.sh (Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, Gemini CLI and other agents)

bash
npx skills add thaohienhomes/pho-research-tools --skill verified-citations

This installs the skill only. Connect the MCP server in your agent too, for example in Claude Code:

bash
claude mcp add --transport http pho-research https://mcp.pho.chat/mcp

ClawHub (OpenClaw)

bash
clawhub install verified-citations

Then add https://mcp.pho.chat/mcp as a remote MCP server in OpenClaw.

Claude.ai, ChatGPT and others

Add https://mcp.pho.chat/mcp as a custom connector; step-by-step instructions for each app are at https://pho.chat/tools/mcp/. Without the connector, paste a reference list into the free checker at https://pho.chat/tools/citation-checker/.

Run it yourself

Requires Node 22+ and pnpm 9.

bash
pnpm install
pnpm dev            # http://localhost:8787/mcp

Every setting is optional for a local run; see apps/mcp/.env.example. A Dockerfile is in apps/mcp/ (docker build -f apps/mcp/Dockerfile -t pho-mcp .).

Repository layout

PathWhat it is
apps/mcpThe MCP server (Streamable HTTP, Hono). Quotas, optional sign-in, analytics, all off unless configured.
packages/scholar-coreVerification, retraction checks, search, citation formatting and PRISMA rendering. Pure TypeScript, no AI SDK, no database.
packages/citation-engineDOI, BibTeX and RIS parsing and Crossref helpers.
docs/samples/scholar-coreSample outputs, regenerated and checked by the test suite.
skills/verified-citationsThe Verified Citations Agent Skill.
.claude-plugin/, .mcp.jsonClaude Code plugin + one-plugin marketplace (skill and MCP server in one install).
server.json, glama.jsonMCP Registry entry (published by .github/workflows/publish-mcp-registry.yml) and Glama maintainer claim.
bash
pnpm test        # 190 tests, all replaying recorded API responses
pnpm typecheck

Open data only

Every source this server calls has an open API and open metadata. Nothing paywalled is fetched or stored. Embedded CSL styles are CC BY-SA 3.0; details in NOTICE.md.

Privacy

What the hosted server receives and keeps: https://pho.chat/tools/privacy/

Contributing and license

Issues and pull requests are welcome; read CONTRIBUTING.md first. Security reports: SECURITY.md.

Code is MIT. Built by Phở, a research workspace for doctors and scientists.

Tiếng Việt: Phở Research Tools là máy chủ MCP mã nguồn mở giúp trợ lý AI tự kiểm tra tài liệu tham khảo (xác minh trích dẫn, kiểm tra rút bài, định dạng, vẽ sơ đồ PRISMA 2020), chỉ dùng dữ liệu khoa học mở.