paper_search
Search ~250M scholarly works (papers, preprints, datasets) live via OpenAlex by keyword across title, abstract, and full text, with optional author, year, and open-access-only filters. Ranked by relevance. Returns each work's OpenAlex id, DOI, title, authors, venue, year, citation count, and a fr...
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What paper_search does on Livedatalink
AI agents call paper_search to retrieve information from Livedatalink without modifying anything. It is typically the context-gathering step in research, monitoring, and reporting workflows, before the agent takes action elsewhere.
| Parameter | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
year | number | — | Optional exact publication year, e.g. 2023. |
limit | number | — | Maximum rows to return (default 25, max 100). |
query | string | — | Keywords across title/abstract/fulltext, e.g. 'attention mechanism transformers', 'CRISPR off-target'. |
author | string | — | Optional author-name fragment, e.g. 'Hinton', 'Doudna'. |
open_access_only | boolean | — | If true, only return open-access works (default false). |
Parameters from the server's own tool schema.
Why paper_search is rated Low
This is a search and retrieval tool that queries a public academic database (OpenAlex) and returns bibliographic metadata and links to publicly available open-access papers. It has no side effects, does not modify data, does not execute code, and does not incur financial obligations.
From the tool's definition The tool 'Search ~250M scholarly works' with 'optional filters' that 'Returns each work's OpenAlex id, DOI, title, authors, venue, year, citation count, and a free full-text URL'.
Attacks that exploit this kind of access
The rule that runs paper_search safely
PolicyLayer is an MCP gateway: it sits between your AI agents and Livedatalink, and checks every tool call against a rule you set before the call runs. Nothing changes on the server itself. For paper_search, this is the rule to start with:
paper_search is read-only, so it stays allowed. Everything else on the server is denied unless you say otherwise.
The button opens the PolicyLayer dashboard: create your workspace, connect Livedatalink, apply this rule, and every paper_search call is checked against it from then on.
Questions about paper_search
Search ~250M scholarly works (papers, preprints, datasets) live via OpenAlex by keyword across title, abstract, and full text, with optional author, year, and open-access-only filters. Ranked by relevance. Returns each work's OpenAlex id, DOI, title, authors, venue, year, citation count, and a free full-text URL when open access. Use paper_fulltext_search to search inside the locally indexed open-access corpus. It is categorised as a Read tool in the Livedatalink MCP Server, which means it retrieves data without modifying state.
paper_search accepts 5 parameters: year, limit, query, author, open_access_only. The full parameter table on this page comes from the server's own tool schema.
Register the Livedatalink MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for paper_search: allow, deny, rate-limit, or require approval. Point your MCP client at the PolicyLayer proxy URL and the rule is enforced on every call, before it reaches Livedatalink. Nothing to install.
paper_search is a Read tool with low risk. Read-only tools are generally safe to allow by default.
Yes. Add a rate_limit block to the paper_search rule in your PolicyLayer policy. For example, setting max: 10 and window: 60 limits the tool to 10 calls per minute. Rate limits are tracked per agent session and reset automatically.
Set action: deny in the PolicyLayer policy for paper_search. The AI agent will receive a policy violation error and cannot call the tool. You can also include a reason field to explain why the tool is blocked.
paper_search is provided by the Livedatalink MCP server (https://livedatalink.ai/mcp). PolicyLayer sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.
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