SPARKIT-science/sparkit-mcp

MCP server for SPARKIT — call the scientific
research agent from Claude Desktop, Cursor, Claude Code, or any other
MCP-compatible client.
Two tools are exposed:
- **research** — submit a scientific question. SPARKIT searches the
literature, reads the relevant papers, and returns a cited Markdown
report. Blocks until the job finishes (default 4 min) and returns the
full report inline.
- **get_job_status** — fetch a previously-submitted job by id. Useful
when research returned before the job finished, or to revisit a
past report.
Install
Or with pip:
Either installs a sparkit-mcp console script. (Pre-release: install
straight from GitHub with
uv tool install "git+https://github.com/SPARKIT-science/sparkit-mcp.git"
until the first PyPI release lands.)
Get an API key
1. Sign up at https://app.sparkit.science/signup (Try-it costs $10 for
5 queries; subscriptions start at $50/mo).
2. Visit https://app.sparkit.science/keys and create a key.
3. Copy the key — it's shown only once.
Configure your MCP client
Claude Desktop
Edit claude_desktop_config.json:
- macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
- Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
Add:
Restart Claude Desktop. You should see sparkit appear in the tools
icon next to the chat input.
If sparkit-mcp isn't on Claude Desktop's PATH (common with uv tool),
use the absolute path:
(Find the path with which sparkit-mcp after uv tool install.)
Cursor
Edit ~/.cursor/mcp.json (or .cursor/mcp.json in your project):
Reload Cursor (Cmd+Shift+P → "Reload Window").
Claude Code
Try it
Once configured, ask the LLM:
> Use SPARKIT to look up the most recent literature on the role of
> WRNIP1 as a synthetic-lethal target in cancer.
The LLM will call research. Expect a 60-180s wait, then a Markdown
report with inline citations and a numbered Sources list.
Configuration
| Env var | Default | Description |
|-------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------|-------------|
| SPARKIT_API_KEY | (required) | Bearer key from https://app.sparkit.science/keys. |
| SPARKIT_API_BASE | https://jlsteenwyk--sparkit-api-web.modal.run | Override the API base URL. Useful for staging or self-hosted deployments. |
| SPARKIT_API_TIMEOUT_SECONDS | 30 | Per-HTTP-request timeout. Doesn't affect total wait time for research; that's max_wait_seconds. |
Tool reference
research(question, response_format?, include_citations?, max_wait_seconds?)
| Arg | Type | Default | Description |
|--------------------|---------------------|---------|-------------|
| question | string | — | The scientific question. Required. Be specific. |
| response_format | "full" or "brief" | "full" | Length of the returned Markdown report. |
| include_citations| boolean | true | Keep true for sourced reports. |
| max_wait_seconds | int (30-540) | 240 | How long to block waiting before returning the job_id with instructions to poll. |