Paper Lantern
Research intelligence for AI coding agents. 2M+ CS papers with evidence and tradeoffs.
Links
README
From the repo.
paperlantern
Research intelligence that makes your AI coding agent smarter - one command setup.
Paper Lantern gives your AI coding agent access to 2M+ CS research papers - the right technique for your problem, with tradeoffs, benchmarks, and implementation guidance.
Quick start
npx paperlantern@latest
That's it. Pick your agents, log in, and Paper Lantern is configured.
Supported agents
- Claude Code
- Cursor
- Windsurf
- GitHub Copilot (VS Code)
- Codex
- Gemini CLI
- Cline
Prefer to set up manually, or using a client not listed above? See paperlantern.ai/docs for per-agent config snippets and the raw MCP endpoint.
What it does
The setup CLI:
- Authenticates via OAuth (opens browser)
- Configures the MCP server for your selected agents
- Installs agent rules so your agent knows when to use Paper Lantern
Tools available
Once configured, your agent gets these tools:
| Tool | What it does |
|---|---|
explore_approaches | Survey 4-6 approach families with evidence and tradeoffs |
deep_dive | Investigate one technique in depth - implementation, hyperparameters, failure modes |
compare_approaches | Side-by-side comparison of 2-3 candidates |
check_feasibility | GO / PROTOTYPE / RECONSIDER verdict given your constraints |
give_feedback | Tell us what helped and what didn't |
When your agent uses Paper Lantern
Paper Lantern activates when your agent is making technical decisions where research evidence could improve the outcome - choosing between algorithms, architectures, or techniques.
It does not activate for syntax questions, library lookups, debugging, or general programming tasks.
Links
Config for your environment
Use the endpoint URL below in your config. No API key — you connect directly.
Tool
OS
Config file: ~/.cursor/mcp.json
{
"mcpServers": {
"mcp-server": {
"url": "https://mcp.paperlantern.ai/chat/mcp"
}
}
}Paste into mcpServers in the config file. Restart Cursor after saving.
If this MCP is also published on mcpchannel.ai, you can subscribe from Browse and use the gateway config there instead.