Tooluniverse

Tooluniverse is an MCP server that adds tools to AI assistants such as Claude Desktop, Claude Code and Cursor. 2,700+ scientific tools for AI scientists: life science, research, literature, and more. It has 1,720 GitHub stars, is released under the Apache-2.0 license and runs locally with uvx tooluniverse.

github.com/mims-harvard/ToolUniverse (opens in a new tab)

Needs API key
Other
Apache-2.0
Actively maintained

View on GitHub Website

Install Tooluniverse

Generated from the server's MCP registry entry. Replace your-value with your own values.

Claude Desktop

claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "tooluniverse": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "tooluniverse"
      ],
      "env": {
        "OPENAI_API_KEY": "your-value",
        "ANTHROPIC_API_KEY": "your-value",
        "GEMINI_API_KEY": "your-value",
        "OPENROUTER_API_KEY": "your-value",
        "AZURE_OPENAI_API_KEY": "your-value",
        "HF_TOKEN": "your-value"
      }
    }
  }
}

Settings > Developer > Edit Config. macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/, Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\. Restart Claude Desktop afterwards.

Claude Code

claude mcp add --env OPENAI_API_KEY=your-value --env ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=your-value --env GEMINI_API_KEY=your-value --env OPENROUTER_API_KEY=your-value --env AZURE_OPENAI_API_KEY=your-value --env HF_TOKEN=your-value --transport stdio tooluniverse -- uvx tooluniverse

Cursor

.cursor/mcp.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "tooluniverse": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "tooluniverse"
      ],
      "env": {
        "OPENAI_API_KEY": "your-value",
        "ANTHROPIC_API_KEY": "your-value",
        "GEMINI_API_KEY": "your-value",
        "OPENROUTER_API_KEY": "your-value",
        "AZURE_OPENAI_API_KEY": "your-value",
        "HF_TOKEN": "your-value"
      }
    }
  }
}

Project file; use ~/.cursor/mcp.json to enable it in every project.

VS Code

.vscode/mcp.json

{
  "inputs": [
    {
      "type": "promptString",
      "id": "openai_api_key",
      "description": "OPENAI_API_KEY",
      "password": true
    },
    {
      "type": "promptString",
      "id": "anthropic_api_key",
      "description": "ANTHROPIC_API_KEY",
      "password": true
    },
    {
      "type": "promptString",
      "id": "gemini_api_key",
      "description": "GEMINI_API_KEY",
      "password": true
    },
    {
      "type": "promptString",
      "id": "openrouter_api_key",
      "description": "OPENROUTER_API_KEY",
      "password": true
    },
    {
      "type": "promptString",
      "id": "azure_openai_api_key",
      "description": "AZURE_OPENAI_API_KEY",
      "password": true
    },
    {
      "type": "promptString",
      "id": "hf_token",
      "description": "HF_TOKEN",
      "password": true
    }
  ],
  "servers": {
    "tooluniverse": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "tooluniverse"
      ],
      "env": {
        "OPENAI_API_KEY": "${input:openai_api_key}",
        "ANTHROPIC_API_KEY": "${input:anthropic_api_key}",
        "GEMINI_API_KEY": "${input:gemini_api_key}",
        "OPENROUTER_API_KEY": "${input:openrouter_api_key}",
        "AZURE_OPENAI_API_KEY": "${input:azure_openai_api_key}",
        "HF_TOKEN": "${input:hf_token}"
      }
    }
  }
}

Config formats checked against the official docs on Oct 7, 2026: modelcontextprotocol.io (opens in a new tab), code.claude.com (opens in a new tab), cursor.com (opens in a new tab), code.visualstudio.com (opens in a new tab).

Environment variables

Variables the server reads at startup.

Name	Required	Description
`OPENAI_API_KEY`secret	No	OpenAI API key for LLM-based tool finding and embedding features
`ANTHROPIC_API_KEY`secret	No	Anthropic API key for Claude-based features
`GEMINI_API_KEY`secret	No	Google Gemini API key for Gemini-based features
`OPENROUTER_API_KEY`secret	No	OpenRouter API key for accessing 100+ LLM models
`AZURE_OPENAI_API_KEY`secret	No	Azure OpenAI API key (alternative to OpenAI)
`HF_TOKEN`secret	No	HuggingFace token for accessing models and datasets
`NCBI_API_KEY`secret	No	NCBI/PubMed API key for higher rate limits (10 req/sec vs 3 req/sec). Register at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/account/
`SEMANTIC_SCHOLAR_API_KEY`secret	No	Semantic Scholar API key for higher rate limits (100 req/sec vs 1 req/sec). Register at https://www.semanticscholar.org/product/api
`BIOGRID_API_KEY`secret	No	BioGRID API key for protein-protein interaction queries. Register free at https://webservice.thebiogrid.org/
`DISGENET_API_KEY`secret	No	DisGeNET API key for gene-disease association data. Register free at https://www.disgenet.org/
`OMIM_API_KEY`secret	No	OMIM API key for Mendelian disease data. Register at https://omim.org/api
`ONCOKB_API_TOKEN`secret	No	OncoKB API token for precision oncology annotations. Register at https://www.oncokb.org/apiAccess
`NVIDIA_API_KEY`secret	No	NVIDIA NIM API key for AlphaFold2 structure prediction, molecular docking, and genomics tools. Get key at https://build.nvidia.com
`USPTO_API_KEY`secret	No	USPTO API key for patent data access. Register at https://developer.uspto.gov/
`UMLS_API_KEY`secret	No	UMLS API key for medical terminology and concept mapping. Register at https://uts.nlm.nih.gov/uts/
`BRENDA_EMAIL`	No	BRENDA enzyme database login email. Register at https://www.brenda-enzymes.org/
`BRENDA_PASSWORD`secret	No	BRENDA enzyme database login password

About Tooluniverse

AI agent (recommended) — open your AI agent and run: The agent will walk you through MCP configuration, API keys, skill installation, and validation.

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ai-scientists
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Key facts

GitHub stars	1,720
License	Apache-2.0
Language	Python
Transport	stdio (local)
Packages	PyPI: `tooluniverse`
Auth	API key or token (OPENAI_API_KEY, ANTHROPIC_API_KEY, GEMINI_API_KEY, OPENROUTER_API_KEY, AZURE_OPENAI_API_KEY, HF_TOKEN, NCBI_API_KEY, SEMANTIC_SCHOLAR_API_KEY, BIOGRID_API_KEY, DISGENET_API_KEY, OMIM_API_KEY, ONCOKB_API_TOKEN, NVIDIA_API_KEY, USPTO_API_KEY, UMLS_API_KEY, BRENDA_PASSWORD)
Works with	Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor and VS Code
Latest release	v1.5.6 (Oct 6, 2026)
Last commit	Oct 6, 2026
MCP registry name	`io.github.mims-harvard/tooluniverse`

Repository on GitHub Official MCP registry entry This page as Markdown

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FAQ

Tooluniverse FAQ

Still curious? Email info@appsgit.com.

What is Tooluniverse?

How do I install the Tooluniverse MCP server?

Add the command uvx tooluniverse to your MCP client: put it in claude_desktop_config.json for Claude Desktop, run claude mcp add for Claude Code, or add it to .cursor/mcp.json (Cursor) or .vscode/mcp.json (VS Code). The snippets on this page are ready to paste.

Is Tooluniverse free?

The server is open source under the Apache-2.0 license, so running it is free. It needs credentials (OPENAI_API_KEY, ANTHROPIC_API_KEY, GEMINI_API_KEY, OPENROUTER_API_KEY, AZURE_OPENAI_API_KEY, HF_TOKEN, NCBI_API_KEY, SEMANTIC_SCHOLAR_API_KEY, BIOGRID_API_KEY, DISGENET_API_KEY, OMIM_API_KEY, ONCOKB_API_TOKEN, NVIDIA_API_KEY, USPTO_API_KEY, UMLS_API_KEY and BRENDA_PASSWORD) for the service it connects to, which may require a paid account.

Is Tooluniverse actively maintained?

The most recent commit was on Oct 6, 2026. The latest release is v1.5.6, published Oct 6, 2026. appsgit only lists MCP servers with a commit in the last six months and re-checks every server daily.