# Tooluniverse (MCP server)

> 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.

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

## Key facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Repository | https://github.com/mims-harvard/ToolUniverse |
| GitHub stars | 1,720 |
| License | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Python |
| Transport | stdio |
| Packages | pypi: tooluniverse |
| Remote URL | none |
| Needs API key | yes |
| Official | no |
| Works with | Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code |
| Category | Other |
| Latest release | v1.5.6 (Oct 6, 2026) |
| Last commit | Oct 6, 2026 |
| MCP registry name | io.github.mims-harvard/tooluniverse |

## Install

### Claude Desktop (claude_desktop_config.json)

```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

```sh
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)

```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)

```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 2026-10-07.

## Environment variables

- `OPENAI_API_KEY` (secret): OpenAI API key for LLM-based tool finding and embedding features
- `ANTHROPIC_API_KEY` (secret): Anthropic API key for Claude-based features
- `GEMINI_API_KEY` (secret): Google Gemini API key for Gemini-based features
- `OPENROUTER_API_KEY` (secret): OpenRouter API key for accessing 100+ LLM models
- `AZURE_OPENAI_API_KEY` (secret): Azure OpenAI API key (alternative to OpenAI)
- `HF_TOKEN` (secret): HuggingFace token for accessing models and datasets
- `NCBI_API_KEY` (secret): 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): 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): BioGRID API key for protein-protein interaction queries. Register free at https://webservice.thebiogrid.org/
- `DISGENET_API_KEY` (secret): DisGeNET API key for gene-disease association data. Register free at https://www.disgenet.org/
- `OMIM_API_KEY` (secret): OMIM API key for Mendelian disease data. Register at https://omim.org/api
- `ONCOKB_API_TOKEN` (secret): OncoKB API token for precision oncology annotations. Register at https://www.oncokb.org/apiAccess
- `NVIDIA_API_KEY` (secret): NVIDIA NIM API key for AlphaFold2 structure prediction, molecular docking, and genomics tools. Get key at https://build.nvidia.com
- `USPTO_API_KEY` (secret): USPTO API key for patent data access. Register at https://developer.uspto.gov/
- `UMLS_API_KEY` (secret): UMLS API key for medical terminology and concept mapping. Register at https://uts.nlm.nih.gov/uts/
- `BRENDA_EMAIL`: BRENDA enzyme database login email. Register at https://www.brenda-enzymes.org/
- `BRENDA_PASSWORD` (secret): BRENDA enzyme database login password

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