OpenCode

This guide shows how to attach ScholarMCP to OpenCode using its MCP management commands and config file format.

Official references:

What OpenCode Supports

MCP server management with opencode mcp add and opencode mcp list
local stdio servers launched from an explicit command array
manual fallback in ~/.config/opencode/opencode.json

Install or Verify the OpenCode CLI

Verify that OpenCode and its MCP command group are installed:

opencode --version
opencode mcp --help

Add ScholarMCP with the OpenCode CLI

OpenCode exposes opencode mcp add, but the current CLI help does not document a stable non-interactive argument format for local stdio servers. Use the interactive flow:

opencode mcp add

When prompted, configure ScholarMCP as:

Name: scholar_mcp
Server type: local
Command:
- npm-based: npx -y scholar-mcp --transport=stdio
- repo-local: pnpm --filter scholar-mcp dev:stdio
Enabled: true
Environment variables:
- SCHOLAR_MCP_TRANSPORT=stdio
- SCHOLAR_REQUEST_DELAY_MS=350
- RESEARCH_ALLOW_REMOTE_PDFS=true
- RESEARCH_ALLOW_LOCAL_PDFS=true

Verify the Registration

List configured MCP servers:

opencode mcp list

Confirm that scholar_mcp appears and is enabled.

Manual Fallback If `opencode mcp add` Fails

Add this entry to ~/.config/opencode/opencode.json:

{
  "$schema": "https://opencode.ai/config.json",
  "mcp": {
    "scholar_mcp": {
      "type": "local",
      "command": ["npx", "-y", "scholar-mcp", "--transport=stdio"],
      "enabled": true,
      "environment": {
        "SCHOLAR_MCP_TRANSPORT": "stdio",
        "SCHOLAR_REQUEST_DELAY_MS": "350",
        "RESEARCH_ALLOW_REMOTE_PDFS": "true",
        "RESEARCH_ALLOW_LOCAL_PDFS": "true"
      }
    }
  }
}

Restart OpenCode, then run:

opencode mcp list

If the entry exists but does not launch correctly, compare the stored command and environment values against /reference/troubleshooting/.

Run from Repo Instead of npm

If you want the latest local ScholarMCP code, replace the command array with the repo-local launcher:

pnpm --filter scholar-mcp dev:stdio

In JSON config, that becomes: