I made an open-source MCP server to manage papers and send them to my e-reader A developer created an open-source MCP server called Paperboy that integrates with Zotero to manage research papers and deliver them to e-readers like Kindle and Kobo via email or Dropbox. The server works with Claude AI to search, queue, and send papers, using Zotero as the source of truth for cataloging and state management. An MCP server that delivers research papers and books to your e-reader, with Zotero as the source of truth. Ask Claude for a reading list, then say "queue them and send to my Kindle." MCP is the plugin protocol Claude uses: this program runs on your machine or your cloud project, and Claude calls its tools during conversation. Works locally in Claude Code and Claude Desktop; a Cloud Run deployment adds claude.ai and the Claude mobile app, so papers can be sent from a phone docs/deploy.md /michaelellis003/paperboy/blob/main/docs/deploy.md . Two things are kept separate: delivering a paper to your device and cataloguing a work in Zotero. You can do either. A book you own, a paywalled reference, or a PDF you already have can all be tracked in the library without being staged for the e-reader. Zotero itself is optional: without it you can still search and send papers one-off. The reading queue, collections, and duplicate protection across sessions need it. You ask Claude for papers; it uses paperboy's tools to find, queue, and deliver them. What that looks like in practice: - Papers you queue land in a Reading Queue collection in Zotero, created on demand. - Once a paper reaches your device, paperboy tags it sent-to-ereader in Zotero, so it skips papers already sent to your e-reader, even in a later conversation. Without Zotero there's no memory between sends, so this protection needs it. - Claude can file papers into your topical collections too. It proposes one from the paper's topic and your existing collection names, and asks you when the fit is unclear. A paper can sit in several collections at once, so filing never disturbs the queue. - Papers are found by arXiv id, DOI, or title a close-enough title match, so a reading list Claude wrote in the chat can be sent as-is . When a title matches only loosely, paperboy offers the closest candidate to confirm rather than guessing or failing silently. - Books work too: add book resolves an ISBN, a book DOI, or a title into a proper Zotero book item publisher, edition, ISBN, pages . Books are catalogued, not delivered. - Have the PDF already a working paper, lecture notes, an open-access textbook ? attach pdf files it in Zotero with the PDF attached, using metadata you give it, and can send it to the e-reader in the same step. - When a reference can't be resolved, the receipt says why and which tool fits, rather than sending you hunting for a better URL. A paper with no open-access PDF is a normal library record, not an error. Zotero holds all of this, so the server keeps no state of its own: no database to run, and safe to redeploy at any time. | Backend | Devices | How | |---|---|---| email default | Kindle, PocketBook, anything with an email intake | SMTP to the device address. Kindle constraints enforced: 25 attachments / 50 MB per email; sender must be on the Approved Personal Document E-mail List | dropbox | Kobo native Dropbox sync on the device | Uploads via the Dropbox API. Kobo only syncs Apps/Rakuten Kobo/ , so use a Full Dropbox-scoped app with DROPBOX FOLDER="/Apps/Rakuten Kobo" ; an App-folder-scoped app can't reach it | | Tool | What it does | |---|---| search papers | Search OpenAlex general or arXiv source="arxiv" ; results carry a ref and an open access pdf flag | recommend papers | Discover related or new papers: citation-graph recommendations Semantic Scholar seeded from your Zotero library, plus keyword discovery from interests Claude distills out of the conversation. Excludes papers you already have | send papers | One-off send by arXiv id, DOI, URL, or title also records in Zotero if configured | queue papers | Add papers to the Zotero Reading Queue without sending optionally filed into topical collections | add to library | Track papers in Zotero without queueing or sending them owned, paywalled, or read-later ; a missing OA PDF is not treated as a failure | add book | Catalogue a book by ISBN, book DOI, or title as a Zotero book item Crossref, Open Library, Google Books ; never delivered | attach pdf | Ingest a PDF you already have grey literature, open-access textbooks with the PDF attached and metadata you supply; optionally send it | list collections | List Zotero collections so Claude can propose where to file a paper, or ask you | file papers | File queued papers into a topical collection created on demand; queue membership unaffected | unfile papers | Remove papers from one collection for misfiled items ; the papers themselves and their queue/sent state are untouched | list queue | Show the queue with per-item status unsent / sent / no-open-access-pdf | remove from queue | Delete queue items by exact ref or title | send queue | Send every unsent queue item auto-split under email limits , then tag as sent | setup status | Report what's configured and what's missing no secrets so Claude can guide setup | Run the interactive wizard. It asks which e-reader you have, walks through only the credentials that device needs, and validates each one as you enter it: SMTP login test, Zotero key check with automatic library ID lookup, full Dropbox OAuth exchange. uv sync && uv run paperboy setup docs/setup.md /michaelellis003/paperboy/blob/main/docs/setup.md is the step-by-step version: where to find each credential in Zotero, Amazon, Gmail, and Dropbox, with links to the official page for every step. How much setup you need depends on the device: | You have | Credentials needed | |---|---| | Kindle | 2 — Send-to-Kindle address + an SMTP app password | | PocketBook | 2 — Send-to-PocketBook address + an SMTP app password | | Kobo | a Dropbox app key/secret + one OAuth approval + a contact email | | + Zotero queue optional | 1 — a Zotero API key library ID auto-detected | If you'd rather set up by hand, cp .env.example .env and fill it in; every variable is documented there. Then register with Claude Code: claude mcp add paperboy -- uv run --directory /path/to/paperboy paperboy --directory matters: the server loads .env from its working directory set PAPERBOY ENV=/path/to/.env to point elsewhere . If paperboy is added but half-configured, ask Claude to "check my paperboy setup". The setup status tool reports what's missing and what to do next, without passing secrets through the chat. If someone shared their deployment with you, this is your whole setup: claude mcp add --transport http paperboy