Paperzilla MCP

Paperzilla MCP

Use this skill when you need live Paperzilla data in Codex through the bundled paperzilla MCP server.

Setup assumptions

• The user installs the paperzilla-mcp plugin from Codex Plugins.
• The plugin bundles the Paperzilla MCP endpoint declaration at https://paperzilla.ai/api/mcp.
• Current Codex plugin installs do not prompt for Paperzilla API-key auth for non-OAuth MCP servers.
• Live access requires a paperzilla MCP entry. The normal user path is Codex Settings > Integrations & MCP with https://paperzilla.ai/api/mcp/?key=<Paperzilla MCP API key>.
• Advanced users can also configure http_headers in Codex MCP config.
• If the plugin is installed but the paperzilla MCP server is missing, unauthenticated, or not exposing tools, tell the user to add Paperzilla in Codex Integrations & MCP instead of reinstalling the skill alone.
• Setup docs:
  • https://docs.paperzilla.ai/guides/codex
  • https://docs.paperzilla.ai/guides/mcp
  • https://paperzilla.ai/dashboard

Default behavior

• Before doing any Paperzilla task, use only the bundled paperzilla MCP server.
• Prefer the paperzilla MCP server over the pz CLI.
• Do not fall back to pz unless the user explicitly asks for the CLI path.
• Never substitute other connectors or apps for Paperzilla. Do not use Stripe, Gmail, GitHub, or any other unrelated tool to answer a Paperzilla request.
• Keep both the project feed item ID and the canonical paper.id when feed results include both.

Authentication and availability

• If the paperzilla tools are unavailable, unauthenticated, or return an auth/startup error, stop and tell the user that Paperzilla MCP is not ready.
• In that case, do not keep searching for "connector methods" or explore unrelated tools.
• Tell the user to check that Codex Integrations & MCP contains a paperzilla server with a valid Paperzilla MCP API key.
• If /mcp paperzilla shows Auth unsupported and Enabled, explain that Auth unsupported can be normal for static API-key auth because Codex only supports interactive auth for OAuth-style MCP servers.
• If the plugin appears installed but Paperzilla tools still do not work, tell the user that the plugin skill is present but the live MCP server is not authenticated yet.
• Point them to the Codex guide for the GUI setup or the advanced http_headers config block.
• Once Paperzilla MCP is available, resume the normal tool flow below.

Tool flow

1. Start with projects_list when you need to identify a project.
2. Use projects_get when the user asks for project settings or project details.
3. Use feed_get for browse-style feed retrieval.
4. Use feed_search for title, author, abstract, or summary search across the full project feed.
5. Use paper_get when you need standalone paper metadata or need to resolve an identifier.
6. Use paper_markdown with the canonical paper.id when the user wants the paper body as markdown.

Paper and feed rules

• feed_get and feed_search already return nested paper metadata, so skip paper_get unless it adds something.
• paper_markdown returns structured statuses such as ready, queued, and unavailable.
• Treat queued and unavailable as normal outcomes. Explain the status and retry or suggest retrying later instead of inventing missing content.
• When the user asks for "some papers", browse or search the feed first instead of going straight to paper_markdown.

Example requests

• List my Paperzilla projects and show the newest feed items from one.
• Search this Paperzilla project for papers about retrieval evaluation.
• Get the metadata for this Paperzilla paper, then fetch the markdown.
• Summarize this Paperzilla paper from markdown.