Reads EndNote .enl libraries and exposes their contents through the MCP interface.
This project provides an automated service for reading EndNote .enl
libraries and exposing their contents via the MCP (Modular Command Protocol) interface. It enables structured, programmatic access to bibliographic data and PDF full texts for downstream LLMs or automation clients.
.enl
(SQLite) files and associated .Data
folders..enl.backup
file for safer access, with both automatic and manual refresh support.list_papers()
search_papers('distillation')
read_paper('Paper Title')
refresh_backup()
.enl
file and corresponding .Data
folderInstall uv if you don't have it:
pip install uv
# or see https://github.com/astral-sh/uv for other installation methods
Install dependencies using uv (recommended):
uv pip install -r requirements.txt
The main dependencies are:
A requirements.txt file is provided for compatibility, but uv is the recommended tool for dependency management.
You need to provide the path to your EndNote .enl
file and the corresponding .Data
folder. Optionally, you can enable detailed logging.
You may also enable backup mode with the --use-backup
or -b
option. When enabled, all database operations are performed on a .enl.backup
file, which is automatically refreshed from the original .enl
file at startup. You can manually refresh the backup at any time using the refresh_backup()
MCP tool.
Why Backup Mode?
EndNote software locks the
.enl
file while it is running, preventing other programs from accessing it. This means that when you are viewing or editing references in EndNote, this tool cannot operate on the original.enl
file. To solve this, backup mode was introduced: all operations are performed on a.enl.backup
copy. When you need to refresh the backup, you must first close EndNote to release the file lock; otherwise, the refresh will fail.
Start the MCP server with the required arguments:
python server.py --enl-file <path-to-your.enl> --data-folder <path-to-your.Data> [--enable-log] [--use-backup]
# or using short options:
python server.py -e <path-to-your.enl> -d <path-to-your.Data> -l -b
--enl-file
, -e
: Path to the EndNote .enl
file (required)--data-folder
, -d
: Path to the EndNote .Data
folder (required)--enable-log
, -l
: Enable detailed log output (optional)--use-backup
, -b
: Use .enl.backup
for all DB operations (optional, enables backup mode; the backup is auto-refreshed at startup)When backup mode is enabled, all operations are performed on the .enl.backup
file. The backup is automatically refreshed from the original .enl
file at server startup, and you can manually refresh it at any time using the refresh_backup()
tool.
To integrate this service with MCP-compatible clients or orchestration tools, you can define an entry in your mcp.json
configuration. Example:
{
"mcpServers": {
"enl_reader_mcp": {
"command": "uv",
"args": [
"run",
"--directory",
"<path-to-your-clone>",
"-m",
"server",
"-e",
"E:/EndNoteLib/your_library.enl",
"-d",
"E:/EndNoteLib/your_library.Data",
"-l",
"-b"
]
}
}
}
<path-to-your-clone>
with the actual path where you cloned this repository..enl
file and .Data
-b
to enable backup mode if desired. When enabled, the service will operate on a .enl.backup
file and support manual refresh via the refresh_backup
tool.list_papers(offset=0, limit=10)
: List all references with pagination.search_papers(query)
: Fuzzy search references by title or keywords.read_paper(title)
: Get metadata and PDF full text by (fuzzy) title.refresh_backup()
: Manually refresh the .enl.backup
file (only available when backup mode is enabled; has no effect if backup mode is off).Note: The refresh_backup
tool is only effective when backup mode is enabled. Backup mode is recommended for scenarios requiring read-only or safer access to the EndNote library.
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