You can connect your Consensus account to Claude using MCP (Model Context Protocol), allowing Claude to search over 220 million peer-reviewed research papers directly inside your chat.
This lets you run powerful research workflows like literature reviews, reading list generation, and grant discovery.
How to connect Consensus to Claude
You can add the Consensus connector directly from Claude settings.
Open Claude
Navigate to Customize > Connectors
Search for “Consensus”
Add the Consensus connector
When prompted, log in to your Consensus account via OAuth
Note: You can use Consensus without logging in, but signing in increases your usage limits.
Feel free to read our docs here: https://docs.consensus.app/docs/mcp
What you can do with Consensus in Claude
Once connected, you can use Consensus in Claude to complete research workflows like:
Curriculum development: upload a course outline or syllabus and generate a recommended reading list of peer-reviewed papers
Literature reviews: build a search strategy, identify seminal papers, and surface key themes across the research
Grant research: explore novelty gaps in your research idea and find relevant funding opportunities like NIH grants
Evidence search: ask research questions in plain language and get relevant papers with citations
Research filtering: narrow results by criteria like year, human studies, and sample size
Example prompts
“Find randomized controlled trials on intermittent fasting and weight loss”
“Summarize recent research on ADHD treatments in adults”
“Create a reading list for a course on climate change economics”
“Find NIH grants related to Alzheimer’s disease biomarkers”
What results include
Paper titles and authors
Publication year
Citation counts
Links to the paper in Consensus
Summaries based on full-text analysis (when available)
Usage limits
MCP usage depends on your Consensus plan:
Plan | Results per search | Monthly MCP calls |
No account | 3 | Limited |
Free | 10 | 30 |
Pro | 20 | 250 |
Deep / Teams | 20 | 1,000 |
These limits apply during the beta period and may change over time.
Learn more
Consensus MCP page: https://consensus.app/home/mcp/
Full documentation: https://docs.consensus.app/docs/mcp
Video tutorial course: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5at_-ZVRXUFrKoDwbWe_JUfqT4RGyT8r
FAQs
Do I need a paid Claude account to use the Consensus MCP connector?
No, you do not need a paid Claude account. The connector can be used on available Claude plans that support Connectors.
Does the MCP connector search My Library and uploaded PDFs?
Not currently. The MCP connector searches across the Consensus research index, not your uploaded papers or Library.
Can I control when Claude uses Consensus?
Claude automatically uses the connector when it detects a research-related question. You can also manually enable or disable the Consensus connector by clicking the Connector toggle within Claude.
Are there pre-built workflows or prompts I can use?
Yes, we’ve created pre-built “skills” for common workflows like literature reviews, reading list generation, and grant research.
You can explore and download them here: https://consensus.app/home/mcp/