# Reported issues for crossref-mcp-server Pod holds 18 of 57 problems reported by people outside the maintainer team. Issues filed by the project's own owners, members and collaborators are excluded entirely — a maintainer's release checklist is not a warning to a prospective user. Back to [crossref-mcp-server](/mcp/crossref-mcp-server). ## Most discussed ### bug(crossref_search_works): fields projection can exclude required output fields ### Server version 0.1.3 ### mcp-ts-core version 0.9.6 ### Runtime Bun 1.3.11 ### Transport HTTP (Streamable HTTP) ### OS macOS 15.x ### Description `crossref_search_works` returns `isError: true` with a serialization error when the `fields` input array omits `type`. The Crossref `select=` projection removes `type` from the upstream response, but `WorkSummarySchema` declares `type: z.string()` as required. The handler maps `type: raw.type` unconditionally, so when `raw.type` is `undef [Read the thread](https://github.com/cyanheads/crossref-mcp-server/issues/1) · 2026-05-23 · closed · 5 comments ### bug(get_work,search_works): an alternatives wrapper renders one formula twice ### Server version 0.3.6 ### mcp-ts-core version 0.11.1 ### Runtime Bun ### Runtime version Bun 1.3.14 ### Transport HTTP ### OS macOS ### Description Related: #54 A JATS `` wrapper holds several encodings of one object and expects a consumer to pick one. In an abstract it wraps a formula's presentation MathML beside the same formula's TeX, or a graphic beside its TeX. The markup strip has no rule for it, so every child that carries text is emitted and one expression [Read the thread](https://github.com/cyanheads/crossref-mcp-server/issues/56) · 2026-08-10 · closed · 4 comments ### bug(response-parity): content output truncates references and abstracts ### Server version 0.2.0 ### mcp-ts-core version 0.10.14 ### Runtime Bun ### Runtime version Bun 1.3.14 ### Transport HTTP (Streamable HTTP) ### OS macOS 26.1 ### Description `crossref_get_references` and `crossref_search_works` return less data through `content[]` than through `structuredContent`. Content-only MCP clients therefore lose references, citation text, or most of an abstract with no equivalent retrieval path. ### Steps to reproduce 1. Call `crossref_get_references` wit [Read the thread](https://github.com/cyanheads/crossref-mcp-server/issues/31) · 2026-07-16 · closed · 3 comments ### bug(get_work): the publication-date fallback chain diverges from the three search tools ### Server version 0.3.7 ### mcp-ts-core version 0.11.1 ### Runtime Bun ### Runtime version Bun 1.3.14 ### Transport HTTP ### Description Related: #58 The four tools that resolve a publication date call the same helper but chain their fallbacks at different points, so they can disagree about the same record. `crossref_get_work` picks the source object first and parses once: ```ts parseDateParts(raw.published ?? raw['published-print'] ?? raw['published-online'] ?? raw.issued) ``` ` [Read the thread](https://github.com/cyanheads/crossref-mcp-server/issues/59) · 2026-08-10 · closed · 2 comments ### bug(get_work): funder, affiliation, and date projections assume upstream fields Crossref does not guarantee ### Server version 0.3.7 ### mcp-ts-core version 0.11.1 ### Runtime Bun ### Runtime version Bun 1.3.14 ### Transport http ### Description `crossref_get_work` fails the whole call on three upstream shapes the Crossref message schema permits and the projection treats as impossible. All three are ordinary deposits, not corruption. Related: #6, which closed the same class for `type: null`. 1. **A funder identified by ROR instead of by name.** Crossref lets a funding assertion carry `id: [Read the thread](https://github.com/cyanheads/crossref-mcp-server/issues/58) · 2026-08-10 · closed · 2 comments ### bug(get_work): a Markdown block marker at the head of an abstract is eaten in content[] ### Server version 0.3.7 ### mcp-ts-core version 0.11.1 ### Runtime Bun ### Runtime version Bun 1.3.14 ### Transport HTTP ### OS macOS ### Description Related: #53 `crossref_get_work` is the one tool that renders a deposited value at column zero — `format()` pushes the abstract as its own line, with no `**Label:**` or `- ` in front of it. A [CommonMark](https://spec.commonmark.org/0.31.2/) block marker at the head of that value therefore opens a block, and the marker itself is cons [Read the thread](https://github.com/cyanheads/crossref-mcp-server/issues/57) · 2026-08-10 · closed · 2 comments ### bug(get_work,search_works): a kept link tag reaches abstracts without saving an address ### Server version 0.3.6 ### mcp-ts-core version 0.11.1 ### Runtime Bun ### Runtime version Bun 1.3.14 ### Transport HTTP ### OS macOS ### Description Related: #53 Link elements — `a`, `ext-link`, `uri` — keep their tags so that removing one cannot delete the address sitting in the `href` (#49, #50). Extending that to the JATS-deposited fields puts the whole tag, namespace declarations included, into `title` and `abstract`, which are otherwise clean text on both result surfaces. T [Read the thread](https://github.com/cyanheads/crossref-mcp-server/issues/55) · 2026-08-10 · closed · 2 comments ### bug(work-titles,abstracts): the JATS strip shatters formulas the reference strip joins tight ### Server version 0.3.5 ### mcp-ts-core version 0.11.1 ### Runtime Bun ### Runtime version Bun 1.3.14 ### Transport HTTP ### OS macOS ### Description `normalizeMarkupText` — the pass work titles, subtitles, container titles, and abstracts run through — replaces every tag with a space except `sub` and `sup`. `normalizeReferenceText` learned three things that pass does not have: MathML matched as a region, the formula wrappers (`formula`, `inline-formula`, `ref_formula`, `tex`, `tex- [Read the thread](https://github.com/cyanheads/crossref-mcp-server/issues/54) · 2026-08-10 · closed · 2 comments ## Most recent ### bug(search_works): a zero-result response leads with an empty text block ### Server version 0.3.9 ### mcp-ts-core version 0.12.3 ### Runtime Bun ### Runtime version Bun 1.4.0 ### Transport http ### Description When a query matches nothing, `format()` in `search-works.tool.ts` builds `lines` from the works array and an optional `nextCursor` header — both empty — and returns `''`. That empty string still ships as `content[0]`, ahead of the enrichment trailer that carries the useful "No results matched the query" notice. The information is all there; the res [Read the thread](https://github.com/cyanheads/crossref-mcp-server/issues/61) · 2026-08-25 · open · 0 comments ### bug(search_journals,search_funders): works_cursor paging is rejected by Crossref — an explicit sort rides along with the cursor ### Server version 0.3.9 ### mcp-ts-core version 0.12.3 ### Runtime Bun ### Runtime version Bun 1.4.0 ### Transport http ### Description Related: #38 `works_cursor` never works on either tool. `getJournalWorks` and `getFunderWorks` both build their query string with a hardcoded `sort: 'published', order: 'desc'`, then call `setSubResourcePage(params, opts)`, which appends `cursor` when the caller passes one. Crossref rejects `sort` combined with `cursor` outright, so every cursor cal [Read the thread](https://github.com/cyanheads/crossref-mcp-server/issues/60) · 2026-08-25 · open · 0 comments ### enhancement(get_references): refersplit and valueless-attribute tags survive the markup strip Related: #50 Two brackets `stripReferenceMarkup` does not recognize still reach both result surfaces. Both are well-formed markup by the rule's own shape test, so neither is a case the "an ambiguous angle bracket must not cost the reader content" constraint argues for leaving. ### `` is not on the allow-list A reference-separator element some publishers append to each packed citation string. It is self-closing, carries nothing in an attribute, and has no ordinary-word reading, s [Read the thread](https://github.com/cyanheads/crossref-mcp-server/issues/52) · 2026-08-10 · closed · 2 comments ### bug(text-normalization): only five named HTML entities are decoded; the rest reach both surfaces literally ### Server version 0.3.5 ### mcp-ts-core version 0.11.1 ### Runtime Bun ### Runtime version Bun 1.3.14 ### Transport HTTP ### OS macOS ### Description `decodeHtmlEntities` in `src/services/crossref/crossref-service.ts` decodes five named entities — `&`, `<`, `>`, `"`, `'` — plus numeric and hex references. Every other named entity a publisher deposits reaches both result surfaces as its literal source text. It is the same pass all three normalization functions s [Read the thread](https://github.com/cyanheads/crossref-mcp-server/issues/51) · 2026-08-10 · closed · 2 comments ### enhancement(get_references): the markup allow-list misses span, inf, and the JATS structured-citation vocabulary Related: #49 The element-name allow-list in `normalizeReferenceText` clears inline emphasis, scripts, block boundaries, and MathML, but three element classes it does not name still reach both result surfaces as visible tags. None of them carries content in an attribute, so the constraint #49 established — an ambiguous angle bracket must not cost the reader a URL — does not argue for leaving them. Reproducible against the live API, one `curl` each: ``` curl -s 'https://api.crossref.org/works/1 [Read the thread](https://github.com/cyanheads/crossref-mcp-server/issues/50) · 2026-08-09 · closed · 2 comments ### enhancement(get_references): reference free text carries raw markup; angle brackets are ambiguous there Related: #44 `crossref_get_references` projects `unstructured`, `articleTitle`, `journalTitle`, and `author` through `normalizeText()` — entity decode and whitespace collapse, no markup stripping. A measurable slice of entries therefore reaches both result surfaces carrying raw markup. Two live entries, each one `curl` away: ``` curl -s 'https://api.crossref.org/works/10.3934/dcds.2013.33.2211' | jq -r '.message.reference[0].unstructured' # J. T. Beale, T. Kato and A. Majda, Remarks on th [Read the thread](https://github.com/cyanheads/crossref-mcp-server/issues/49) · 2026-08-09 · closed · 2 comments ### bug(get_member,get_prefix): publisher/member names never get HTML entity decoding ### Server version 0.3.3 ### mcp-ts-core version 0.11.1 ### Runtime Bun ### Runtime version Bun 1.3.14 ### Transport HTTP (Streamable HTTP) ### Description `crossref_get_member`'s `primaryName`/`names` and `crossref_get_prefix`'s `ownerName` project `raw['primary-name']`/`raw.names`/`raw.name` with no post-processing at all — neither file imports `decodeHtmlEntities` or `stripJats` from `crossref-service.ts`. Every other name-bearing surface in the server (work titles, journal titles, [Read the thread](https://github.com/cyanheads/crossref-mcp-server/issues/48) · 2026-08-09 · closed · 2 comments ### bug(search_funders): countryCode output field is never populated ### Server version 0.3.3 ### mcp-ts-core version 0.11.1 ### Runtime Bun ### Runtime version Bun 1.3.14 ### Transport HTTP (Streamable HTTP) ### Description `FunderSchema` in `crossref_search_funders` declares `countryCode` ("ISO country code"), mapped from `f['country-code']`. The Crossref funders API returns no such key on any route — single lookup or name search — so the field is always absent and the mapping is dead. The advertised `outputSchema` therefore promises a machine-reada [Read the thread](https://github.com/cyanheads/crossref-mcp-server/issues/47) · 2026-08-09 · closed · 2 comments ### feat(search_funders): surface replaced-by/replaces so deprecated registry entries are visible The Crossref Funder Registry supersedes entries: a deprecated funder carries `replaced-by` pointing at its current ID, and the current entry carries `replaces`. `crossref_search_funders` reads neither, so a deprecated record resolves like any other — name, country, works count, funded works — with nothing saying it has been superseded. Its work count is a fraction of the successor's, and that fraction is returned as the answer. ## Proposal Project `replaced-by` and `replaces` into the funder o [Read the thread](https://github.com/cyanheads/crossref-mcp-server/issues/46) · 2026-08-09 · closed · 2 comments ### bug(search_journals): include_works is silently dropped when the matched journal has no ISSN ### Server version 0.3.3 ### mcp-ts-core version 0.11.1 ### Runtime Bun ### Runtime version Bun 1.3.14 ### Transport HTTP (Streamable HTTP) ### Description `crossref_search_journals` addresses a journal's works list by ISSN. When the matched record carries neither `ISSN-L` nor an `ISSN` entry, the handler returns the journal list and skips the works call — with no `recentWorks`, no `worksTotal`, and no notice on either surface. The caller asked for works and cannot tell whether the jo [Read the thread](https://github.com/cyanheads/crossref-mcp-server/issues/45) · 2026-08-09 · closed · 2 comments The remaining reports are on [the project's issue tracker](https://github.com/cyanheads/crossref-mcp-server/issues).