AI4Scholar

Multi-source academic literature search, management, and analysis plugin for OpenClaw.

Powered by ai4scholar.net.

What It Does

AI4Scholar gives your OpenClaw agent direct access to 6 academic platforms through 35 built-in tools.

Platforms

Tools (35)

Search (9)

Paper Details & Batch (4)

Citations & References (4)

Authors (5)

Recommendations (2)

PDF Links & Full-Text Reading (9)

Auto-Citation (1)

Scientific Drawing (1)

Slash Commands

Requirements

Version 0.6.11 targets OpenClaw 2026.9.6 or later and its Plugin SDK. Use a Node.js version supported by that host (Node 24.16+ within 24.x, or Node 26.1+).

Install

Install an explicitly selected registry source:

# ClawHub plugin catalog
openclaw plugins install clawhub:ai4scholar

# Or npm (acknowledge this non-ClawHub source after reviewing it)
openclaw plugins install npm:ai4scholar --force

Updates use the install's recorded source:

openclaw plugins update ai4scholar
openclaw plugins inspect ai4scholar --runtime --json

The runtime inspection should report 35 tools without registration errors. On hosts that request a restart, run openclaw gateway restart.

Version 0.6.11 removes download_by_doi: publisher URL guessing was unreliable, and the tool returned a URL rather than a saved PDF attachment. Remove references to this tool from custom prompts, tool allowlists, and workflows when upgrading. read_by_doi remains available for full-text extraction and still depends on publisher access; it does not send PDF attachments.

Configuration

Place AI4SCHOLAR_API_KEY=your-key in the Gateway user's private ~/.openclaw/.env file (permissions 600). Reference it in openclaw.json:

{
  "plugins": {
    "entries": {
      "ai4scholar": {
        "enabled": true,
        "config": {
          "apiKey": "${AI4SCHOLAR_API_KEY}"
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Get your API key at ai4scholar.net. Restart the Gateway after changing its environment file. Keys are runtime configuration; never place real keys in the plugin source or release archive.

Tools are available without conversation-hook access. To opt into the optional static Scholar Mode guidance, add "hooks": { "allowConversationAccess": true } to this plugin's entry, alongside enabled and config. The hook is registered only when that permission is granted, hooks.allowPromptInjection is not false, and config.scholarMode is not false. It adds academic tool guidance to the system context without replacing the system prompt.

The legacy config.autoUpdate field is accepted for compatibility but ignored. AI4Scholar does not install updates itself; use OpenClaw's plugin update command. Library slash commands require an authorized sender.

Search, citation, and drawing requests using the AI4Scholar service send the relevant query or content to ai4scholar.net; the API key is sent in the authorization header. Direct preprint tools use their respective public APIs. PDF-reading tools fetch the requested paper and extract its text locally. Review the service's policies before sending unpublished material.

Development

pnpm install --frozen-lockfile
pnpm check
npm pack --dry-run

The build bundles tool dependencies and leaves the OpenClaw SDK external. Tests load the built entry with the actual SDK and cover tool declarations, operator hook permissions, API request/results, authentication errors, and credential removal on reload.

Usage

Just talk to your OpenClaw agent:

Search for recent papers on CRISPR in cancer immunotherapy

Read the full text of arXiv:2401.12345 and summarize the Methods section

Add citations to this Introduction paragraph: <paste text>

Give me a literature survey on protein folding methods since 2020

For detailed usage, visit ai4scholar.net.

Project Structure

ai4scholar/
├── src/
│   ├── tools/
│   │   ├── api-client.ts        # HTTP client for ai4scholar.net
│   │   ├── semantic-scholar.ts  # 17 Semantic Scholar tools
│   │   ├── pubmed.ts            # 5 PubMed tools
│   │   ├── google-scholar.ts    # Google Scholar search
│   │   ├── arxiv.ts             # 3 arXiv tools
│   │   ├── biorxiv.ts           # 6 bioRxiv/medRxiv tools
│   │   ├── doi-download.ts      # DOI-based full-text reader and PDF resolver
│   │   ├── auto-cite.ts         # Auto-citation via ai4scholar API
│   │   ├── sci-draw.ts          # Scientific figure generation
│   │   ├── pdf-utils.ts         # PDF download & text extraction
│   │   ├── result.ts            # Tool result helpers
│   │   └── params.ts            # Parameter parsing
│   ├── hooks/
│   │   └── scholar-mode.ts      # Scholar mode system prompt
│   └── commands.ts              # Slash commands
├── openclaw.plugin.json
└── index.ts

License

MIT