MCP Protocol

Connect AI agents to ScienceToStartup using the Model Context Protocol. The remote MCP server exposes paper search, Signal Canvas, proof retrieval, and workspace actions as agent-native tools.

Overview

The Model Context Protocol (MCP) is a JSON-RPC 2.0 transport that lets AI agents discover and invoke tools at runtime. Instead of hard-coding REST endpoints, agents send structured JSON-RPC requests and receive typed responses.

Use MCP when you want agents to dynamically discover capabilities, when building with Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, or other MCP-compatible clients, or when you prefer tool-oriented access over explicit HTTP contracts.

When to use MCP vs REST

Choose MCP for agent-native workflows where tools are discovered at runtime. Choose REST when you want explicit HTTP contracts and predictable request/response behavior.

Endpoint

All MCP communication goes through a single HTTP endpoint using Streamable HTTP transport. Send JSON-RPC requests as POST bodies.

POST https://sciencetostartup.com/api/mcp

Header	Value
`Content-Type`	application/json
`Accept`	application/json, text/event-stream
`Authorization`	Bearer s2s_YOUR_KEY

Initialize

Every MCP session starts with an initialize request. This establishes the protocol version and declares client capabilities.

curl -X POST "https://sciencetostartup.com/api/mcp" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Accept: application/json, text/event-stream" \
  -d '{
    "jsonrpc": "2.0",
    "id": 1,
    "method": "initialize",
    "params": {
      "protocolVersion": "2025-03-26",
      "clientInfo": {
        "name": "my-agent",
        "version": "1.0.0"
      },
      "capabilities": {}
    }
  }'

Protocol version

The server supports protocol version 2025-03-26. The response includes the server's capabilities and version information.

List Tools

After initialization, call tools/list to discover all available tools and their input schemas. Agents can use these schemas to validate arguments before calling.

curl -X POST "https://sciencetostartup.com/api/mcp" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Accept: application/json, text/event-stream" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer s2s_YOUR_KEY" \
  -d '{
    "jsonrpc": "2.0",
    "id": 2,
    "method": "tools/list",
    "params": {}
  }'

Call a Tool

Invoke any tool by sending a tools/call request with the tool name and arguments. Here is an example calling search_papers.

curl -X POST "https://sciencetostartup.com/api/mcp" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Accept: application/json, text/event-stream" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer s2s_YOUR_KEY" \
  -d '{
    "jsonrpc": "2.0",
    "id": 3,
    "method": "tools/call",
    "params": {
      "name": "search_papers",
      "arguments": {
        "query": "voice agents",
        "limit": 5
      }
    }
  }'

JSON-RPC IDs

Each request needs a unique id field. Use an incrementing integer or UUID to correlate requests with responses.

Available Tools

The MCP server exposes the following tools. Use tools/list for the full schema with argument types.

Tool	Category	Description
`search_papers`	Discovery	Search indexed papers by query
`get_paper`	Discovery	Retrieve full metadata for a paper
`get_signal_canvas`	Signal Canvas	Get commercial signal analysis for a paper
`get_proof_receipt`	Proof	Retrieve a proof or buildability receipt
`get_repro_requirements`	Buildability	Get reproduction requirements for a receipt
`submit_build_attempt`	Buildability	Submit a build attempt with telemetry
`workspace_list`	Workspace	List workspaces for the authenticated user
`workspace_add_paper`	Workspace	Add a paper to a workspace collection

Buildability Tools

Buildability tools let agents retrieve reproduction requirements and submit build attempts. These tools are part of the Buildability Wave 1 launch subset.

get_repro_requirements

Returns the reproduction requirements for a given receipt, including dependencies, hardware needs, and verification steps.

curl -X POST "https://sciencetostartup.com/api/mcp" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Accept: application/json, text/event-stream" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer s2s_YOUR_KEY" \
  -d '{
    "jsonrpc": "2.0",
    "id": 4,
    "method": "tools/call",
    "params": {
      "name": "get_repro_requirements",
      "arguments": {
        "receipt_id": "fixture_wave1_no_fake_calibration"
      }
    }
  }'

submit_build_attempt

Submit a build attempt with status, description, and optional links to your repository and CI run.

curl -X POST "https://sciencetostartup.com/api/mcp" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Accept: application/json, text/event-stream" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer s2s_YOUR_KEY" \
  -d '{
    "jsonrpc": "2.0",
    "id": 5,
    "method": "tools/call",
    "params": {
      "name": "submit_build_attempt",
      "arguments": {
        "paper_ref": "2604.18478v1",
        "status": "succeeded",
        "description": "Built from source and ran smoke test.",
        "repository_url": "https://github.com/acme/worlddb",
        "external_run_url": "https://ci.acme.dev/runs/123",
        "idempotency_key": "build-attempt-2026-04-25-worlddb"
      }
    }
  }'

Authenticated and rate-limited

submit_build_attempt requires authentication, caps descriptions at 2KB, and redacts logs. Gate status remains pending until persisted thresholds are met.

Error Handling

MCP errors follow the JSON-RPC 2.0 error format. The response includes an error code, message, and optional data field with additional context.

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 3,
  "error": {
    "code": -32602,
    "message": "Invalid params: 'query' is required",
    "data": {
      "tool": "search_papers",
      "missing": ["query"]
    }
  }
}

Code	Meaning	Description
`-32700`	Parse error	Invalid JSON in request body
`-32600`	Invalid request	Missing required JSON-RPC fields
`-32601`	Method not found	Unknown method name
`-32602`	Invalid params	Missing or invalid arguments
`-32603`	Internal error	Unexpected server error

Retry strategy

Only retry on -32603 (internal error). Client-side errors like invalid params or parse errors will not resolve on retry.