paperlantern
Research intelligence that makes your AI coding agent smarter - one command setup.
Paper Lantern gives your AI coding agent access to 2M+ CS research papers - the right technique for your problem, with tradeoffs, benchmarks, and implementation guidance.
Quick start
npx paperlantern@latest
That's it. Pick your agents, log in, and Paper Lantern is configured.
Supported agents
- Claude Code
- Cursor
- Windsurf
- GitHub Copilot (VS Code)
- Codex
- Gemini CLI
- Cline
Prefer to set up manually, or using a client not listed above? See paperlantern.ai/docs for per-agent config snippets and the raw MCP endpoint.
What it does
The setup CLI:
- Authenticates via OAuth (opens browser)
- Configures the MCP server for your selected agents
- Installs agent rules so your agent knows when to use Paper Lantern
Tools available
Once configured, your agent gets these tools:
| Tool | What it does |
|---|---|
explore_approaches | Survey 4-6 approach families with evidence and tradeoffs |
deep_dive | Investigate one technique in depth - implementation, hyperparameters, failure modes |
compare_approaches | Side-by-side comparison of 2-3 candidates |
check_feasibility | GO / PROTOTYPE / RECONSIDER verdict given your constraints |
give_feedback | Tell us what helped and what didn't |
When your agent uses Paper Lantern
Paper Lantern activates when your agent is making technical decisions where research evidence could improve the outcome - choosing between algorithms, architectures, or techniques.
It does not activate for syntax questions, library lookups, debugging, or general programming tasks.