Grades are a hygiene check, not a security guarantee.

MCP, MCP server

Scholar Feed

Search 600,000+ CS/AI/ML papers with LLM novelty analysis, citation graph, full-text extraction, and BibTeX, without leaving Claude Code.

Compatibility: Not stated.

Grade C

One Medium finding. Read the findings before installing.

Graded by PlugVetRubric v2

Not a guarantee. A hygiene check of the source at the commit shown, not a security audit.

Rescanned at commit a0d5ef686e31, unchanged since the check below.

OBFUSCATION_ENCODED_BLOB

Why this grade

  • OBFUSCATION_ENCODED_BLOB Medium

    Contains a long base64 shaped string in a file that should be readable.

    package-lock.json, line 1 {

Any High, or two or more Medium findings, give D. One Medium gives C. Low findings or a security Note give B. Each code names a finding behind the letter.

Grades are a hygiene check of the source at the commit shown, on the date checked, not a security audit or a guarantee. The free directory grades are automated. Before release, a PlugVet engineer reviews every paid report and any grade we hold back, including all F grades, against the source code and the evidence we quote.

What was checked

Plain notes from the hygiene checks.

  • Permissions

    Pass

    No shell or command execution found, and no extra permission was declared.

  • Install and update

    Pass

    No install-time script found, and dependencies are pinned or absent.

  • Network

    Concern

    can reach a host that is not written as a fixed address.

    NETWORK_NO_FIXED_HOST

    scripts/schema-sync.mjs, line 75

    const res = await fetch(`${BASE}${path}`, { headers });

    scripts/smoke-ask.sh, line 28

    curl -s "${AUTH[@]}" "$BASE/library?limit=5" | pp

    scripts/smoke-ask.sh, line 34

    RESP="$(curl -s "${AUTH[@]}" "${ARGS[@]}")"

    Show more

    scripts/smoke-verbs.sh, line 17

    curl -s "${AUTH[@]}" "$BASE/watches" | python3 -c 'import sys,json

    scripts/smoke-verbs.sh, line 24

    curl -s "${AUTH[@]}" "$BASE/watches/hits?limit=10" | python3 -c 'import sys,json

    scripts/smoke-verbs.sh, line 31

    curl -s "${AUTH[@]}" --get "$BASE/gaps" --data-urlencode "topic=$GAPS_TOPIC" --data-urlencode "scope=both" --data-urlencode "limit=5" | python3 -c 'import sys,json

    src/client.ts, line 535

    * fetch() wrapper that enforces a request timeout via AbortSignal.timeout.

    src/client.ts, line 545

    return await fetch(url, {

  • Secrets

    Concern

    reads a credential or environment file.

    SECRETS_ENV_READ SECRETS_PATH_DOTENV

    scripts/schema-sync.mjs, line 38

    const KEY = process.env.SF_API_KEY;

    scripts/smoke-ask.sh, line 4

    # real backend. Reads your key from .env.smoke (gitignored) or the SF_API_KEY

    scripts/smoke-ask.sh, line 7

    # 1. Put your key in .env.smoke (SF_API_KEY=sf_...)

    Show more

    scripts/smoke-ask.sh, line 16

    if [ -f "$HERE/.env.smoke" ]; then set -a; . "$HERE/.env.smoke"; set +a; fi

    scripts/smoke-ask.sh, line 17

    : "${SF_API_KEY:?Set SF_API_KEY in .env.smoke (or export it) - get one at scholarfeed.org/settings}"

    scripts/smoke-verbs.sh, line 4

    # Reads SF_API_KEY from .env.smoke (gitignored) or the env. NEVER prints the key.

    scripts/smoke-verbs.sh, line 10

    if [ -f "$HERE/.env.smoke" ]; then set -a; . "$HERE/.env.smoke"; set +a; fi

    scripts/smoke-verbs.sh, line 11

    : "${SF_API_KEY:?Set SF_API_KEY in .env.smoke (or export it)}"

    src/client.ts, line 51

    return process.env.SF_API_KEY ?? null;

    src/client.ts, line 99

    const secret = process.env.SF_PROXY_SECRET;

    src/index.ts, line 47

    if (!process.env.SF_API_KEY) {

    src/init.ts, line 208

    * `[mcp_servers.<name>.env]` sub-table instead, but both are the same construct in

    src/server-http.ts, line 396

    if (process.env.SF_API_KEY) {

    src/server.ts, line 45

    if (process.env.SF_API_KEY) {

    src/http/oauth/minted-key-resolver.ts, line 99

    opts.provisionSecret ?? process.env.SF_MCP_PROVISION_SECRET ?? "";

    src/http/oauth/minted-key-resolver.ts, line 106

    const ttlEnv = Number(process.env.SF_MCP_KEY_CACHE_TTL_MS);

  • Agent instructions

    Pass

    No instruction to ignore earlier instructions or to hide a step.

  • Obfuscation

    Concern

    contains an encoded blob in a file that should be readable.

    OBFUSCATION_ENCODED_BLOB

    package-lock.json, line 1

    {

    src/favicon-asset.ts, line 14

    "iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAGQEAIAAABfTX3YAAAAIGNIUk0AAHomAACAhAAA+gAAAIDoAAB1MAAA6mAAADqYAAAXcJy6UTwAAAAGYktHRP///////wlY99wAAAAHdElNRQfqBgQEIjGKTB51AAAaFklEQVR42u3dabRlZXkn8Gf

  • Licence

    Pass

    A licence file is present (LICENSE).

  • Maintainer activity

    Pass

    The latest commit is within the last 365 days.

Note

Hygiene check of commit a0d5ef686e31. can reach a host that is not written as a fixed address. reads a credential or environment file. contains an encoded blob in a file that should be readable.

Date and source

Date checked:

View source

github.com

Commit graded: a0d5ef686e31eb87a874c9e65a74bf4ab77fe3fc

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Read how this letter is chosen