paperdebugger
A Plugin-Based Multi-Agent System for In-Editor Academic Writing, Review, and Editing
Install / Use
claude mcp add PaperDebugger -- npx -y github:PaperDebugger/paperdebuggerIf the server publishes to npm under a different name, use that package instead — check the repo README.
MCP Server
Model Context Protocol server
Quality Score
Category
AI & Machine LearningSupported Platforms
Our assessment of paperdebugger
paperdebugger scores 81/100 on our quality scale, 736th of 963 AI & Machine Learning skills we index.
Its MCP Server is 6.1 KB long, well organised into 10 sections with 1 code example: a thorough specification that gives an agent plenty to work with.
With 1,554 GitHub stars, it is one of the more widely adopted skills in the catalogue.
Maintenance, license and trust
- The repository was last updated about 4 months ago. That is recent enough to be usable, but agent tooling moves fast, so check the instructions against your agent's current version.
- Our last check on 2026-10-21 found the source still online.
- It is released under AGPL-3.0, a copyleft license: you can use it, but modified versions you distribute must carry the same license.
- Its trust signals score 93/100, with 1 caution from licensing, adoption, age or documentation. These come from repository metadata, not a code audit — read the skill file before letting an agent act on it.
Safety scan
No issues foundOur scan of the whole file found no instruction hijacking, hidden characters, credential access, data exfiltration or destructive commands. An AI review of the same text found nothing harmful.
AI review by kimi-k2.7-code on 2026-09-24. Automated pattern scan on 2026-09-24. It catches known dangerous patterns, not every risk — read a skill before letting an agent act on it.
paperdebugger compared with similar skills
All 4 of these similar skills score higher than paperdebugger; compare them before choosing.
| Skill | Score | Stars | Updated | Format |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| paperdebugger (this skill)by PaperDebugger | 81 | 1.6k | 4mo ago | MCP Server |
| claude-memby thedotmack | 100 | 113.6k | today | CLAUDE.md |
| Agent-Reachby Panniantong | 100 | 109.3k | today | CLAUDE.md |
| Understand-Anythingby Egonex-AI | 100 | 91.0k | 11d ago | CLAUDE.md |
| headroomby headroomlabs-ai | 100 | 79.0k | today | CLAUDE.md |
Frequently asked questions
- How do I install paperdebugger?
- Run
claude mcp add PaperDebugger -- npx -y github:PaperDebugger/paperdebugger. The install tabs above show the steps for each supported agent. - Which AI agents does paperdebugger work with?
- It is written for Claude Code, Claude Desktop and GitHub Copilot, as a MCP Server file. Other agents that read the same format can often use it too.
- Is paperdebugger safe to use?
- Our scan of the whole file found no instruction hijacking, hidden characters, credential access, data exfiltration or destructive commands. An AI review of the same text found nothing harmful. It is AGPL-3.0-licensed and scores 93/100 on trust signals. Skills are instructions an agent will follow, so read the file before installing it and do not approve commands you do not understand.
- Is paperdebugger still maintained?
- The repository was last updated about 4 months ago. That is recent enough to be usable, but agent tooling moves fast, so check the instructions against your agent's current version.
Skill content
View source on GitHub<a href="https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/paperdebugger/dfkedikhakpapbfcnbpmfhpklndgiaog" target="_blank"><img src="docs/imgs/branding.png" alt="PaperDebugger"/></a>
<div align="center"> <a href="https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/paperdebugger/dfkedikhakpapbfcnbpmfhpklndgiaog" target="_blank"><img src="https://img.shields.io/chrome-web-store/users/dfkedikhakpapbfcnbpmfhpklndgiaog?label=Users" alt="Chrome Web Store Users"/></a> <a href="https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/paperdebugger/dfkedikhakpapbfcnbpmfhpklndgiaog" target="_blank"><img src="https://img.shields.io/chrome-web-store/v/dfkedikhakpapbfcnbpmfhpklndgiaog?label=Chrome%20Web%20Store&logo=google-chrome&logoColor=white" alt="Chrome Web Store Version"/></a> <a href="https://github.com/PaperDebugger/paperdebugger/releases" target="_blank"><img src="https://img.shields.io/github/v/release/PaperDebugger/paperdebugger?label=Latest%20Release" alt="GitHub Release"/></a> <a href="https://github.com/PaperDebugger/paperdebugger/actions/workflows/build-backend-prd.yml" target="_blank"><img src="https://img.shields.io/github/actions/workflow/status/PaperDebugger/paperdebugger/build-backend-prd.yml?branch=main" alt="Build Status"/></a> <a href="https://github.com/PaperDebugger/PaperDebugger?tab=AGPL-3.0-1-ov-file"><img src="https://img.shields.io/github/license/PaperDebugger/paperdebugger" alt="License"/></a> </div>PaperDebugger is an AI-powered academic writing assistant that helps researchers debug and improve their research papers with intelligent suggestions and seamless Overleaf integration, without leaving the editor. It is powered by our custom MCP-based orchestration engine that simulates the full academic workflow Research → Critique → Revision. <br> This enables multi-step reasoning, reviewer-style critique, and structured revision passes beyond standard chat-based assistance.
<div align="center"> <a href="https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/paperdebugger/dfkedikhakpapbfcnbpmfhpklndgiaog" target="_blank"><strong>🚀 Install from Chrome Web Store</strong></a> </div> <div align="center"> <img src="docs/imgs/preview2.png" width="47%" style="margin: 0 1.5%;"/> <img src="docs/imgs/preview3.png" width="44.6%" style="margin: 0 1.5%;"/> <img src="docs/imgs/preview1.png" width="96%" style="margin: 0 1.5%; border-radius: 0.5rem;"/> </div>Community
Our team is actively working to improve long-term reliability, hoping to iron out issues this month. Thank you for your patience. <br> Stay connected with the PaperDebugger community! Join our Discord or WeChat channels for updates, announcements, and support.
<div align="center"> <img src="docs/imgs/discord.png" width="40%" style="margin: 0 3%; border-radius: 16px; box-shadow: 0 4px 12px rgba(0,0,0,0.15);"/> <img src="docs/imgs/wechat.jpg" width="40%" style="margin: 0 3%; border-radius: 16px; box-shadow: 0 4px 12px rgba(0,0,0,0.15);"/> </div>Table of Contents
Features
PaperDebugger never modifies your project, it only reads and provides suggestions.
- 🤖 AI-Powered Chat: Intelligent conversations about your Overleaf project
- ⚡ Instant Insert: One-click insertion of AI responses into your project
- 💬 Comment System: Automatically generate and insert comments into your project
- 📚 Prompt Library: Custom prompt templates for different use cases
- 🔒 Privacy First: Your content stays secure - we only read, never modify
- 🧠 Multi-Agent Orchestration – XtraMCP support for literature-grounded research, AI-Conference review, citation verification, and domain-specific revision
https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/6c20924d-1eb6-44d5-95b0-207bd08b718b
Quick Start
For Users
-
Install the extension fron Chrome Web Store
-
Ready to use
- Open any Overleaf project
- Click the PaperDebugger icon on the top-left
- Begin chatting with your LaTeX document!
Custom Endpoint Configuration
If you want to use a self-hosted PaperDebugger backend, you can configure a custom endpoint. Here are the steps:
-
Open the PaperDebugger extension
(a.) Go to Settings, click the version number 5 times to enable "Developer Tools"
(b.) Enter your backend URL in the "Backend Endpoint" field
-
Refresh the page
Note: you can only use "Login by Overleaf" if you are self-hosting the backend.
If you encounter endpoint errors after refresh, use the "Advanced Options" at the bottom of the login page to reconfigure.
<div align="center"> <img src="docs/imgs/custom endpoint.png" alt="Custom Endpoint Configuration" style="max-width: 600px; border-radius: 10px; box-shadow: 0 4px 12px rgba(0,0,0,0.15);"/> </div>Architecture Overview
The PaperDebugger backend is built with modern technologies:
<div align="center"> <img src="docs/imgs/stacks.png" alt="Stacks" style="max-height: 200px; border-radius: 16px;" /> </div>- Language: Go 1.24+
- Framework: Gin (HTTP) + gRPC (API)
- Database: MongoDB
- AI Integration: OpenAI API
- Architecture: Microservices with Protocol Buffers
- Authentication: JWT-based with OAuth support
Self-Host Development Setup
Please refer to DEVELOPMENT.md.
Contributing
Please refer to CONTRIBUTING.md for branch structure, merge workflow, PR guidelines, and code quality requirements.
Citation
@misc{hou2025paperdebugger,
title={PaperDebugger: A Plugin-Based Multi-Agent System for In-Editor Academic Writing, Review, and Editing},
author={Junyi Hou and Andre Lin Huikai and Nuo Chen and Yiwei Gong and Bingsheng He},
year={2025},
eprint={2512.02589},
archivePrefix={arXiv},
primaryClass={cs.AI},
url={https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.02589},
}
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Languages
Trust signals
From repository metadata: license, adoption, age and documentation. Not a code audit — see the Safety scan above for what the skill file itself contains.
