Comparison

Kagi Search vs Lacuna Research MCP

Kagi Search is an MCP server published by kagisearch. Marketplaces we read that list it: 1 (Docker MCP Catalog). Lacuna Research MCP is an MCP server published by tiptreesystems. Marketplaces we read that list it: 2 (Official MCP Registry, PyPI (MCP servers)). As of our marketplace pass on 2026-10-26. This pair was picked by a reader, not by our comparison rule, so search engines are asked not to index the page.

Where each is published

Where each is published
Marketplace	Kagi Search	Lacuna Research MCP
Docker MCP Catalog	Listed Version: sha256:c26439346cd6 Forks (GitHub): 49 Pulls (Docker Hub): 20 206 Stars (Docker Hub): 1 Stars (GitHub): 547 Not marked · First seen 2026-10-11	Not listed
Official MCP Registry	Not listed	Listed Version: 0.6.7 Downloads/month (PyPI): 820 Downloads/week (PyPI): 2 766 Forks (GitHub): 1 Stars (GitHub): 8 Not marked · First seen 2026-10-11
PyPI (MCP servers)	Not listed	Listed Version: 0.6.7 Downloads/month (PyPI): 820 Downloads/week (PyPI): 2 766 Forks (GitHub): 1 Stars (GitHub): 8 Not marked · First seen 2026-10-12

Each figure is the marketplace's own and is never added up across marketplaces. A marketplace that publishes no figure shows none: no number is not zero.

The facts side by side

Kagi Search vs Lacuna Research MCP
Fact	Kagi Search	Lacuna Research MCP
Marketplaces that list it (differs)	1 (worse)	2 (better)
Stars (GitHub) (differs)	547 (better)	8 (worse)
Pulls (Docker Hub) (differs)	20 206	No figure on Docker Hub
Forks (GitHub) (differs)	49 (better)	1 (worse)
Last release (differs)	Not published	2026-10-23
Where it runs (differs)	On your machine (mcp/kagisearch)	Remote server or your machine
Transport (differs)	stdio	Streamable HTTP
Tools it declares (differs)	2	Not published
Environment variables it asks for (differs)	2, secrets among them: 1	Not published
Licence	MIT	MIT
Repository (differs)	github.com/kagisearch/kagimcp	github.com/tiptreesystems/lacuna-research-mcp
Changes in the last 7 days (differs)	0	4
First seen	2026-10-11	2026-10-11
Endpoint at the last check (differs)	no remote endpoint we check	Responded 42 h ago

Lines where the two differ have a tinted background and bold values. Where the data itself says which value is better (more marketplaces, a larger figure of the same marketplace, a fresher release, a verified mark on a marketplace that lists both), the better one is also marked green with ▲ and the worse one red with ▼. Where it runs, the transport, the tools, the settings, hooks, the bundle's parts, the licence and the week's changes are marked only as different: more or fewer is not better in itself.

What each says it does

Kagi Search

In its own words, on Docker MCP Catalog:

The Official Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for Kagi Search & other tools.

Lacuna Research MCP

In its own words, on Official MCP Registry:

Search Lacuna's ML research graph for papers, directions, authors, venues, and hypotheses.

How to run each

Kagi Search As a local MCP server: Docker image

Claude Code

claude mcp add --env "KAGI_API_KEY=<YOUR_KAGI_API_KEY>" --transport stdio kagisearch -- docker run -i --rm -e KAGI_API_KEY mcp/kagisearch

Requires: KAGI_API_KEY (secret)

Lacuna Research MCP As a remote MCP server

Claude Code

claude mcp add --transport http lacuna-research-mcp https://lacuna.tiptreesystems.com/api/mcp

Commands built only from what the marketplaces declare; the full set for every client is on each card.

Only Lacuna Research MCP has a remote endpoint we check. How we check endpoints

Tools each declares

Only Kagi Search has

kagi_search_fetch
kagi_summarizer

Only Lacuna Research MCP has

get_author_context
get_author_directions
get_author_neighbors
get_author_papers
get_direction
get_direction_papers
get_hypothesis
get_institution_authors
get_institution_context
get_paper
get_resource
get_venue_context

Show the remaining 1

search_lacuna

Both have

None

Tool names as the marketplaces declare them and as Ext Ops observed them on the endpoints (Lacuna Research MCP as of 2026-10-22). More tools is not better in itself: compare what each needs for the job.

Settings each asks for

The marketplaces of Lacuna Research MCP publish no settings it asks for, so we do not compare settings.

What it can do: Kagi Search · What it can do: Lacuna Research MCP · Compare two other plugins

Data comes from the Docker MCP Catalog (desktop.docker.com/mcp/catalog) and Docker Hub. Data comes from the Official MCP Registry (registry.modelcontextprotocol.io), CC0 1.0. Package data comes from the Python Package Index (pypi.org). Figures come from our own regular passes over the marketplaces, last read on 2026-10-26. We publish no contact details for plugin publishers.