recursive-research vs Lune Research
recursive-research is a plugin bundle for AI coding tools published by Anjos2. Marketplaces we read that list it: 1 (Claude Code: claude-plugins-community). Lune Research is an MCP server published by luneresearch.com. Marketplaces we read that list it: 1 (Official MCP Registry). As of our marketplace pass on 2026-10-23. 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
| Marketplace |  recursive-research |  Lune Research |
|---|---|---|
| Claude Code: claude-plugins-community | Listed Version: 15ed326 Forks (GitHub): 4 Stars (GitHub): 51 Not marked · First seen |
Not listed |
| Official MCP Registry | Not listed | Listed Version: 2.2.0 Downloads/month (npm): 343 Downloads/week (npm): 66 Forks (GitHub): 1 Stars (GitHub): 4 Not marked · First seen |
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
| Fact | recursive-research | Lune Research |
|---|---|---|
| Marketplaces that list it | 1 | 1 |
| Stars (GitHub) (differs) | 51 (better) | 4 (worse) |
| Forks (GitHub) (differs) | 4 (better) | 1 (worse) |
| Last release | Not published | Not published |
| Where it runs (differs) | Installs as a plugin bundle | Remote server (mcp.luneresearch.com) |
| Transport (differs) | Not stated | Streamable HTTP |
| Tools it declares | Not published | Not published |
| Environment variables it asks for (differs) | Not published | 1, secrets among them: 1 |
| Licence | Not stated | Not stated |
| Repository (differs) | github.com/anjos2/recursive-research | github.com/retrogradelabs/lune-mcp-server |
| Changes in the last 7 days | 0 | 0 |
| First seen | 2026-10-11 | 2026-10-11 |
| Endpoint at the last check (differs) | no remote endpoint we check | Responded 2 days 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
recursive-research
Recursive research up to PhD level across any domain (science, tech, business, arts, humanities). Source tiering (Tier 1/2/3/rejected), WDM + Munger inversion for autonomous decisions, and disk checkpointing to survive context compaction. Works with web sources, local files, or mixed mode — interactive setup asks for seed, priority/excluded sources, and cycle cap before starting.
Lune Research
Search peer-reviewed papers and research methodology guidance from your AI agent.
How to run each
recursive-research As a Claude Code plugin
/plugin marketplace add anthropics/claude-plugins-community
/plugin install recursive-research@claude-communityLune Research As a remote MCP server
claude mcp add --transport http lune https://mcp.luneresearch.com --header "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_API_KEY>"Requires: LUNE_API_KEY (secret), Authorization header
Commands built only from what the marketplaces declare; the full set for every client is on each card.
Only Lune Research has a remote endpoint we check. How we check endpoints
Tools each declares
Neither one's marketplaces publish a list of tools, so there is nothing to compare.
Settings each asks for
The marketplaces of recursive-research publish no settings it asks for, so we do not compare settings.
What it can do: recursive-research · What it can do: Lune Research · Compare two other plugins
Data comes from the public marketplace file https://github.com/anthropics/claude-plugins-community/blob/HEAD/.claude-plugin/marketplace.json. Data comes from the Official MCP Registry (registry.modelcontextprotocol.io), CC0 1.0. Figures come from our own regular passes over the marketplaces, last read on . We publish no contact details for plugin publishers.