OpenAlex Skill

Prerequisites

uv
: Read the
```
uv
```
skill and follow its Setup instructions to ensure
```
uv
```
is installed and on PATH.
User Notification: If LICENSE_NOTIFICATION.txt does not already exist in this skill directory then (1) prominently notify the user to check the terms at https://developers.openalex.org/ and to always check the license of the papers retrieved by the skill for any restrictions, then (2) create the file recording the notification text and timestamp.
.env
file: Make sure the
```
.env
```
file exists in your home directory. Create one if it does not exist.
OPENALEX_API_KEY
(optional but recommended): Enables the OpenAlex Premium API with higher rate limits. The skill works without it (using the free "polite pool"). If the variable is missing from
```
.env
```
, do NOT ask the user to paste it into the chat (this would leak the key into the agent's context). Instead, give the user this command — substituting
ENV_FILE
with the resolved literal path to the
.env
file:
bash
```
printf "Enter OpenAlex API key (typing hidden): " && read -s key && echo && echo "OPENALEX_API_KEY=$key" >> "ENV_FILE" && echo "Saved."
```
The scripts load credentials automatically via
```
dotenv
```
. NEVER read, print, or inspect the
```
.env
```
file or its variables (e.g. no
```
cat
```
,
```
grep
```
,
```
echo
```
,
```
printenv
```
, or
```
os.environ.get
```
on keys). Credentials must stay out of the agent's context. See the Rate Limits section for more details.

Core Rules

List Sources. If this skill is used, ensure this is mentioned in the output AND list the URLs of all papers that were used in producing the output.
Resolve before filter. NEVER filter by name. Always
```
resolve
```
a name to an ID first, then use that ID in
```
--filter
```
.
Use the CLI only. Never call the API via
```
curl
```
/
```
urllib
```
. The CLI handles retries and rate limiting.
No fabrication. Never invent OpenAlex IDs or DOIs. Use
```
resolve
```
/
```
get
```
to look them up. Report empty results accurately.
API key. If a command returns 401/429 or you need high-volume queries, follow the prerequisite instructions above to help the user add
```
OPENALEX_API_KEY
```
to the
```
.env
```
file. Keys are at OpenAlex.org → account settings.
Keep output small. Always use
```
--select
```
and
```
--per-page 5–10
```
for overview queries. Pipe
```
filter
```
output to a file (
```
> results.json
```
), then slim with
```
jq
```
before reading into context.

Rate Limits

With key: ~10 req/s, $1/day free budget.
Without key: Very limited, $0.01/day budget.

Operation	Cost
Singleton `get`	Free
`filter`	$0.0001
`--search` / `resolve`	$0.001
`download-pdf`	$0.01

CLI Reference

uv run scripts/openalex_cli.py [--api-key KEY] <command> [flags]

Entity types (shared across commands):

works

authors

sources

institutions

topics

domains

fields

subfields

sdgs

countries

continents

languages

keywords

publishers

funders

work-types

source-types

institution-types

licenses

Commands

resolve

<entity> <query>

— Name → ID candidates. Returns

id

display_name

hint

. Use

--per-page N

for more candidates.

get

<entity> <id>

— Full metadata for one entity. Accepts short ID (

W2741809807

), full URL, or DOI URL. Use

--select

to limit fields.

filter

<entity>

— Search/filter entities. Key flags are:

```
--search <query>
```
: Full-text search (10× cost of
```
--filter
```
)
```
--filter <expr>
```
: Filter expressions. Use
```
,
```
for AND and
```
|
```
for OR.
```
--sort <field:dir>
```
: Sort results (e.g.,
```
cited_by_count:desc
```
)
```
--select <fields>
```
: Limit the fields returned in the output.
```
--group-by <field>
```
: Aggregate results by a specific field.
```
--per-page <N>
```
: Number of results per page (default 25, max 100).
```
--page <N>
```
: Specify the page number to retrieve.
```
--sample <N>
```
: Get a random sample of up to 10,000 results.
```
--seed <N>
```
: Seed for reproducible sampling.

download-pdf

<work-id> <output-path>

— Download PDF (requires API key). Falls back to alternative

pdf_url

locations if primary fails. Whenever you download a PDF, verify it is not empty or corrupted.

rate-limit — Check current rate limit status (requires API key).

Search Tips

If
```
resolve
```
returns no matches, try alternate spellings or abbreviations.
If
```
--search
```
returns 0 results, try broader terms (max 3 retries).
If
```
resolve
```
returns multiple candidates, present them to the user with
```
display_name
```
and
```
hint
```
for manual selection.

Entity References

Consult

references/

for valid filter, sort, and group-by fields per entity:

Works — Authors — Sources
Institutions — Topics — Taxonomy
Geo & Language — Publishers & Funders
Type Values

Common Workflows

bash

# Author's works (resolve → filter)
uv run scripts/openalex_cli.py resolve authors "Geoffrey Hinton"
uv run scripts/openalex_cli.py filter works \
  --filter "authorships.author.id:A5108093963" \
  --sort "cited_by_count:desc" --per-page 10 > papers.json
cat papers.json | jq '[.results[] | {id, title: .display_name, year: .publication_year, citations: .cited_by_count}]'

# DOI lookup
uv run scripts/openalex_cli.py get works "https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-03819-2"

# Bulk DOI lookup (up to 100)
uv run scripts/openalex_cli.py filter works \
  --filter "doi:10.1234/a|10.1234/b|10.1234/c" --per-page 100 > results.json

# Institutional impact by year
uv run scripts/openalex_cli.py resolve institutions "MIT"
uv run scripts/openalex_cli.py filter works \
  --filter "authorships.institutions.id:I63966007" \
  --group-by "publication_year" > mit_by_year.json

# Random sample
uv run scripts/openalex_cli.py filter works \
  --filter "publication_year:2023,is_oa:true" \
  --sample 100 --seed 42 > results.json

Error Handling

Code	Meaning	Action
401	Unauthorized	Help user add API key to `.env` (see prereqs)
403	Plan upgrade needed	Inform user; see https://openalex.org/pricing
404	Not found	Verify ID; try `resolve` first
429	Rate limited	Wait and retry; suggest adding API key to `.env`

Known premium-only filters:

from_updated_date

to_updated_date

Never fabricate results on empty responses — report accurately and suggest alternate search terms.

literature-search-openalex

NPX Install

Tags

SKILL.md Content