biorxiv-database
Query bioRxiv/medRxiv preprints via REST API. Search by DOI, category, or date range; retrieve metadata (title, abstract, authors, category, DOI, version history) and PDFs. No auth. For peer-reviewed biomedical use pubmed-database; broader scholarly search use openalex-database.
npx skills add BioTender-max/awesome-bio-agent-skills --skill biorxiv-database --agent claude-code
Same command for any agent — swap --agent for codex, cursor, copilot.
Weekly change comes from our own snapshots, not the repository page — it measures attention, not adoption.
# bioRxiv / medRxiv Preprint Database ## Overview bioRxiv (biology) and medRxiv (health sciences) are free preprint servers hosting 200,000+ and 50,000+ manuscripts, respectively, before or alongside peer review. The unified REST API provides programmatic access to preprint metadata (title, abstract, authors, category, DOI, version history) without authentication. Preprints are available as PDF and can be retrieved by DOI, date range, or category. ## When to Use - Finding the most current research in fast-moving fields before peer review (e.g., infectious disease during outbreaks) - Monitoring weekly preprint submissions in a specific discipline category (e.g., bioinformatics, genomics, neuroscience) - Retrieving metadata and abstracts for a set of bioRxiv DOIs for literature screening - Building a corpus of preprints to track the preprint-to-publication pipeline - Checking whether a specific preprint has been updated or published in a peer-reviewed journal - For peer-reviewed biomedical literature use `pubmed-database`; for all disciplines use `openalex-database` ## Prerequisites - **Python packages**: `requests`, `pandas` - **Data requirements**: bioRxiv/medRxiv DOIs, date ranges
- Overview
- When to Use
- Prerequisites
- Quick Start
- Core API
- Query 1: Date-Range Preprint Listing
- Query 2: Preprint Detail by DOI
- Query 3: Published Preprint Lookup
- Query 4: Category-Based Monitoring
- Query 5: medRxiv Clinical/Health Research
- Query 6: Bulk DOI Resolution and Abstract Extraction
- Key Concepts
- API Endpoint Structure
- Version Tracking
pip install requests pandas
What does the biorxiv-database skill do?
Query bioRxiv/medRxiv preprints via REST API. Search by DOI, category, or date range; retrieve metadata (title, abstract, authors, category, DOI, version history) and PDFs. No auth. For peer-reviewed biomedical use pubmed-database; broader scholarly search use openalex-database.
How do I install it?
Run `npx skills add BioTender-max/awesome-bio-agent-skills --skill biorxiv-database --agent claude-code` — it drops the skill into your project so the agent can pick it up. Swap the --agent value for codex, cursor or copilot if you use one of those.
Where does this skill come from?
From BioTender-max/awesome-bio-agent-skills, a repository with 135 stars. We read it straight from the repository tree rather than a submitted listing, so what you see here is what is actually published.
Is a popular skill a good skill?
Not necessarily. Stars measure attention, not adoption — a repository can trend for a week and be abandoned. That is why we show the weekly change from our own snapshots next to the total, instead of a single flattering number.