Search Skills

arXiv API Guide

Overview

The arXiv API provides programmatic access to the arXiv preprint repository, one of the most important open-access archives in the sciences. Founded in 1991, arXiv hosts over 2.4 million scholarly articles across physics, mathematics, computer science, quantitative biology, quantitative finance, statistics, electrical engineering and systems science, and economics.

Researchers use the arXiv API to build literature review tools, monitor new submissions in their fields, and integrate preprint search into automated research workflows. The API returns results in Atom XML format with rich metadata including titles, authors, abstracts, categories, DOIs, and journal references.

The API is free to use with no authentication required. It supports complex boolean queries across multiple fields and allows sorting by relevance, submission date, or last-updated date.

Authentication

No authentication required. The arXiv API is fully open. However, users must respect the rate limit of 3 requests per second. Excessive usage may result in temporary IP-based blocking. Including a descriptive User-Agent header is considered good practice.

Using the search_arxiv Tool

IMPORTANT: When calling the search_arxiv tool, use parameter name query (NOT search_query). The raw API uses search_query, but the tool wrapper accepts query.

search_arxiv({ query: "ti:transformer AND cat:cs.CL", sort_by: "submittedDate" })

Core Endpoints (Raw API Reference)

Query: Search for Articles

• URL: GET http://export.arxiv.org/api/query
• Parameters (raw API — the search_arxiv tool wraps these automatically):

• Example:

  curl "http://export.arxiv.org/api/query?search_query=au:hinton+AND+ti:deep+learning&start=0&max_results=5&sortBy=submittedDate&sortOrder=descending"

• Response: Atom XML feed with <entry> elements containing <title>, <summary>, <author>, <arxiv:primary_category>, <published>, <updated>, and <link> fields.

ID Lookup: Retrieve Specific Papers

• URL: GET http://export.arxiv.org/api/query
• Parameters:

• Example:

  curl "http://export.arxiv.org/api/query?id_list=2301.07041&max_results=1"

• Response: Atom XML feed with full metadata for the requested paper(s).

Rate Limits

The arXiv API enforces a rate limit of 3 requests per second. There is no daily request cap, but automated bulk downloading should be done using the arXiv bulk data access options instead of the API. If you exceed the rate limit, you will receive HTTP 503 responses. Implement exponential backoff and a minimum 3-second delay between requests to avoid being temporarily blocked.

Common Patterns

Monitor New Submissions in a Category

Track daily submissions in a specific arXiv category by querying with a date range and category filter:

curl "http://export.arxiv.org/api/query?search_query=cat:cs.AI+AND+submittedDate:[202603010000+TO+202603092359]&sortBy=submittedDate&sortOrder=descending&max_results=50"

Build a Reading List from Keywords

Search across titles and abstracts for specific research topics:

curl "http://export.arxiv.org/api/query?search_query=(ti:transformer+OR+abs:transformer)+AND+cat:cs.CL&max_results=20&sortBy=relevance"

Batch Metadata Retrieval

Retrieve metadata for multiple known papers in a single request:

curl "http://export.arxiv.org/api/query?id_list=2301.07041,2302.13971,2303.08774&max_results=3"

References

• Official documentation: https://info.arxiv.org/help/api/
• arXiv API user manual: https://info.arxiv.org/help/api/user-manual.html
• arXiv bulk data access: https://info.arxiv.org/help/bulk_data.html