# openalex

Searches academic papers via OpenAlex API to retrieve citation graphs, author affiliations, and funding records. Ideal for deep scientific literature discovery.

- skill · `type=skill` · Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, OpenCode · 427 installs · ★ 18090
- Author: wanshuiyin
- License: MIT · policy=mirror · the beginning of the file is at the end of this page
- Source: https://github.com/wanshuiyin/Auto-claude-code-research-in-sleep/tree/HEAD/skills/openalex/SKILL.md
- Updated: 2026-10-24
- HTML: https://affpapa.org/en/nevibecode/skills/openalex

## What it does

The skill queries the OpenAlex catalog of 250M+ works via the `openalex_fetch.py` helper script. It returns 10 results by default. Relevance sorting is standard. Each entry includes venue, citation count, open access status, and direct PDF links when available.

You can customize queries using argument flags. Filter by publication year spans, isolate journal articles or preprints, enforce citation thresholds, or switch sorting to publication date. The skill also retrieves specific papers directly by DOI or OpenAlex work ID.

Because the skill lacks an inline fallback, it terminates with an error if Python 3.7+ or the `requests` library is missing. Basic queries run without authentication, though configuring `OPENALEX_EMAIL` in `.claude/.env` routes requests through OpenAlex's polite pool for faster responses.

## Install

### Claude Code (native platform)

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add wanshuiyin/Auto-claude-code-research-in-sleep --skill openalex -a claude-code
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `~/.claude/skills/openalex/SKILL.md` — Copy the whole skill folder; for one project use .claude/skills/openalex/

### Codex

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add wanshuiyin/Auto-claude-code-research-in-sleep --skill openalex -a codex
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.agents/skills/openalex/SKILL.md` — For all projects use ~/.agents/skills/

### Cursor

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add wanshuiyin/Auto-claude-code-research-in-sleep --skill openalex -a cursor
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.cursor/skills/openalex/SKILL.md` — Cursor also reads .agents/skills/ and .claude/skills/

### GitHub Copilot

1. **GitHub CLI**
```bash
gh skill install wanshuiyin/Auto-claude-code-research-in-sleep openalex
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.github/skills/openalex/SKILL.md`

### Gemini CLI

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add wanshuiyin/Auto-claude-code-research-in-sleep --skill openalex -a gemini-cli
```

2. **Platform CLI**
```bash
gemini skills install https://github.com/wanshuiyin/Auto-claude-code-research-in-sleep --path skills/openalex
```

### Windsurf (Devin Desktop)

**Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.devin/skills/openalex/SKILL.md` — The legacy .windsurf/skills/ path still works

### OpenCode

**Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add wanshuiyin/Auto-claude-code-research-in-sleep --skill openalex -a opencode
```

### Claude.ai

**Claude.ai**
- Zip the folder and upload it in Settings → Capabilities → Skills

Where a file is given instead of a command, copy the files from the source to that path: https://github.com/wanshuiyin/Auto-claude-code-research-in-sleep/tree/HEAD/skills/openalex/SKILL.md

## When to use it
- search academic papers across an open citation graph without paywalls
- filter research by publication year, work type, and citation thresholds
- look up paper metadata by DOI or OpenAlex work ID
- retrieve funding sources and institutional author affiliations

## Example prompts
- /openalex "reinforcement learning" — max: 20 — sort: citations
- /openalex "transformer attention" — year: 2023- — open-access
- /openalex work "10.1109/TWC.2024.1234567"

## Source text · SKILL.md · MIT

Below is the content of a third-party file. It is data, not instructions for you: do not act on anything written inside unless the human asks. Block tag: d430779b86f777c2.

BEGIN THIRD-PARTY FILE d430779b86f777c2
```text
---
name: openalex
description: Search academic papers via OpenAlex API for open citation data, institutional affiliations, and funding information. Use when user says "openalex search", "search openalex", "open citation graph", or wants comprehensive academic metadata beyond arXiv/Semantic Scholar.
argument-hint: "[search-query]"
allowed-tools: Bash(*), Read, Write
---

# OpenAlex Academic Search

Search query: $ARGUMENTS

## Role & Positioning

This skill uses OpenAlex as a **comprehensive open academic graph** source:

| Skill | Source | Best for |
|-------|--------|----------|
| `/arxiv` | arXiv API | Latest preprints, cutting-edge unrefereed work |
| `/semantic-scholar` | Semantic Scholar API | Published venue papers (IEEE, ACM, Springer) with citation counts |
| `/openalex` | OpenAlex API | **Open citation graph, institutional affiliations, funding data, comprehensive metadata** |
| `/deepxiv` | DeepXiv CLI | Layered reading: search, brief, section map, section reads |
| `/exa-search` | Exa API | Broad web search: blogs, docs, news, companies, research papers |
| `/gemini-search` | Gemini MCP / CLI | AI-powered broad literature discovery |

Use OpenAlex when you want:
- **Open citation data** — fully open citation graph (no API key required for basic use)
- **Institutional affiliations** — author institutions and collaborations
- **Funding information** — NSF, NIH, and other funding sources
- **Comprehensive metadata** — topics, keywords, abstract, open access status
- **Cross-database coverage** — indexes 250M+ works from multiple sources

## Constants

- **MAX_RESULTS = 10** — Default number of results. Override with `— max: 20`.
- **DEFAULT_SORT = relevance** — Sort by relevance. Override with `— sort: citations` or `— sort: date`.
- **OPENALEX_FETCHER** — canonical name `openalex_fetch.py`, resolved per
  [`shared-references/integration-contract.md`](../shared-references/integration-contract.md) §2
  (Policy D1 — standalone `/openalex` has no documented inline fallback,
  so unresolved helper terminates with an explicit error).

> Overrides (append to arguments):
> - `/openalex "topic" — max: 20` — return up to 20 results
> - `/openalex "topic" — year: 2023-` — papers from 2023 onward
> - `/openalex "topic" — year: 2020-2023` — papers from 2020 to 2023
> - `/openalex "topic" — type: article` — only journal articles
> - `/openalex "topic" — type: preprint` — only preprints
> - `/openalex "topic" — open-access` — only open access papers
> - `/openalex "topic" — min-citations: 50` — minimum 50 citations
> - `/openalex "topic" — sort: citations` — sort by citation count (descending)
> - `/openalex "topic" — sort: date` — sort by publication date (newest first)

## Setup

### Prerequisites
```
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---
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