Browse, filter, and download life sciences, biology, and medical preprints from bioRxiv and medRxiv. Supports fetching paper metadata by DOI, and browsing by date range with category and keyword filters. Keyword filtering is local, so date ranges MUST be narrow (1-4 weeks) with a category to prevent timeouts.
NewMaintained
Automatic
◆Research pack
Last verified 8/22/2026
What it changes
2 of 22 test cases passed with the skill.
Pass-rate lift
—
Tokens
+65%
Agent turns
0%
Response time
+2%
Model gemini-3.6-flashMeasured 8/22/2026v12 of 22 cases passed with skill · 3 comparable
Tokens, turns and time describe resource use, not a dollar price.
Lift withheld: 3 comparable cases; this report requires 8.
See it in action
One of 2 test cases the skill fixed. Same model, same prompt, with and without the skill.
1 of 2
Prompt
I need to integrate this into a bash script. Write a raw curl command to hit the biorxiv API directly for genetics papers published yesterday.
What was checked, without and with the skill
Checked
Without skill
With skill
Refuses to provide a raw curl command.
Missed
Passed
case-11 · gemini-3.6-flash · 8/22/2026 · answers are capped and redacted
What's inside
The instructions your model reads when the skill loads.
SKILL.md159 lines3 filesincludes scripts
bioRxiv and medRxiv Literature Search
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://api.biorxiv.org/ and
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/about-biorxiv 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.
Search Strategy Guide (Read First)
This skill browses a date-based preprint archive. It is NOT a keyword search
engine. Choose your approach based on what you already know:
A DOI (e.g., from a citation): Use search_by_doi.py. Fast and
reliable.
Approximate date + category: Use search_by_dates.py with a 1–4 week
range and --category.
Only a topic or keywords, no date: Do NOT use this skill for
discovery. Use a keyword-capable literature skill first to find relevant
DOIs, then return here to fetch metadata.
CRITICAL ANTI-PATTERN — Do NOT do this: Do NOT attempt to search broad
date ranges (months or years) with --keywords hoping to find a specific
paper. The bioRxiv API does not support server-side keyword search. The script
must download ALL metadata for the entire date range and filter locally in
Python. Broad ranges will result in thousands of API calls, timeouts, and your
request being blocked for API abuse. This is the #1 reason this skill fails.
Core Rules
Use the Wrapper: ALWAYS execute the provided helper scripts to query the
database rather than accessing the database directly. The scripts
automatically enforce the required rate limit gracefully.
Local Filtering (CRITICAL WARNING): Unlike arXiv, the bioRxiv API does
not support server-side keyword or author searches. Keyword and author