---
id: wanshuiyin/Auto-claude-code-research-in-sleep/openalex
version: "60945029"
license: MIT
install: manual
updated: 2026-07-22
---

# openalex — OpenAlex Academic Search lets you query a comprehensive open citation graph covering 250M+ works with institutional affiliations, funding sources, and rich metadata. Filter by year, publication type, open access status, and citation count, then sort by relevance, citations, or date.

Publisher: wanshuiyin · Stars: 13939 · Updated: 2026-07-22

Install (manual): `git clone https://github.com/wanshuiyin/Auto-claude-code-research-in-sleep`

## SKILL.md

# 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

1. **Python 3.7+** with `requests` library:
   ```bash
   pip install requests
   ```

2. **Optional: API keys** — Create `.claude/.env` in project root:
   ```bash
   # Copy from template
   cp .claude/.env.example .claude/.env
   
   # Edit and add your keys
   # .claude/.env
   OPENALEX_API_KEY=your-key-here
   OPENALEX_EMAIL=your-email@example.com
   ```
   
   Claude Code automatically loads `.claude/.env` as environment variables.

3. **Get API keys** (optional but recommended):
   - **OpenAlex API key**: Free tier $1/day (10,000 list calls, 1,000 search calls) from [openalex.org](https://openalex.org/)
   - **Email for polite pool**: Faster response times (no registration needed)

### Verify Setup

```bash
python3 "$OPENALEX_FETCHER" search "machine learning" --max 3
```

(Resolve `$OPENALEX_FETCHER` via the canonical chain first — see Step 2 below.)

## Workflow

### Step 1: Parse Arguments

Parse `$ARGUMENTS` for:
- **query**: The research topic (required)
- **max**: Override MAX_RESULTS
- **year**: Publication year filter (e.g., `2023-`, `2020-2023`)
- **type**: Work type filter (`article`, `preprint`, `book`, `book-chapter`, `dataset`, `dissertation`)
- **open-access**: Only include open access papers
- **min-citations**: Minimum citation count threshold
- **sort**: Sort order (`relevance`, `citations`, `date`)

### Step 2: Locate Script

Resolve `$OPENALEX_FETCHER` via the canonical strict-safe chain (see
[`shared-references/integration-contract.md`](../shared-references/integration-contract.md) §2).
Policy D1: there is no native inline fallback for OpenAlex
(retrieval requires the `requests` SDK + optional API key — the
fetcher script encapsulates pagination, throttling, and per-source
parameters), so unresolved helper terminates with explicit remediation.

```bash
cd "$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel 2>/dev/null || pwd)" || exit 1
if [ -z "${ARIS_REPO:-}" ] && [ -f .aris/installed-skills.txt ]; then
    ARIS_REPO=$(awk -F'\t' '$1=="repo_root"{print $2; exit}' .aris/installed-skills.txt 2>/dev/null) || true
fi
if [ -z "${ARIS_REPO:-}" ] && [ -f "$HOME/.aris/repo" ]; then
    ARIS_REPO=$(cat "$HOME/.aris/repo" 2>/dev/null) || true
fi
OPENALEX_FETCHER=".aris/tools/openalex_fetch.py"
[ -f "$OPENALEX_FETCHER" ] || OPENALEX_FETCHER="tools/openalex_fetch.py"
[ -f "$OPENALEX_FETCHER" ] || { [ -n "${ARIS_REPO:-}" ] && OPENALEX_FETCHER="$ARIS_REPO/tools/openalex_fetch.py"; }
[ -f "$OPENALEX_FETCHER" ] || {
  echo "ERROR: openalex_fetch.py not resolved at .aris/tools/, tools/, \$ARIS_REPO/tools/, or via ~/.aris/repo." >&2
  echo "       Fix: rerun bash tools/install_aris.sh or smart_update.sh (refreshes ~/.aris/repo), export ARIS_REPO, or copy the helper to tools/." >&2
  echo "       Also ensure 'requests' is installed: pip install requests" >&2
  exit 1
}
```

### Step 3: Execute Search

**Basic search:**
```bash
python3 "$OPENALEX_FETCHER" search "QUERY" --max 10
```

**With filters:**
```bash
python3 "$OPENALEX_FETCHER" search "QUERY" --max 10 \
  --year 2023- \
  --type article \
  --open-access \
  --min-citations 20 \
  --sort citations
```

**Get specific work by DOI:**
```bash
python3 "$OPENALEX_FETCHER" work "10.1109/TWC.2024.1234567"
```

**Get specific work by OpenAlex ID:**
```bash
python3 "$OPENALEX_FETCHER" work "W2741809807"
```

### Step 4: Parse Results

The script returns structured JSON with:
- `title`: Paper title
- `authors`: List of author names
- `publication_year`: Year published
- `venue`: Journal/conference name
- `venue_type`: Type of venue (journal, repository, conference, etc.)
- `cited_by_count`: Number of citations
- `is_oa`: Boolean for open access status
- `oa_status`: Open access type (gold, green, bronze, hybrid, closed)
- `oa_url`: Direct PDF link if available
- `doi`: DOI identifier
- `openalex_id`: OpenAlex work ID
- `abstract`: Full abstract text
- `topics`: Top 3 research topics
- `keywords`: Top 5 keywords
- `type`: Work type (article, preprint, etc.)

### Step 5: Present Results

Format results as a structured table:

```
| # | Title | Venue | Year | Citations | OA | Summary |
|---|-------|-------|------|-----------|----|---------| 
| 1 | ... | IEEE TWC | 2024 | 156 | ✓ | ... |
| 2 | ... | NeurIPS | 2023 | 89 | ✓ | ... |
```

For each paper, also show:
- **DOI**: Canonical identifier
- **OpenAlex ID**: For cross-reference
- **Open Access**: Status (gold/green/bronze/hybrid/closed) and PDF link
- **Topics**: Top research topics
- **Abstract**: First 200 characters or full text

### Step 6: Offer Follow-up

After presenting results, suggest:

```text
/semantic-scholar "DOI:..."     — get S2 citation context and related papers
/arxiv "arXiv:XXXX.XXXXX"      — fetch arXiv preprint if available
/research-lit "topic" — sources: openalex, semantic-scholar  — combined multi-source review
/novelty-check "idea"          — verify novelty against literature
```

## Key Rules

- **OpenAlex is fully open** — no API key required for basic use, but recommended for higher rate limits
- **Comprehensive metadata** — OpenAlex provides richer metadata than most sources (institutions, funding, topics)
- **Citation data is open** — unlike Semantic Scholar, all citation data is freely accessible
- **Rate limits**: Without API key, very limited (~$0.01/day). With free API key: 10,000 list calls/day, 1,000 search calls/day.
- **Polite pool**: Set `OPENALEX_EMAIL` environment variable for faster response times
- **Cross-reference with other sources**: OpenAlex indexes papers from arXiv, PubMed, Crossref, etc. — use DOI/arXiv ID to cross-reference
- If OpenAlex API is unreachable or rate-limited, suggest using `/semantic-scholar`, `/arxiv`, or `/research-lit "topic" — sources: web` as alternatives.

## OpenAlex vs Other Sources

| Feature | OpenAlex | Semantic Scholar | arXiv |
|---------|----------|------------------|-------|
| **Coverage** | 250M+ works | 200M+ papers | 2.4M+ preprints |
| **Citation data** | Fully open | Partially open | None |
| **Institutions** | ✓ Full affiliations | ✓ Limited | ✗ |
| **Funding** | ✓ NSF, NIH, etc. | ✗ | ✗ |
| **Open access** | ✓ Full OA status | ✓ PDF links | ✓ All papers |
| **API key** | Optional (free) | Optional (free) | Not required |
| **Rate limits** | 1,000 searches/day (free key) | Unknown | 1 req/3s |
| **Abstract** | ✓ Full text | ✓ TLDR | ✓ Full text |
| **Best for** | Comprehensive metadata, institutions, funding | Citation counts, venue info | Latest preprints |

**When to use OpenAlex over S2:**
- Need institutional affiliation data
- Need funding information
- Want fully open citation graph
- Need comprehensive topic/keyword metadata
- Working with non-CS fields (OpenAlex covers all disciplines)

**When to use S2 over OpenAlex:**
- Need real-time citation counts (S2 updates faster)
- Need "highly influential citations" metric
- Need paper recommendations
- CS/AI-focused research (S2 has better CS coverage)


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