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pubmed-mcp-server

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Pubmed Convert Ids

pubmed_convert_ids
Read-only

Convert between article identifiers (DOI, PMID, PMCID). Accepts up to 50 IDs of a single type per request. Only resolves articles indexed in PubMed Central — for articles not in PMC, use pubmed_search_articles instead.

Input Schema

TableJSON Schema
NameRequiredDescriptionDefault
idsYesArticle identifiers to convert — one identifier per element, all of the same type. Each element is checked against `idType` before the request: `doi` starts with "10." and carries a "/" ("10.1093/nar/gks1195"); `pmid` is digits ("23193287"); `pmcid` is digits with an optional "PMC" prefix ("PMC3531190" or "3531190"). No element may contain a comma or whitespace — a packed value like "23193287,37952131" is rejected, so split it across elements.
idTypeYesThe type of IDs being submitted. Required so the API can unambiguously resolve them.

Output Schema

TableJSON Schema
NameRequiredDescriptionDefault
errorNoPresent when the call failed. Absent on success.
recordsNoConversion results, one per input ID
totalConvertedNoNumber of IDs successfully converted
totalSubmittedNoNumber of IDs submitted

Schema Changelog

Changes observed during successful MCP inspections.

  1. Changed1 schema field changed
    • changedOutput schema / properties / error / properties / data / properties / reason / description
      Previous value: -"Machine-readable failure mode. Declared by this tool: `queue_full`: Local NCBI request queue is at capacity. `ncbi_unreachable`: NCBI E-utilities is unreachable after all retry attempts. `ncbi_deadline_exceeded`: Total request deadline expired before NCBI returned a response. `ncbi_invalid_response`: NCBI returned a body that could not be parsed (invalid XML/JSON). `ncbi_resource_not_found`: NCBI returned a structured \"not found\" error for the requested ID(s). `malformed_id`: An `ids` element does not match the declared `idType` — most often several identifiers packed into one element, which the comma-delimited upstream batch would split into extra records. Other values are possible when a failure originates below the handler."New value: +"Machine-readable failure mode. Declared by this tool: `queue_full`: The local NCBI request queue shed the call — the queue is full, or the call cannot start before its total deadline (for example behind the cooldown that follows an NCBI 429). `ncbi_unreachable`: NCBI E-utilities is unreachable after all retry attempts. `ncbi_deadline_exceeded`: Total request deadline expired before NCBI returned a response. `ncbi_invalid_response`: NCBI returned a body that could not be parsed (invalid XML/JSON). `ncbi_resource_not_found`: NCBI returned a structured \"not found\" error for the requested ID(s). `malformed_id`: An `ids` element does not match the declared `idType` — most often several identifiers packed into one element, which the comma-delimited upstream batch would split into extra records. Other values are possible when a failure originates below the handler."
  2. Changed3 schema fields changed
    • changedInput schema / properties / ids / description
      Previous value: -"Article identifiers to convert. All IDs must be the same type. DOIs: \"10.1093/nar/gks1195\", PMIDs: \"23193287\", PMCIDs: \"PMC3531190\" (the \"PMC\" prefix is optional — bare digits like \"3531190\" are also accepted)."New value: +"Article identifiers to convert — one identifier per element, all of the same type. Each element is checked against `idType` before the request: `doi` starts with \"10.\" and carries a \"/\" (\"10.1093/nar/gks1195\"); `pmid` is digits (\"23193287\"); `pmcid` is digits with an optional \"PMC\" prefix (\"PMC3531190\" or \"3531190\"). No element may contain a comma or whitespace — a packed value like \"23193287,37952131\" is rejected, so split it across elements."
    • changedOutput schema / properties / error / properties / data / properties / reason / description
      Previous value: -"Machine-readable failure mode. Declared by this tool: `queue_full`: Local NCBI request queue is at capacity. `ncbi_unreachable`: NCBI E-utilities is unreachable after all retry attempts. `ncbi_deadline_exceeded`: Total request deadline expired before NCBI returned a response. `ncbi_invalid_response`: NCBI returned a body that could not be parsed (invalid XML/JSON). `ncbi_resource_not_found`: NCBI returned a structured \"not found\" error for the requested ID(s). Other values are possible when a failure originates below the handler."New value: +"Machine-readable failure mode. Declared by this tool: `queue_full`: Local NCBI request queue is at capacity. `ncbi_unreachable`: NCBI E-utilities is unreachable after all retry attempts. `ncbi_deadline_exceeded`: Total request deadline expired before NCBI returned a response. `ncbi_invalid_response`: NCBI returned a body that could not be parsed (invalid XML/JSON). `ncbi_resource_not_found`: NCBI returned a structured \"not found\" error for the requested ID(s). `malformed_id`: An `ids` element does not match the declared `idType` — most often several identifiers packed into one element, which the comma-delimited upstream batch would split into extra records. Other values are possible when a failure originates below the handler."
    • changedOutput schema / properties / error / properties / data / properties / reason / examples
      Previous value: -[
-  "queue_full",
-  "ncbi_unreachable",
-  "ncbi_deadline_exceeded",
-  "ncbi_invalid_response",
-  "ncbi_resource_not_found"
-]New value: +[
+  "queue_full",
+  "ncbi_unreachable",
+  "ncbi_deadline_exceeded",
+  "ncbi_invalid_response",
+  "ncbi_resource_not_found",
+  "malformed_id"
+]
  3. Changed6 schema fields changed
    • changedInput schema / $schema
      Previous value: -"http://json-schema.org/draft-07/schema#"New value: +"https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema"
    • addedInput schema / additionalProperties
      Added value: +false
    • changedOutput schema / $schema
      Previous value: -"http://json-schema.org/draft-07/schema#"New value: +"https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema"
    • addedOutput schema / anyOf
      Added value: +[
+  {
+    "not": {
+      "required": [
+        "error"
+      ]
+    },
+    "required": [
+      "records",
+      "totalConverted",
+      "totalSubmitted"
+    ]
+  },
+  {
+    "required": [
+      "error"
+    ]
+  }
+]
    • addedOutput schema / properties / error
      Added value: +{
+  "additionalProperties": {},
+  "description": "Present when the call failed. Absent on success.",
+  "properties": {
+    "code": {
+      "description": "JSON-RPC error code for this failure.",
+      "maximum": 9007199254740991,
+      "minimum": -9007199254740991,
+      "type": "integer"
+    },
+    "data": {
+      "additionalProperties": {},
+      "properties": {
+        "reason": {
+          "description": "Machine-readable failure mode. Declared by this tool: `queue_full`: Local NCBI request queue is at capacity. `ncbi_unreachable`: NCBI E-utilities is unreachable after all retry attempts. `ncbi_deadline_exceeded`: Total request deadline expired before NCBI returned a response. `ncbi_invalid_response`: NCBI returned a body that could not be parsed (invalid XML/JSON). `ncbi_resource_not_found`: NCBI returned a structured \"not found\" error for the requested ID(s). Other values are possible when a failure originates below the handler.",
+          "examples": [
+            "queue_full",
+            "ncbi_unreachable",
+            "ncbi_deadline_exceeded",
+            "ncbi_invalid_response",
+            "ncbi_resource_not_found"
+          ],
+          "type": "string"
+        },
+        "recovery": {
+          "additionalProperties": {},
+          "description": "Actionable next step for the caller.",
+          "properties": {
+            "hint": {
+              "type": "string"
+            }
+          },
+          "required": [
+            "hint"
+          ],
+          "type": "object"
+        },
+        "retryable": {
+          "description": "Whether retrying may succeed.",
+          "type": "boolean"
+        }
+      },
+      "type": "object"
+    },
+    "message": {
+      "description": "Human-readable description of what went wrong.",
+      "type": "string"
+    }
+  },
+  "required": [
+    "code",
+    "message"
+  ],
+  "type": "object"
+}
    • removedOutput schema / required
      Removed value: -[
-  "records",
-  "totalConverted",
-  "totalSubmitted"
-]
  4. Changed1 schema field changed
    • changedOutput schema / properties / records / items / properties / doi / description
      Previous value: -"Digital Object Identifier; absent if no DOI is on record"New value: +"Digital Object Identifier, cased as the PMC ID Converter reports it; absent if no DOI is on record. DOIs are case-insensitive by spec and no case normalization is applied here, so casing can differ from a Europe PMC-sourced `doi` — compare the two case-insensitively."
  5. Changed1 schema field changed
    • changedInput schema / properties / ids / description
      Previous value: -"Article identifiers to convert. All IDs must be the same type. DOIs: \"10.1093/nar/gks1195\", PMIDs: \"23193287\", PMCIDs: \"PMC3531190\"."New value: +"Article identifiers to convert. All IDs must be the same type. DOIs: \"10.1093/nar/gks1195\", PMIDs: \"23193287\", PMCIDs: \"PMC3531190\" (the \"PMC\" prefix is optional — bare digits like \"3531190\" are also accepted)."
  6. Changed3 schema fields changed
    • addedInput schema / properties / idType
      Added value: +{
+  "description": "The type of IDs being submitted. Required so the API can unambiguously resolve them.",
+  "enum": [
+    "pmcid",
+    "pmid",
+    "doi"
+  ],
+  "type": "string"
+}
    • removedInput schema / properties / idtype
      Removed value: -{
-  "description": "The type of IDs being submitted. Required so the API can unambiguously resolve them.",
-  "enum": [
-    "pmcid",
-    "pmid",
-    "doi"
-  ],
-  "type": "string"
-}
    • changedInput schema / required
      Previous value: -[
-  "ids",
-  "idtype"
-]New value: +[
+  "ids",
+  "idType"
+]
  7. Changed4 schema fields changed
    • changedOutput schema / properties / records / items / properties / doi / description
      Previous value: -"Digital Object Identifier"New value: +"Digital Object Identifier; absent if no DOI is on record"
    • changedOutput schema / properties / records / items / properties / errmsg / description
      Previous value: -"Error message if conversion failed"New value: +"Error message if conversion failed. Presence of `errmsg` is the failure signal; absence means the conversion succeeded."
    • changedOutput schema / properties / records / items / properties / pmcid / description
      Previous value: -"PubMed Central ID"New value: +"PubMed Central ID; absent if the article has no PMC copy"
    • changedOutput schema / properties / records / items / properties / pmid / description
      Previous value: -"PubMed ID"New value: +"PubMed ID; absent if no mapping was found"
  8. Changed1 schema field changed
    • addedOutput schema / properties / records / items / description
      Added value: +"Per-ID conversion record"
  9. Added

TDQS

A4.5/5.0
Behavior4/5

Does the description disclose side effects, auth requirements, rate limits, or destructive behavior?

Annotations already declare readOnlyHint and openWorldHint, so the description is not burdened with safety disclosure. It adds meaningful behavioral context beyond the schema by naming the PMC-only resolution scope and the 50-ID single-type limit, which are useful for call planning.

Agents need to know what a tool does to the world before calling it. Descriptions should go beyond structured annotations to explain consequences.

Conciseness5/5

Is the description appropriately sized, front-loaded, and free of redundancy?

The description is two sentences of dense, useful information with zero filler. The core action is stated first, followed by limits and an actionable alternative, making it easy to scan and use.

Shorter descriptions cost fewer tokens and are easier for agents to parse. Every sentence should earn its place.

Completeness5/5

Given the tool's complexity, does the description cover enough for an agent to succeed on first attempt?

With full parameter documentation in the schema and a present output schema, the description covers everything else needed: the operation, constraints, scope limitation, and sibling alternative. An agent can select and invoke this tool correctly with no additional inference.

Complex tools with many parameters or behaviors need more documentation. Simple tools need less. This dimension scales expectations accordingly.

Parameters3/5

Does the description clarify parameter syntax, constraints, interactions, or defaults beyond what the schema provides?

Schema description coverage is 100% and the schema already documents each parameter thoroughly, including validation examples and rejection rules. The description does not need to repeat parameter details, so baseline 3 is appropriate.

Input schemas describe structure but not intent. Descriptions should explain non-obvious parameter relationships and valid value ranges.

Purpose5/5

Does the description clearly state what the tool does and how it differs from similar tools?

The description uses a specific verb ('Convert') and names the exact resource (article identifiers DOI, PMID, PMCID), plus a concrete constraint (up to 50 IDs, single type). This clearly distinguishes it from sibling tools like pubmed_search_articles or pubmed_fetch_articles.

Agents choose between tools based on descriptions. A clear purpose with a specific verb and resource helps agents select the right tool.

Usage Guidelines5/5

Does the description explain when to use this tool, when not to, or what alternatives exist?

The description explicitly states when to use this tool and provides a direct alternative: only resolves articles in PubMed Central, so for non-PMC articles use pubmed_search_articles instead. This gives the agent clear routing guidance with no ambiguity.

Agents often have multiple tools that could apply. Explicit usage guidance like "use X instead of Y when Z" prevents misuse.

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