bc_get_recent_biorxiv_preprints
Retrieve recent research preprints from bioRxiv or medRxiv by date range, subject category, or most recent papers. Supports pagination for efficient access to up to 500 results per query.
Instructions
Get recent preprints from bioRxiv or medRxiv.
This tool searches the bioRxiv and medRxiv preprint servers for research papers. You can search by date range, recent posts, or most recent papers. Results are paginated with up to 100 papers per API call.
Args: server (str): Server to search - 'biorxiv' or 'medrxiv' (default: 'biorxiv'). start_date (str, optional): Start date in YYYY-MM-DD format. end_date (str, optional): End date in YYYY-MM-DD format. days (int, optional): Number of recent days to search (1-365). recent_count (int, optional): Number of most recent preprints (1-1000). category (str, optional): Subject category filter (e.g., 'cell biology', 'neuroscience'). cursor (int): Starting position for pagination (default: 0). max_results (int): Maximum number of results to return (default: 100, max: 500).
Returns: dict: Preprint search results or error message
Input Schema
TableJSON Schema
| Name | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| category | No | Subject category filter (e.g., 'cell biology', 'neuroscience') | |
| cursor | No | Starting position for pagination | |
| days | No | Number of recent days to search (alternative to date range) | |
| end_date | No | End date in YYYY-MM-DD format | |
| max_results | No | Maximum number of results to return | |
| recent_count | No | Number of most recent preprints (alternative to date range) | |
| server | No | Server to search: 'biorxiv' or 'medrxiv' | biorxiv |
| start_date | No | Start date in YYYY-MM-DD format |
Implementation Reference
- The core handler function for the tool that retrieves recent bioRxiv or medRxiv preprints based on date range, days, or recent count. Includes input schema via Pydantic Annotated fields and full logic for API calls and response processing.@core_mcp.tool() def get_recent_biorxiv_preprints( server: Annotated[str, Field(description="'biorxiv' or 'medrxiv'")] = "biorxiv", start_date: Annotated[Optional[str], Field(description="Start date (YYYY-MM-DD)")] = None, end_date: Annotated[Optional[str], Field(description="End date (YYYY-MM-DD)")] = None, days: Annotated[ Optional[int], Field(description="Search last N days (1-365, alternative to date range)", ge=1, le=365) ] = None, recent_count: Annotated[ Optional[int], Field(description="Most recent N preprints (1-1000, alternative to date range)", ge=1, le=1000) ] = None, category: Annotated[ Optional[str], Field(description="Filter by subject (e.g., 'cell biology', 'neuroscience')") ] = None, cursor: Annotated[int, Field(description="Pagination: starting position", ge=0)] = 0, max_results: Annotated[int, Field(description="Max results per page (1-500)", ge=1, le=500)] = 100, ) -> Dict[str, Any]: """Search bioRxiv/medRxiv preprints by date range or recent count. Specify one search method: date range, days, or recent_count. Returns: dict: Search results with server, search_params, total_returned, papers list (each with title, authors, abstract, metadata), pagination info or error message. """ # Validate server if server.lower() not in ["biorxiv", "medrxiv"]: return {"error": "Server must be 'biorxiv' or 'medrxiv'"} server = server.lower() # Validate input parameters - only one search method should be specified search_methods = [start_date and end_date, days, recent_count] if sum(bool(method) for method in search_methods) != 1: return {"error": "Specify exactly one of: date range (start_date + end_date), days, or recent_count"} try: # Build the interval parameter interval = "" if start_date and end_date: # Validate date format try: start_date_obj = datetime.strptime(start_date, "%Y-%m-%d") end_date_obj = datetime.strptime(end_date, "%Y-%m-%d") except ValueError: return {"error": "Dates must be in YYYY-MM-DD format"} # Validate date range (start should be before or equal to end) if start_date_obj > end_date_obj: return {"error": "Start date must be before or equal to end date"} interval = f"{start_date}/{end_date}" elif days: # Convert days to actual date range end_date_obj = datetime.now() start_date_obj = end_date_obj - timedelta(days=days) start_date_str = start_date_obj.strftime("%Y-%m-%d") end_date_str = end_date_obj.strftime("%Y-%m-%d") interval = f"{start_date_str}/{end_date_str}" elif recent_count: interval = str(recent_count) # Build URL base_url = f"https://api.biorxiv.org/details/{server}/{interval}/{cursor}/json" # Add category filter if specified params = {} if category and ((start_date and end_date) or days): # Category works with date ranges params["category"] = category.replace(" ", "_") # Make request response = requests.get(base_url, params=params, timeout=30) response.raise_for_status() data = response.json() # Extract and limit results collection = data.get("collection", []) limited_results = collection[:max_results] # Clean up the results for better LLM consumption processed_results = [] for paper in limited_results: processed_paper = { "doi": paper.get("doi", ""), "title": paper.get("title", ""), "authors": paper.get("authors", ""), "corresponding_author": paper.get("author_corresponding", ""), "corresponding_institution": paper.get("author_corresponding_institution", ""), "date": paper.get("date", ""), "version": paper.get("version", ""), "type": paper.get("type", ""), "license": paper.get("license", ""), "category": paper.get("category", ""), "abstract": paper.get("abstract", ""), "published": paper.get("published", ""), "server": paper.get("server", server), } processed_results.append(processed_paper) # Get pagination info from messages messages = data.get("messages", []) pagination_info = {} for message in messages: if "cursor" in message.get("text", "").lower(): pagination_info["cursor_info"] = message.get("text", "") if "count" in message.get("text", "").lower(): pagination_info["count_info"] = message.get("text", "") return { "server": server, "search_params": { "interval": interval, "category": category, "cursor": cursor, "original_days": days if days else None, }, "total_returned": len(processed_results), "papers": processed_results, "pagination": pagination_info, "messages": messages, } except requests.exceptions.RequestException as e: logger.error(f"Error searching {server}: {e}") return {"error": f"Failed to search {server}: {e!s}"} except Exception as e: logger.error(f"Unexpected error searching {server}: {e}") return {"error": f"Unexpected error: {e!s}"}