`search_works`

Pack: openalex · Endpoint: https://gateway.pipeworx.io/openalex/mcp

Search scholarly articles by title, authors, or keywords. Returns title, authors, journal, publication year, citation count, and abstract.

Parameters

Name	Type	Required	Description
`query`	string	yes	Search query (e.g., “transformer neural networks”)
`limit`	number	no	Number of results to return (1-25, default 10)

Example call

Arguments

{
  "query": "transformer neural networks"
}

curl

curl -X POST https://gateway.pipeworx.io/openalex/mcp \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"tools/call","params":{"name":"search_works","arguments":{"query":"transformer neural networks"}}}'

TypeScript (@pipeworx/sdk)

import { Pipeworx } from '@pipeworx/sdk';
const pipeworx = new Pipeworx();

const result = await pipeworx.call('search_works', {
  "query": "transformer neural networks"
});

More examples

{
  "query": "CRISPR gene editing",
  "limit": 20
}

Response shape

Always returns: total, results

Field	Type	Description
`total`	number	Total number of works matching the query
`results`	array

Full JSON Schema

{
  "type": "object",
  "properties": {
    "total": {
      "type": "number",
      "description": "Total number of works matching the query"
    },
    "results": {
      "type": "array",
      "items": {
        "type": "object",
        "properties": {
          "id": {
            "type": "string",
            "description": "OpenAlex work ID"
          },
          "doi": {
            "type": [
              "string",
              "null"
            ],
            "description": "Digital Object Identifier"
          },
          "title": {
            "type": [
              "string",
              "null"
            ],
            "description": "Work title"
          },
          "publication_year": {
            "type": [
              "number",
              "null"
            ],
            "description": "Year of publication"
          },
          "type": {
            "type": [
              "string",
              "null"
            ],
            "description": "Work type (e.g., journal-article)"
          },
          "open_access": {
            "type": "boolean",
            "description": "Whether work is open access"
          },
          "oa_url": {
            "type": [
              "string",
              "null"
            ],
            "description": "Open access URL if available"
          },
          "cited_by_count": {
            "type": "number",
            "description": "Number of citations"
          },
          "journal": {
            "type": [
              "string",
              "null"
            ],
            "description": "Journal or publication venue name"
          },
          "authors": {
            "type": "array",
            "items": {
              "type": "string"
            },
            "description": "List of author names"
          },
          "concepts": {
            "type": "array",
            "items": {
              "type": "string"
            },
            "description": "Top research concepts/fields (up to 5)"
          },
          "abstract": {
            "type": [
              "string",
              "null"
            ],
            "description": "Work abstract text"
          }
        },
        "required": [
          "id",
          "doi",
          "title",
          "publication_year",
          "type",
          "open_access",
          "oa_url",
          "cited_by_count",
          "journal",
          "authors",
          "concepts",
          "abstract"
        ]
      }
    }
  },
  "required": [
    "total",
    "results"
  ]
}

Connect

Add this to your MCP client config, or use one-click install buttons:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "openalex": {
      "url": "https://gateway.pipeworx.io/openalex/mcp"
    }
  }
}

See Getting Started for client-specific install steps.

search_works