NCBI API

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Read-only live access to NCBI PubMed search and bibliographic records, PubMed Central full-text articles, and MeSH vocabulary search and descriptor details. Search routes preserve NCBI pagination and the PubMed date, article-type, and text-availability filters.

Health
ncbi
pubmed
pmc
mesh
biomedical research

Connect your agent Call over HTTP

5 endpointsDocs updated Sep 22, 2026

Endpoint health

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Pubmed searchLoading

Pubmed articles by pmidLoading

Pmc articles by pmcidLoading

Connect your agent

Connect through MCP so your agent can find this API, read its docs, and call its endpoints.

Your agent

Setup guide

Add the server from your terminal.

Claude Code · terminal

claude mcp add --transport http agent-data https://agent-data.motie.dev/mcp

In Claude Code, run /mcp, select agent-data, then Authenticate. Sign in to your agent-data account in the browser.

Then ask your agent to use the NCBI API for your task.

Call it over HTTP

Get an API key

Sign up free, generate an API key, and set it as AGENT_DATA_API_KEY in your environment. Your first 100 calls each month are free.

Endpoint

Pubmed Search

queryRequired

Search query string accepted by PubMed E-utilities.

Optional parameters 7

sortOptional

Optional NCBI sort order verified against E-utilities: relevance, pub_date, Author, or JournalName.

retmaxOptional

Number of results to return, from 1 through 100.

retstartOptional

Zero-based result offset for pagination.

min_dateOptional

Optional inclusive publication date lower bound, YYYY/MM/DD or YYYY.

max_dateOptional

Optional inclusive publication date upper bound, YYYY/MM/DD or YYYY.

article_typeOptional

Optional PubMed publication type, such as Review.

text_availabilityOptional

Optional PubMed availability filter, such as free full text.

View call pricing

cURL · Pubmed search

curl --request GET --get 'https://api.agent-data.dev/ncbi-nlm-nih-gov/v1/pubmed/search' \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer $AGENT_DATA_API_KEY" \
  --data-urlencode 'query=machine learning[Title]'

Endpoints

Inputs and response fields for every endpoint in this API.

GETPubmed search/v1/pubmed/search

Pubmed Search

Input

queryRequiredQuery · string

Search query string accepted by PubMed E-utilities.

Example: machine learning[Title]

sortOptionalQuery · string | null

Optional NCBI sort order verified against E-utilities: relevance, pub_date, Author, or JournalName.

Example: relevance

retmaxOptionalQuery · integer, min: 1, max: 100, default: 20

Number of results to return, from 1 through 100.

Example: 2

retstartOptionalQuery · integer, min: 0, default: 0

Zero-based result offset for pagination.

Example: 0

min_dateOptionalQuery · string | null

Optional inclusive publication date lower bound, YYYY/MM/DD or YYYY.

Example: 2020/01/01

max_dateOptionalQuery · string | null

Optional inclusive publication date upper bound, YYYY/MM/DD or YYYY.

Example: 2024/12/31

article_typeOptionalQuery · string | null

Optional PubMed publication type, such as Review.

Example: Review

text_availabilityOptionalQuery · string | null

Optional PubMed availability filter, such as free full text.

Example: free full text

Response

itemsobject[]

items[].doi?string | null

items[].pmidstring

items[].pmcid?string | null

items[].titlestring

items[].journalstring

items[].publication_date?string | null

totalinteger

retmaxinteger

retstartinteger

Fields marked ? are optional.

GETPubmed articles by pmid/v1/pubmed/articles/{pmid}

Pubmed Article

Input

pmidRequiredPath · string

Numeric PubMed ID (PMID).

Example: 30943338

Response

doi?string | null

pmidstring

pmcid?string | null

titlestring

authorsstring[]

journalstring

abstract?string | null

keywordsstring[]

mesh_termsobject[]

mesh_terms[].ui?string | null

mesh_terms[].termstring

Fields marked ? are optional.

GETPmc articles by pmcid/v1/pmc/articles/{pmcid}

Pmc Article

Input

pmcidRequiredPath · string

PubMed Central identifier with the PMC prefix.

Example: PMC13590562

Response

pmcidstring

titlestring

authorsstring[]

abstract?string | null

findings?string | null

outcomes?string | null

sectionsobject[]

sections[].textstring

sections[].headingstring

full_textstring

population?string | null

source_urlstring

study_type?string | null

limitations?string | null

key_insights?string | null

interventions?string | null

Fields marked ? are optional.

GETMesh search/v1/mesh/search

Mesh Search

Input

queryRequiredQuery · string

Search term to find in the NCBI MeSH vocabulary.

Example: diabetes

retmaxOptionalQuery · integer, min: 1, max: 100, default: 20

Number of MeSH matches to return, from 1 through 100.

Example: 3

retstartOptionalQuery · integer, min: 0, default: 0

Zero-based result offset for pagination.

Example: 0

Response

itemsobject[]

items[].idstring

items[].termstring

items[].mesh_uistring

totalinteger

retmaxinteger

retstartinteger

GETMesh terms by term id/v1/mesh/terms/{term_id}

Mesh Term

Input

term_idRequiredPath · string

Numeric MeSH descriptor identifier returned by MeSH search.

Example: 68056731

Response

idstring

termstring

mesh_uistring

synonymsstring[]

definitionstring

tree_numbersstring[]

Don’t see the endpoint you need?

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