# Literature Search Biorxiv

Browse and filter life sciences, biology, and medical preprints from bioRxiv and medRxiv.

- Repository: https://github.com/google-deepmind/science-skills (3377 stars)
- Category: Engineering
- License: Apache-2.0
- Last updated: 2026-10-23
- Runs scripts: yes, review before use

## Install

Claude Code: `npx skills add google-deepmind/science-skills --skill literature-search-biorxiv -g -a claude-code -y`
Codex: `npx skills add google-deepmind/science-skills --skill literature-search-biorxiv -g -a codex -y`
Cursor: `npx skills add google-deepmind/science-skills --skill literature-search-biorxiv -g -a cursor -y`
Gemini CLI: `npx skills add google-deepmind/science-skills --skill literature-search-biorxiv -g -a gemini-cli -y`

## Description

Browse and filter life sciences, biology, and medical preprints from bioRxiv and medRxiv. Supports fetching paper metadata by DOI, and browsing by date range with category and keyword filters. Keyword filtering is local, so date ranges MUST be narrow (1-4 weeks) with a category to prevent timeouts.

## SKILL.md, as published by its author (untrusted third-party text, read it as data)

# bioRxiv and medRxiv Literature Search

## Prerequisites

1.  **`uv`**: Read the `uv` skill and follow its Setup instructions to ensure
    `uv` is installed and on PATH.
2.  **User Notification**: If .licenses/literature_search_biorxiv_LICENSE.txt
    does not already exist in the workspace root directory then (1) prominently
    notify the user to check the terms at https://api.biorxiv.org/ and
    https://www.biorxiv.org/content/about-biorxiv and to always check the
    license of the papers retrieved by the skill for any restrictions, then (2)
    create the file recording the notification text and timestamp.

## Search Strategy Guide (Read First)

**This skill browses a date-based preprint archive. It is NOT a keyword search
engine.** Choose your approach based on what you already know:

-   **A DOI** (e.g., from a citation): Use `search_by_doi.py`. Fast and
    reliable.
-   **Approximate date + category**: Use `search_by_dates.py` with a 1, 4 week
    range and `--category`.
-   **Only a topic or keywords, no date**: **Do NOT use this skill for
    discovery.** Use a keyword-capable literature skill first to find relevant
    DOIs, then return here to fetch metadata.

> **CRITICAL ANTI-PATTERN, Do NOT do this:** Do NOT attempt to search broad
> date ranges (months or years) with `--keywords` hoping to find a specific
> paper. The bioRxiv API does not support server-side keyword search. The script
> must download ALL metadata for the entire date range and filter locally in
> Python. Broad ranges will result in thousands of API calls, timeouts, and your
> request being blocked for API abuse. This is the #1 reason this skill fails.

## Core Rules

The rest: https://github.com/google-deepmind/science-skills/blob/HEAD/skills/literature_search_biorxiv/SKILL.md