NASA ADS Search and Retrieval Skill

Search and retrieve papers from NASA's Astrophysics Data System (ADS).

Requires: requests (pip install requests)

Setup

ADS requires an API token for authentication.

Getting a Token

•Go to https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu
•Sign in (or create an account)
•Click your name in the top-right → "Account settings"
•Select "API Token" from the left sidebar
•Click "Generate a new key"
•Copy the token string

Storing the Token

Save your token in one of these locations:

Option 1: Config file (recommended)

bash

mkdir -p ~/.ads
echo "YOUR_TOKEN_HERE" > ~/.ads/dev_key
chmod 600 ~/.ads/dev_key

Option 2: Environment variable

bash

export ADS_DEV_KEY="YOUR_TOKEN_HERE"

Bibcode Format

ADS uses bibcodes as unique identifiers:

•Format: YYYYJJJJJVVVVMPPPPA
•Example: 2019ApJ...882L..12P (ApJ Letters, 2019)

Basic Usage

bash

# Get a record by bibcode
python scripts/ads.py 2019ApJ...882L..12P

# Get BibTeX
python scripts/ads.py 2019ApJ...882L..12P --format bibtex

Searching

bash

# Search by author
python scripts/ads.py --search "author:Einstein"

# Search by first author only
python scripts/ads.py --search "author:^Hawking"

# Search by title
python scripts/ads.py --search 'title:"dark energy"'

# Search by abstract
python scripts/ads.py --search 'abs:"gravitational waves"'

# Search by year range
python scripts/ads.py --search "author:Penrose year:2015-2020"

# Search by journal
python scripts/ads.py --search "bibstem:ApJ year:2023"

# Combined search
python scripts/ads.py --search 'author:Planck title:"cosmological parameters"'

# Limit results
python scripts/ads.py --search "author:Witten" -n 5

Search Query Syntax

Field	Syntax	Example
Author	`author:"Last, First"`	`author:"Hawking, S"`
First Author	`author:^Name`	`author:^Einstein`
Title	`title:"phrase"`	`title:"black hole"`
Abstract	`abs:"phrase"`	`abs:"dark matter"`
Year	`year:YYYY` or `year:YYYY-YYYY`	`year:2020-2023`
Journal	`bibstem:abbrev`	`bibstem:MNRAS`
arXiv ID	`arXiv:id`	`arXiv:1207.7214`
DOI	`doi:value`	`doi:10.1086/345794`
Object	`object:name`	`object:M31`

Boolean operators: AND (default), OR, NOT, - (negation)

Common Journal Abbreviations

Abbreviation	Journal
`ApJ`	Astrophysical Journal
`ApJL`	ApJ Letters
`MNRAS`	Monthly Notices of the RAS
`A&A`	Astronomy & Astrophysics
`AJ`	Astronomical Journal
`PhRvD`	Physical Review D
`PhRvL`	Physical Review Letters
`JCAP`	Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics

Citations

bash

# Get papers citing a record
python scripts/ads.py 2019ApJ...882L..12P --citations

# Top 20 citing papers
python scripts/ads.py 2019ApJ...882L..12P --citations -n 20

Output Formats

bash

# Default (shows metadata)
python scripts/ads.py 2019ApJ...882L..12P

# BibTeX
python scripts/ads.py 2019ApJ...882L..12P --format bibtex

Typical Workflow

•Search for papers: python scripts/ads.py --search "author:Name"
•Note the bibcode
•Get full details: python scripts/ads.py <bibcode>
•Get BibTeX: python scripts/ads.py <bibcode> --format bibtex
•Check citations: python scripts/ads.py <bibcode> --citations

Rate Limits

ADS allows 5000 requests per day per API token.

Comparison with Other Skills

•ADS: Astronomy/astrophysics focus, published papers, bibcodes
•INSPIRE: High-energy physics focus, SPIRES syntax, recids
•arXiv: Preprint source code (LaTeX), all physics categories

Use together: search on ADS for published papers with citation data, use arXiv skill to get source.