/protocolsio/protocols/search

POST /api/protocolsio/protocols/search

Price: 20 credits

Search protocols.io for laboratory and computational protocols by keyword, ordered by relevance, publication date or title, returning each protocol's title, DOI, authors, workspace, funders, version history and usage counts

How to use it

Find protocols by keyword, then feed a result's `alias` or `version_alias` to protocolsio/protocols for the procedure itself. A result carrying an `import_source` came from a publisher: its `step_count` describes the original publication and the detail endpoint returns no steps for it, so filter on an empty `import_source` when the user actually needs a runnable procedure. One query reaches at most 1600 protocols however large the match count is; narrow the wording rather than raising `count` to go deeper. There is no upstream open-access filter, and `is_open_access` is populated only on native records; it is missing on most imported records, so filtering on it after the fact drops most imported protocols rather than confirming they are closed access. `sort` is validated here, so an unlisted value is refused rather than silently ignored.

Parameters

• access-token string required

Request body

• timeout integer — Max scrapping execution timeout (in seconds) (default: 300; min: 20; max: 1500)
• query string required — Words to search for in protocol titles, descriptions, steps, reagents and authors (examples: "CRISPR", "RNA extraction", "western blot"; minLength: 1)
• count integer required — Max number of protocols to return (min: 1; max: 1600)
• sort string — Field the results are ordered by (default: "relevance"; one of: "relevance", "date", "alphabetical")
• sort_direction string — Order of the sort field (default: "desc"; one of: "asc", "desc")

Response

• @type string (default: "ProtocolsioProtocolCard")
• id string required
• alias string nullable
• version_alias string nullable
• url string nullable
• doi string nullable
• image string nullable
• import_source string nullable
• matched_fields array (default: [])
• authors array (default: [])
  • @type string (default: "ProtocolsioAuthor")
  • name string required
  • first_name string nullable
  • last_name string nullable
  • alias string nullable
  • affiliation string nullable
  • affiliation_url string nullable
  • profile_url string nullable
  • note string nullable
  • is_verified boolean nullable
• creator object nullable
  • @type string (default: "ProtocolsioAuthor")
  • name string required
  • first_name string nullable
  • last_name string nullable
  • alias string nullable
  • affiliation string nullable
  • affiliation_url string nullable
  • profile_url string nullable
  • note string nullable
  • is_verified boolean nullable
• funders array (default: [])
  • @type string (default: "ProtocolsioFunder")
  • name string required
  • grant_id string nullable
• groups array (default: [])
  • @type string (default: "ProtocolsioGroup")
  • id string required
  • alias string nullable
  • url string nullable
  • is_public boolean nullable
• versions array (default: [])
  • @type string (default: "ProtocolsioVersion")
  • id string required
  • alias string nullable
  • version_alias string nullable
  • doi string nullable
  • published_at integer nullable
  • updated_at integer nullable
• step_count integer nullable
• view_count integer nullable
• run_count integer nullable
• fork_count integer nullable
• comment_count integer nullable
• bookmark_count integer nullable
• export_count integer nullable
• works_for_me_count integer nullable
• is_fork boolean nullable
• is_public boolean nullable
• is_peer_reviewed boolean nullable
• is_open_access boolean nullable
• created_at integer nullable
• published_at integer nullable

Errors

• 422 — The request body did not validate Check the fields against this schema. A URN with the wrong prefix is the most common cause.
• 408 — The request ran past its time limit Raise `timeout` in the request body, up to the maximum this endpoint documents. Lowering `count` or turning off the `with_*` flags also helps, because less work finishes sooner.
• 412 — The entity was not found, or a precondition failed Retrying will not help: either the entity does not exist, or the input points at a different one.
• 429 — Too many requests: a rate limit or a usage window is exhausted When the response carries an X-Retry-After header, wait that many seconds and retry: the same number is in the body as `detail.retry_after`, and the limit clears once that window passes. The message in the body names the limit that was hit.
• 500 — Something broke on our side Retrying will not help. If it keeps happening, send us the X-Request-ID from the response headers.
• 529 — Rate limit reached, or the endpoint is overloaded Wait at least 30 seconds, then retry.

Response headers

• X-Error — Error message text (present only on error)
• X-Request-ID — Unique request identifier
• X-Execution-Time — Execution time in seconds
• X-Result-Count — How many records the body carries. 0 means an empty result, which is a normal answer and not by itself an error. A non-zero count can come back together with X-Error when the failure happened partway through — read this header and X-Error independently.
• X-Total-Available-Results — How many records exist for this query, when the endpoint can say. On a `dry_run` request this is the answer and the body is empty. It saturates: the endpoint's documented maximum means 'at least that many', any smaller number is exact.
• X-Warning — Present when the request body carried keys this endpoint does not document. They were ignored, so any filter you meant to apply through them did not apply. Check the spelling against this schema and retry.
• X-Retry-After — Seconds to wait before retrying. Present only on 429.