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

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

Storing the Token

Save your token in one of these locations:

Option 1: Config file (recommended)

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

Option 2: Environment variable

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

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

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

Searching

# 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

# 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

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

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

Typical Workflow

1. Search for papers: python scripts/ads.py --search "author:Name"
2. Note the bibcode
3. Get full details: python scripts/ads.py <bibcode>
4. Get BibTeX: python scripts/ads.py <bibcode> --format bibtex
5. 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.