scix-client

scix-client gives your AI assistant direct access to the SciX / NASA ADS database. Search the literature, build bibliographies, analyze citation networks, manage personal libraries, resolve object names via SIMBAD/NED, and export references in BibTeX, AASTeX, or 15 other formats — all from natural language.

It also works standalone: as a CLI tool, a Python library, or a Rust crate.

Research workflows: literature reviews, bibliography management, citation analysis, reference export, object resolution, paper details, library collaboration, annotation/notes

One binary (scix) does everything. Python bindings are auto-generated from the Rust types — zero extra maintenance.

Prerequisites

You need a SciX / ADS API token. Get one (free) at: https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/user/settings/token

export SCIX_API_TOKEN="your-token-here"
# or, for backwards compatibility:
export ADS_API_TOKEN="your-token-here"

Related MCP server: NASA ADS MCP Server

Quick Start: MCP

Give your AI assistant access to the entire SciX database.

Install

cargo install scix-client --features cli
# or: cargo binstall scix-client

Automatic setup (recommended)

scix setup

This detects your installed editors (Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Cursor, Zed), prompts for your API token, validates it, and writes the correct config for each one. Run it once and you're done.

Options:

• scix setup claude-code — configure only Claude Code

• scix setup --yes — non-interactive (uses env token, configures all detected editors)

• scix setup --skip-validation — skip token validation

Manual setup

claude mcp add scix -- /path/to/scix serve

Add to ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "scix": {
      "command": "/path/to/scix",
      "args": ["serve"],
      "env": { "SCIX_API_TOKEN": "your-token-here" }
    }
  }
}

See docs/mcp-server.md for Cursor, Zed, full tool reference, and example workflows.

Quick Start: CLI

cargo install scix-client --features cli

scix search 'first_author:"Perlmutter" supernova' --sort "citation_count desc"
scix export 1999ApJ...517..565P --format bibtex
scix cites 1999ApJ...517..565P --rows 50
scix libraries create "Thesis Papers" --description "Key references"

See docs/cli.md for all commands including library permissions, notes, and set operations.

Quick Start: Python

pip install scix-client

import scix_client

client = scix_client.SciXClient()
results = client.search('author:"Einstein" year:1905', rows=5)
for paper in results.papers:
    print(f"{paper.title} ({paper.year}) — {paper.citation_count} citations")

See docs/python.md for the full API reference including v0.2.0 library management methods.

Quick Start: Rust

[dependencies]
scix-client = "0.3"

use scix_client::SciXClient;

#[tokio::main]
async fn main() -> scix_client::error::Result<()> {
    let client = SciXClient::from_env()?;
    let results = client.search("author:\"Einstein\" year:1905", 5).await?;
    for paper in &results.papers {
        println!("{} — {} citations", paper.title, paper.citation_count.unwrap_or(0));
    }
    Ok(())
}

See docs/rust.md for the full API, error handling, and architecture.

Query Syntax Quick Reference

Boolean: AND, OR, NOT, parentheses Functional: citations(bibcode:X), references(bibcode:X), similar(bibcode:X) Sort: date desc (default), citation_count desc, score desc, read_count desc

See docs/query-syntax.md for the full reference including all 17 export formats.

Rate Limiting

The SciX API allows 5,000 requests/day and 5 requests/second. scix-client handles rate limiting automatically — a token-bucket rate limiter enforces 5 req/s locally, and API rate-limit headers are respected.

License

MIT