Elicit API

The Elicit API provides programmatic access to Elicit's research capabilities, including semantic search over 138 million+ academic papers and automated report generation.

Authentication

All API requests require a Bearer token in the Authorization header:

Authorization: Bearer elk_live_your_key_here

API keys can be created and managed from your Elicit account settings.

Billing

API access requires a Pro plan or above. Search requests are rate-limited based on your plan tier — see the Search endpoint for details.

Code Examples

Working examples in curl, Python, and JavaScript, plus integrations (CLI tool, Slack bot, Claude Code skill):

github.com/elicit/api-examples

Error Handling

All errors return a consistent JSON structure with an error object containing a machine-readable code and a human-readable message.

MCP Server

All API functionality is also available via MCP (Model Context Protocol) server, enabling use from Claude Desktop, Claude Code, and other MCP-compatible clients. Authentication is via OAuth 2.0.

Search

One-shot searches over papers and clinical trials.

Search Operations

• post/search/papers
• post/search/trials

Search for academic papers

Auth Required

Search Elicit's database of over 138 million academic papers using natural language queries.

Limits

Each plan caps how many results a single search request may return:

Example

curl -X POST https://elicit.com/api/v2/search/papers \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer elk_live_your_key_here" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"query": "effects of sleep deprivation on cognitive performance"}'

Response Example for post/search/papers

{
  "papers": [
    {
      "elicitId": "abc123def456",
      "title": "Effects of Sleep Deprivation on Cognitive Performance: A Meta-Analysis",
      "authors": [
        "Smith, J.",
        "Jones, A.",
        "Williams, R."
      ],
      "year": 2023,
      "abstract": "This meta-analysis examines the relationship between sleep deprivation and various measures of cognitive performance...",
      "doi": "10.1234/sleep.2023.001",
      "pmid": "37123456",
      "venue": "Sleep Medicine Reviews",
      "citedByCount": 42,
      "urls": [
        "https://example.com/paper.pdf"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "warnings": []
}

Search clinical trials

Auth Required

Search for clinical trials. Trial records come from ClinicalTrials.gov.

Example

curl -X POST https://elicit.com/api/v2/search/trials \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer elk_live_your_key_here" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"query": "semaglutide obesity", "trialFilters": {"phase": ["PHASE3"]}}'

Response Example for post/search/trials

{
  "trials": [
    {
      "nctId": "NCT05646706",
      "title": "A Research Study on Semaglutide for Weight Loss",
      "summary": "This study will look at how much weight participants lose...",
      "url": "https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT05646706",
      "overallStatus": "COMPLETED",
      "phase": [
        "PHASE3"
      ],
      "studyType": "INTERVENTIONAL",
      "enrollmentCount": 1407,
      "conditions": [
        "Obesity"
      ],
      "interventions": [
        "Semaglutide",
        "Placebo"
      ],
      "leadSponsor": "Novo Nordisk A/S",
      "startDate": "2022-10-10",
      "primaryCompletionDate": "2024-04-12",
      "completionDate": "2024-05-24",
      "hasResults": true,
      "lastUpdatedYear": 2025
    }
  ],
  "warnings": []
}

Sessions

Long-running research sessions. Reports and systematic reviews are kinds of sessions; list and resume them uniformly here.

Example to List Sessions

# First page
curl https://elicit.com/api/v2/sessions?limit=10 \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer elk_live_your_key_here"

Response Example for get/sessions

{
  "sessions": [
    {
      "type": "report",
      "sessionId": "5ad08bfb-cbe0-4911-a8c3-309760d33029",
      "status": "completed",
      "executionStage": "done",
      "title": "What are the effects of GLP-1 receptor agonists on cardiovascular outcomes?",
      "url": "https://elicit.com/review/5ad08bfb-cbe0-4911-a8c3-309760d33029",
      "source": "api",
      "createdAt": "2025-06-15T14:30:00.000Z",
      "isPublic": false,
      "links": {
        "self": "https://elicit.com/api/v2/sessions/reports/5ad08bfb-cbe0-4911-a8c3-309760d33029"
      }
    }
  ],
  "nextCursor": null
}

Resume a paused session

Auth Required

Resume a report or systematic review that was automatically paused because your account was over its usage limit.

Example to Resume Session

curl -X POST https://elicit.com/api/v2/sessions/{sessionId}/resume \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer elk_live_your_key_here"

Response Example for post/sessions/{sessionId}/resume

{
  "type": "systematicReview",
  "sessionId": "e3d0f5c4-88f6-4c3f-b6a3-0b57a2f1d3aa",
  "status": "processing",
  "executionStage": "screening_abstract",
  "url": "https://elicit.com/review/e3d0f5c4-88f6-4c3f-b6a3-0b57a2f1d3aa",
  "isPublic": false,
  "links": {
    "self": "https://elicit.com/api/v2/sessions/systematic-reviews/e3d0f5c4-88f6-4c3f-b6a3-0b57a2f1d3aa"
  }
}