Agent skill

Core API Guide

by wentorai in wentorai/research-plugins

Search and retrieve open access research papers via CORE aggregator

MITAuto-check passedResearch & Science

Install Core API Guide

skills CLI
$ npx skills add wentorai/research-plugins --skill core-api-guide -a claude-code

Project install by default; add -g for ~/.claude/skills/.

GitHub CLI
$ gh skill install wentorai/research-plugins core-api-guide --agent claude-code

Project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).

Manual copy
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/wentorai/research-plugins.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/literature/fulltext/core-api-guide .claude/skills/core-api-guide && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.claude/skills/ instead of .claude/skills for a personal install. The folder must contain SKILL.md.

Claude Code skills documentation · loads skills from .claude/skills/

Facts

Skill name
core-api-guide
GitHub stars
298
Used in
1 other repo
Token cost
~1.4k tokens
SKILL.md length
478 words
Files
1
Skills in repo
428
Repo updated
First seen
Licence
MIT

At a glance

Search and retrieve open access research papers via CORE aggregator

  • Research & Science work in your project
  • SKILL.md covers Overview, Authentication, Core Endpoints and Common Research Patterns, plus 2 more sections
  • Calls curl and python3; reaches api.core.ac.uk; needs CORE_API_KEY

What it does

Core API Guide is an agent skill from wentorai/research-plugins. Search and retrieve open access research papers via CORE aggregator

Its SKILL.md is about 1.4k tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. It is a single SKILL.md file with no bundled scripts.

It sits in Research & Science. The repository describes itself as: 350+ academic research skills, MCP configs, and plugins for Research-Claw and AI agents. The licence is MIT.

When your agent uses it

  • Research & Science work in your project

Example prompts

  • “/core-api-guide”

Requirements

  • Python 3
  • A credential in CORE_API_KEY

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit bf44b3c. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.

  • Tool permissions

    Pre-approves nothing: there is no allowed-tools line, so your agent's usual permission prompts apply.

    From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.

  • Runs code

    Shell commands in SKILL.md call:

    • curl
    • python3

    From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.

  • Network

    Hosts in commands or code, which the agent is likely to contact:

    • api.core.ac.uk

    Also links to:

    • core.ac.uk
    • github.com

    From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.

  • Credentials

    Names these keys or tokens, usually read from environment variables:

    • CORE_API_KEY

    From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.

Context cost

Core API Guide loads about 1.4k tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 21 tokens; SKILL.md has 478 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it
~21
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches
~1.4k

Estimates: characters ÷ 4, the usual rule of thumb; real counts depend on the model's tokenizer. Scripts and assets cost tokens only if the agent reads them.

Safety

Auto-check passed

The automated check found no risky patterns in SKILL.md.

Automated static check — not a guarantee. Review scripts before installing. It scans the text of SKILL.md for risky patterns (piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files, hidden Unicode, destructive commands); files beside SKILL.md are not scanned.

SKILL.md

The full file from wentorai/research-plugins at commit bf44b3c, republished under its MIT licence (© wentorai). 478 words, ~1,352 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/core-api-guide/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder).
name
core-api-guide
description
Search and retrieve open access research papers via CORE aggregator

CORE API Guide

Overview

CORE (COnnecting REpositories) is the world's largest aggregator of open access research papers, providing access to over 130 million articles harvested from thousands of data providers worldwide. The CORE API enables programmatic search, retrieval, and analysis of scholarly full-text content across repositories, journals, and preprint servers.

The API is particularly valuable for researchers conducting systematic reviews, bibliometric analyses, and literature mining tasks. Unlike many scholarly APIs that only provide metadata, CORE specializes in delivering full-text content, making it essential for text mining and natural language processing workflows in academic research.

CORE's v3 API provides a RESTful interface with JSON responses, supporting complex search queries with Boolean operators, field-specific filtering, and batch operations. It is free for non-commercial academic use, though an API key is required to access the service.

Authentication

CORE requires a free API key for all requests. Register at https://core.ac.uk/services/api to obtain one.

Always store your API key in an environment variable and reference it in requests:

bash
export CORE_API_KEY=$CORE_API_KEY

Pass the key via the Authorization header:

bash
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $CORE_API_KEY" \
  "https://api.core.ac.uk/v3/search/works?q=machine+learning"

Core Endpoints

Search Works

Search across the entire CORE corpus with full-text and metadata queries.

GET https://api.core.ac.uk/v3/search/works?q={query}&limit={n}&offset={n}

Parameters:

  • q (required): Search query string, supports Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT)
  • limit: Number of results (default 10, max 100)
  • offset: Pagination offset
  • entity_type: Filter by type (e.g., journal-article, preprint)

Example: Search for climate change papers with full text:

bash
curl -s -H "Authorization: Bearer $CORE_API_KEY" \
  "https://api.core.ac.uk/v3/search/works?q=climate+change+adaptation&limit=5" \
  | python3 -m json.tool

Python example:

python
import requests
import os

headers = {"Authorization": f"Bearer {os.environ['CORE_API_KEY']}"}
params = {
    "q": "deep learning AND medical imaging",
    "limit": 20,
    "offset": 0
}
resp = requests.get("https://api.core.ac.uk/v3/search/works", headers=headers, params=params)
data = resp.json()

for result in data.get("results", []):
    print(f"Title: {result.get('title')}")
    print(f"DOI: {result.get('doi')}")
    print(f"Year: {result.get('yearPublished')}")
    print(f"Full text length: {len(result.get('fullText', ''))}")
    print("---")
Get Work by ID

Retrieve a specific paper by its CORE ID or DOI.

GET https://api.core.ac.uk/v3/works/{core_id}
bash
curl -s -H "Authorization: Bearer $CORE_API_KEY" \
  "https://api.core.ac.uk/v3/works/doi:10.1234/example.doi" \
  | python3 -m json.tool
Batch Retrieval

Retrieve multiple works in a single request using POST with a list of IDs.

bash
curl -s -X POST -H "Authorization: Bearer $CORE_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '[12345, 67890, 11111]' \
  "https://api.core.ac.uk/v3/works"
Search Data Providers

List or search CORE's data providers (repositories, journals).

GET https://api.core.ac.uk/v3/data-providers?q={query}
Show full SKILL.md (211 more words)Show less

Common Research Patterns

Systematic Literature Review: Use Boolean queries to replicate a search strategy across the full-text corpus. Combine with date filters to identify papers within a specific time window, then export results for screening in tools like Rayyan or Covidence.

Full-Text Mining: Retrieve full-text content programmatically for NLP pipelines. Extract named entities, key phrases, or citation contexts at scale across thousands of papers.

Repository Coverage Analysis: Query data providers to understand which institutional repositories contribute to a specific field, useful for bibliometric and open-access policy research.

Trend Detection: Run time-series queries for specific terms and track publication volume over years to identify emerging research fronts.

Rate Limits and Best Practices

  • Free tier: 150 requests per 15-minute window (10 req/min effective)
  • Batch endpoints: Use batch retrieval for multiple IDs to minimize request count
  • Pagination: Always use offset and limit for large result sets; do not fetch all results in one call
  • Caching: Cache responses locally for repeat queries, especially for static metadata
  • Respect robots.txt: When downloading full texts, add delays between requests
  • Error handling: The API returns standard HTTP status codes; implement exponential backoff for 429 (rate limit) responses

References

© wentorai, MIT. Rendered from Markdown: HTML in the file is shown as text, images as links, and headings moved down two levels. Raw file

Files

Just SKILL.md in skills/literature/fulltext/core-api-guide of wentorai/research-plugins.

Open the folder on GitHubat commit bf44b3c

Used in 1 other repository

We found 1 copy of this SKILL.md (exact, near-identical or edited) in other folders, from 1 other GitHub owner. This page covers the copy in wentorai/research-plugins, which our catalogue first saw on October 7, 2026.

Compare with similar skills

Core API Guide next to the 5 skills that share the most tags, products or categories with it. Stars are the repository's; “used in” counts other GitHub owners with a copy.

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Core API Guide this skillwentorai/research-plugins2981 repos~1.4kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
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GitHub Deep Researchbytedance/deer-flow83k5 repos~1.3kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Nature Paper CardYuan1z0825/nature-skills46k2 repos~2.1kAutomated safety check: PassApache-2.0
Read arXiv Paperkarpathy/nanochat58k2 repos~494Automated safety check: PassMIT
Content Research Writerweapp-tailwindcss/weapp-tailwindcss1.9k25 repos~3.5kAutomated safety check: PassMIT

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Questions about Core API Guide

What does Core API Guide do?

Search and retrieve open access research papers via CORE aggregator. Core API Guide is an agent skill from wentorai/research-plugins.

When should I use Core API Guide?

Core API Guide fits situations like: research & Science work in your project.

How do I install Core API Guide in Claude Code?

Run `npx skills add wentorai/research-plugins --skill core-api-guide -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/literature/fulltext/core-api-guide in wentorai/research-plugins) into .claude/skills/core-api-guide in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.

How do I install Core API Guide in Codex?

Run `npx skills add wentorai/research-plugins --skill core-api-guide -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/literature/fulltext/core-api-guide in wentorai/research-plugins) into .agents/skills/core-api-guide in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.

Can I use Core API Guide in Cursor, Gemini CLI or GitHub Copilot?

Cursor, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot and OpenCode also load SKILL.md folders. With the skills CLI, run `npx skills add wentorai/research-plugins --skill core-api-guide -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/core-api-guide, .gemini/skills/core-api-guide, .github/skills/core-api-guide and .opencode/skills/core-api-guide in your project.

What does Core API Guide need to run?

Going by SKILL.md and its folder, Core API Guide needs the command-line tools its instructions call (curl and python3) and credentials named CORE_API_KEY. Our summary lists: Python 3; A credential in CORE_API_KEY.

Does Core API Guide access the network?

SKILL.md names 3 domains. In commands or code: api.core.ac.uk; the agent is likely to contact it when it follows the instructions. As links in the text: core.ac.uk and github.com. This is read from the text; nothing was executed.

Is Core API Guide safe to install?

Our automated static check of SKILL.md found no risky patterns, such as piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files or hidden Unicode. It is not a guarantee. Review the folder before installing.

What licence does Core API Guide use?

Core API Guide is published under the MIT licence (the repository's licence). It allows redistribution, so the full SKILL.md is shown on this page.

How many tokens does Core API Guide use?

About 1.4k tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 5.4k characters). Agents keep only the skill's name and description in context until a task matches; then they load SKILL.md in full.

What are the alternatives to Core API Guide?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with Core API Guide: Hypothesis Generation (spacering-net/codeg, 3.8k stars), GitHub Deep Research (bytedance/deer-flow, 83k stars), Nature Paper Card (Yuan1z0825/nature-skills, 46k stars) and Read arXiv Paper (karpathy/nanochat, 58k stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains Core API Guide?

wentorai (a GitHub user) maintains it in wentorai/research-plugins, which has 298 GitHub stars. The repository holds 428 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on June 19, 2026.

Source: wentorai/research-plugins on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.