Pp Retraction Checker

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Retraction Checker — Printing Press CLI

Created by @laci141 (laci141). Contributors: @cathrynlavery (Cathryn Lavery).

check and scan report expressions of concern separately from retractions. A failed check --json lookup returns a nonzero status after printing its error verdict.

Prerequisites: Install the CLI

This skill drives the retraction-checker-pp-cli binary. You must verify the CLI is installed before invoking any command from this skill. If it is missing, install it first:

1. Install via the Printing Press installer. It defaults binaries to $HOME/.local/bin on macOS/Linux and %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\PrintingPress\bin on Windows:

   npx -y @mvanhorn/printing-press-library install retraction-checker --cli-only

2. Verify: retraction-checker-pp-cli --version
3. Ensure the reported install directory is on $PATH for the agent/runtime that will invoke this skill.

If the npx install fails (no Node, offline, etc.), fall back to a direct Go install (requires Go 1.26.4 or newer). This installs into $GOPATH/bin (default $HOME/go/bin), so add that directory to $PATH instead:

go install github.com/mvanhorn/printing-press-library/library/other/retraction-checker/cmd/retraction-checker-pp-cli@latest

If --version reports "command not found" after install, the runtime cannot see the binary directory on $PATH. Do not proceed with skill commands until verification succeeds.

Retraction Checker turns Crossref's embedded Retraction Watch data into a one-shot verdict: is this DOI or PMID retracted, when, why, and where is the notice. It batch-scans reading lists and .bib files, finds citation-ranked superseding research via OpenAlex, and watches a topic or library for newly-announced retractions. Fully keyless.

When to Use This CLI

Use this CLI when an agent or researcher needs to verify that a cited paper has not been retracted, audit a bibliography for retracted references, or find current research that supersedes a retracted study. It is the right choice for citation-integrity checks in literature reviews and RAG pipelines.

Anti-triggers

Do not use this CLI for:

• Do not use this CLI to fetch full-text papers or PDFs
• Do not use it for general scholarly search unrelated to retraction — use scientific-consensus for consensus and evidence analytics

Unique Capabilities

These capabilities aren't available in any other tool for this API.

Retraction intelligence

• check — Tell whether a paper (by DOI or PMID) has been retracted, when, why, and where the notice is.

  Agents citing a paper should verify it is not retracted before relying on it.

  retraction-checker-pp-cli check 10.1016/j.micpro.2020.103768 --json

• scan — Batch-check a reading list or .bib file and flag every retracted entry.

  Catches retracted citations across a whole manuscript or literature review at once.

  retraction-checker-pp-cli scan refs.bib --json

• superseded — For a retracted or older paper, find related more-recent research on the same topic, ranked by citation count.

  When a paper is retracted, the agent still needs the current best evidence on the topic.

  retraction-checker-pp-cli superseded 10.1016/j.micpro.2020.103768 --json

Local state that compounds

• watch — Monitor a topic or reading list for newly-announced retractions since the last run.

  Surfaces new retractions in a field or personal library without re-reading everything.

  retraction-checker-pp-cli watch "machine learning" --json

  The first run saves a checkpoint without fetching historical notices. Later runs check newly indexed records, including Retraction Watch additions. Existing config-directory checkpoints are imported into the current state path, including when a state override is set.

Command Reference

works — Manage works

• retraction-checker-pp-cli works get — Get a single work by DOI
• retraction-checker-pp-cli works search — Search or filter scholarly works

Finding the right command

When you know what you want to do but not which command does it, ask the CLI directly:

retraction-checker-pp-cli which "<capability in your own words>"

which resolves a natural-language capability query to the best matching command from this CLI's curated feature index. Exit code 0 means at least one match; exit code 2 means no confident match — fall back to --help or use a narrower query.

Recipes

Check a DOI

retraction-checker-pp-cli check 10.1016/j.micpro.2020.103768 --json

Returns retraction status, date, reason source, and notice reference for one paper.

Audit a bibliography

retraction-checker-pp-cli scan reading-list.txt --agent --select doi,retracted,reason

Scans one DOI/PMID per line and returns only the key retraction fields for each entry.

Find superseding work

retraction-checker-pp-cli superseded 10.1016/j.micpro.2020.103768 --json

Lists more-recent related papers ranked by citations, published after the retracted paper.

Watch a field

retraction-checker-pp-cli watch "crispr" --json

Baselines retraction notices for a topic and reports new ones on later runs.

Auth Setup

No authentication required.

Run retraction-checker-pp-cli doctor to verify setup.

Agent Mode

Add --agent to any command. Expands to: --json --compact --no-input --no-color --yes.

• Pipeable — JSON on stdout, errors on stderr

• Filterable — --select keeps a subset of fields. Dotted paths descend into nested structures; arrays traverse element-wise. Critical for keeping context small on verbose APIs:

  retraction-checker-pp-cli works get mock-value --agent --select id,name,status

• Previewable — --dry-run shows the request without sending

• Offline-friendly — sync/search commands can use the local SQLite store when available

• Non-interactive — never prompts, every input is a flag

• Read-only — do not use this CLI for create, update, delete, publish, comment, upvote, invite, order, send, or other mutating requests

Response envelope

Commands that read from the local store or the API wrap output in a provenance envelope:

{
  "meta": {"source": "live" | "local", "synced_at": "...", "reason": "..."},
  "results": <data>
}

Parse .results for data and .meta.source to know whether it's live or local. A human-readable N results (live) summary is printed to stderr only when stdout is a terminal AND no machine-format flag (--json, --csv, --compact, --quiet, --plain, --select) is set — piped/agent consumers and explicit-format runs get pure JSON on stdout.