Figshare

A general research repository (figures, datasets, posters, papers, media). Use it when the user names Figshare or a figshare.com DOI, or wants files deposited there. It is not a journal index. For OA journal PDFs use Unpaywall; for EBI-hosted study packages use BioStudies; for CERN-style software dumps prefer Zenodo.

All figures below verified 2026-09-10.

Base URL

https://api.figshare.com/v2

Docs: https://docs.figshare.com/v2/

Authentication

Public article metadata does not need a token. Private records, uploads, and account endpoints do (Authorization: token ACCESS_TOKEN). This skill only uses the public routes.

Rate Limits

Documented on the API site; stay well under interactive use. Serialize.

Key Endpoints

1. Search — POST, not GET

POST /v2/articles/search
Content-Type: application/json

{"search_for": "CRISPR", "page": 1, "page_size": 10}

Verified: HTTP 200, a bare JSON array (no total, no hits wrapper). First hit was a CRISPR supplementary dataset (defined_type_name: dataset).

There is no count in the body and no useful Link/X-Count header on this call. Walk page until a page comes back shorter than page_size or empty. Do not invent a total.

GET is not a search. This is the trap that produces a confident wrong paper:

GET /v2/articles?search_for=CRISPR&page_size=1

Verified: HTTP 200, one article, title Social capital in the workplace…, DOI 10.1016/j.labeco.2007.07.006. The query string is ignored; you are listing articles. If the user asked for CRISPR and you used GET, you will report the wrong object with a 200.

2. One article

GET /v2/articles/{id}

GET /v2/articles/12345

Verified: HTTP 200 with id, title, doi, defined_type_name, url, authors, files, license. Use this after search, or when the user already has a Figshare id.

Files, when public, appear on the article object. A 404 is either no such id or a record you are not allowed to read (the API uses 404 for both).

Typical Workflow

1. POST /articles/search with a JSON body.
2. Read id, title, doi, defined_type_name from each element.
3. GET /articles/{id} only if you need files or a fuller record.
4. If they wanted papers about a topic, go to OpenAlex / PubMed. Figshare search is repository search.

Failure Modes