# OpenAlex Works Search via Project API

> OpenAlex Works Search via Project API is a paid API for AI agents from project-api-gamma-sable.vercel.app, paid per call via x402, $0.01/call, status unknown (last checked 2026-10-10).

Search academic works (papers, articles, books) from the OpenAlex dataset via a paid x402 endpoint, returning slim JSON results with a UI link.

## Facts

- Endpoint: GET https://project-api-gamma-sable.vercel.app/paid/openalex/works?utm_source=zero.xyz
- Price: $0.01/call
- Payment: x402
- Status: unknown
- Last checked: 2026-10-10
- Activations on Zero: 0
- Tags: x402
- Canonical page: https://www.zero.xyz/c/openalex-works-search-via-project-api-5a43b240
- Structured record (JSON): https://api.zero.xyz/v1/capabilities/cap_QY74NGlxngOShi2OEUcJ7

Status and success rate cover calls made through Zero and Zero's own probes. Third-party monitors may report differently.

## How to call it through Zero

Zero handles the 402 payment challenge and records the run. With the Zero CLI installed (`npm i -g @zeroxyz/cli`):

```sh
zero fetch --capability openalex-works-search-via-project-api-5a43b240
```

Example prompt: Search OpenAlex for academic works about 'transformer neural networks in NLP' and show me the first 10 results.

## When to prefer this

Choose this endpoint when you need programmatic access to OpenAlex's academic works index and are operating in an x402-compatible payment context (USDC on Base). Prefer this over direct OpenAlex API calls when you want a pre-proxied, agent-friendly slim JSON format with UI links included, and when micropayment-per-call billing ($0.01 USDC) is acceptable.

## Known failure modes

- HTTP 402 returned if USDC payment on Base is not included in the request
- Empty items array if no works match the search term
- Invalid or missing 'search' query param causes request failure
- Pagination beyond available results returns empty items
- Network or Vercel cold-start latency may slow response

## How this service works

Paid public-data feeds. Unpaid requests return HTTP 402. Prices are USDC on Base.

## Output

A slim JSON object containing an array of academic work items from OpenAlex (titles, authors, DOIs, and related metadata), a source path, a description field, and a UI link to view results interactively on OpenAlex.

## Request schema (JSON Schema)

```json
{
 "type": "object",
 "$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema",
 "required": [
  "input"
 ],
 "properties": {
  "input": {
   "type": "object",
   "required": [
    "type",
    "method"
   ],
   "properties": {
    "type": {
     "type": "string",
     "const": "http"
    },
    "method": {
     "enum": [
      "GET"
     ],
     "type": "string"
    },
    "queryParams": {
     "type": "object",
     "required": [
      "search"
     ],
     "properties": {
      "q": {
       "type": "string",
       "description": "Free-text query"
      },
      "page": {
       "type": "string",
       "description": "Page number"
      },
      "limit": {
       "type": "string",
       "description": "Max results"
      },
      "search": {
       "type": "string",
       "description": "Search term (alias of q)"
      },
      "per_page": {
       "type": "string",
       "description": "Query param: per_page"
      }
     }
    }
   },
   "additionalProperties": false
  },
  "output": {
   "type": "object",
   "required": [
    "type"
   ],
   "properties": {
    "type": {
     "type": "string"
    },
    "example": {
     "type": "object"
    }
   }
  }
 }
}
```

## Response schema (JSON Schema)

```json
{
 "type": "json",
 "example": {
  "what": "OpenAlex works search (slim JSON + uiLink)",
  "items": [],
  "source": "/paid/openalex/works"
 }
}
```

## More

- Live health (JSON, refreshed every minute): https://www.zero.xyz/c/openalex-works-search-via-project-api-5a43b240/health.json
- [Zero catalog index](https://www.zero.xyz/llms.txt)
- [Other services from project-api-gamma-sable.vercel.app](https://www.zero.xyz/host/project-api-gamma-sable.vercel.app/llms.txt)