# PubMed Biomedical Literature Search

> PubMed Biomedical Literature Search is a paid API for AI agents from x402.agentutility.ai, paid per call via x402, $0.01/call, status unknown (last checked 2026-10-11).

Searches PubMed for biomedical and clinical research papers by free-text query, returning PMIDs, titles, authors, abstracts, MeSH terms, DOIs, and total hit counts.

## Facts

- Endpoint: POST https://x402.agentutility.ai/pubmed-search?utm_source=zero.xyz
- Price: $0.01/call
- Payment: x402
- Status: unknown
- Last checked: 2026-10-11
- Activations on Zero: 0
- Tags: x402
- Canonical page: https://www.zero.xyz/c/pubmed-biomedical-literature-search-e64eb7b7
- Structured record (JSON): https://api.zero.xyz/v1/capabilities/cap_QHNbyo6_F197RZ3WZmSI9

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 pubmed-biomedical-literature-search-e64eb7b7 -d '<json body>'
```

Example prompt: Search PubMed for papers on CRISPR gene therapy for sickle cell disease published between 2020 and 2024, sorted by relevance, and give me the titles, authors, abstracts, and DOIs for the top results.

## When to prefer this

Use this endpoint when an agent needs structured, citation-quality biomedical literature data — including abstracts, MeSH terms, and DOIs — directly from the authoritative NIH PubMed database. Prefer it over general web search for medical/clinical queries because results are peer-reviewed, structured, and include rich metadata. Ideal for literature reviews, evidence synthesis, clinical research lookups, and any task requiring NCBI E-utilities data without managing API keys directly. The $0.01 per-call USDC pricing via x402 makes it accessible for autonomous agents.

## Known failure modes

- Query returns zero results if search terms are too specific or misspelled
- Date range filters may exclude relevant preprints or ahead-of-print articles
- Some older papers may lack DOIs or MeSH term annotations
- Rate or usage limits may apply under high query volume
- Abstract may be absent for some older or retracted articles

## How this service works

Searches PubMed for biomedical literature by free-text query, with optional date range and sort (relevance / pub_date / first_author). Returns total hit count plus PMID, title, authors, journal, publication date, abstract, MeSH terms, and DOI per paper. Federal public-domain data via NCBI. Use it as a medical journal lookup, NIH paper search, clinical-research finder, MeSH-term query, or NCBI E-utilities wrapper.

## Output

Returns a total hit count for the query plus a list of matching papers, each containing PMID, title, author list, journal name, publication date, full abstract, MeSH terms, and DOI. Data is sourced from NCBI's public-domain federal database.

## 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",
    "bodyType",
    "body"
   ],
   "properties": {
    "body": {
     "required": [
      "query"
     ],
     "properties": {
      "sort": {
       "enum": [
        "relevance",
        "pub_date",
        "first_author"
       ],
       "type": "string",
       "description": "Result ordering. Default 'relevance'."
      },
      "limit": {
       "type": "number",
       "description": "Max papers to return. 1-50. Default 10."
      },
      "query": {
       "type": "string",
       "description": "PubMed query string. Supports field tags ('cancer[Title]', 'Smith J[Author]'), boolean operators, and MeSH terms."
      },
      "date_to": {
       "type": "string",
       "description": "Upper bound on publication date (YYYY/MM/DD or YYYY-MM-DD)."
      },
      "date_from": {
       "type": "string",
       "description": "Lower bound on publication date (YYYY/MM/DD or YYYY-MM-DD)."
      },
      "include_abstract": {
       "type": "boolean",
       "description": "If true (default), include the abstract text per paper. Set false for a smaller, faster response."
      }
     }
    },
    "type": {
     "type": "string",
     "const": "http"
    },
    "method": {
     "enum": [
      "POST"
     ],
     "type": "string"
    },
    "bodyType": {
     "enum": [
      "json",
      "form-data",
      "text"
     ],
     "type": "string"
    }
   },
   "additionalProperties": false
  },
  "output": {
   "type": "object",
   "required": [
    "type"
   ],
   "properties": {
    "type": {
     "type": "string"
    },
    "example": {
     "type": "object",
     "properties": {
      "sort": {
       "type": "string"
      },
      "query": {
       "type": "string"
      },
      "total": {
       "type": "integer"
      },
      "papers": {
       "type": "array",
       "items": {
        "type": "object",
        "properties": {
         "pmid": {
          "type": "string"
         },
         "title": {
          "type": "string"
         },
         "authors": {
          "type": "array",
          "items": {
           "type": "string"
          }
         }
        }
       }
      },
      "source": {
       "type": "string"
      },
      "date_to": {
       "type": "null"
      },
      "returned": {
       "type": "integer"
      },
      "da
… (truncated)
```

## Response schema (JSON Schema)

```json
{
 "type": "json",
 "example": {
  "sort": "relevance",
  "query": "CRISPR sickle cell",
  "total": 451,
  "papers": [
   {
    "pmid": "33283989",
    "title": "CRISPR-Cas9 Gene Editing for Sickle Cell Disease and β-Thalassemia.",
    "authors": [
     "Frangoul H",
     "Altshuler D",
     "Cappellini MD"
    ]
   }
  ],
  "source": "NCBI PubMed E-utilities",
  "date_to": null,
  "returned": 3,
  "date_from": null
 }
}
```

## More

- Live health (JSON, refreshed every minute): https://www.zero.xyz/c/pubmed-biomedical-literature-search-e64eb7b7/health.json
- [Zero catalog index](https://www.zero.xyz/llms.txt)
- [Other services from x402.agentutility.ai](https://www.zero.xyz/host/x402.agentutility.ai/llms.txt)