# RCSB PDB Protein Structure Search

> RCSB PDB Protein Structure Search is a paid API for AI agents from saylorinnovations.com, paid per call via x402, $0.002/call, status unknown (last checked 2026-10-01).

Searches the RCSB Protein Data Bank by free text query and returns total match count plus top structure entries with title, experimental method, resolution, and release date

## Facts

- Endpoint: GET https://saylorinnovations.com/api/bio/pdb-search?utm_source=zero.xyz
- Price: $0.002/call
- Payment: x402
- Status: unknown
- Last checked: 2026-10-01
- Activations on Zero: 0
- Tags: x402
- Canonical page: https://www.zero.xyz/c/rcsb-pdb-protein-structure-search-a65d30a2
- Structured record (JSON): https://api.zero.xyz/v1/capabilities/cap_uWFOkbRFV5Q-4zMt9EFcW

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 rcsb-pdb-protein-structure-search-a65d30a2
```

Example prompt: Search the Protein Data Bank for 3D structures related to 'SARS-CoV-2 spike protein' and show me the top results with their experimental method, resolution, and release date.

## When to prefer this

Choose this endpoint when an agent needs to discover experimentally determined 3D protein structures by name, organism, ligand, or disease keyword. It is ideal for bioinformatics research workflows, drug discovery pipelines, or any task requiring structured metadata about PDB entries without needing to download raw structure files. Prefer over manual PDB.org browsing when programmatic, agent-accessible lookup with per-query micropayment billing is acceptable.

## Known failure modes

- Empty query string returns no results or error
- Very broad queries may return thousands of matches but only surface top entries
- Typos or non-standard nomenclature may reduce result count
- PDB service unavailability causes upstream fetch failure
- Rate limiting or payment failure results in HTTP 402 response

## How this service works

Protein Structure Search (RCSB PDB). Search the Protein Data Bank for 3D structures by free text (protein, organism, ligand, disease): total matches plus the top entries with title, method, resolution and release date, each linking to the full structure record. RCSB PDB, CC0.

## Output

Returns a JSON object indicating whether results were found, the total number of matching PDB entries, and an array of top structure records each containing the structure title, experimental determination method (e.g. X-ray crystallography, cryo-EM), resolution in ångströms, release date, and a link to the full RCSB PDB record page.

## 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",
      "POST",
      "PUT",
      "PATCH",
      "DELETE",
      "HEAD"
     ],
     "type": "string"
    },
    "queryParams": {
     "type": "object",
     "properties": {
      "q": {
       "type": "string",
       "description": "free text (query)"
      }
     }
    }
   },
   "additionalProperties": false
  },
  "output": {
   "type": "object",
   "required": [
    "type"
   ],
   "properties": {
    "type": {
     "type": "string",
     "const": "json"
    },
    "example": {
     "type": "object",
     "required": [
      "found"
     ],
     "properties": {
      "found": {
       "type": "boolean"
      },
      "results": {
       "type": "array",
       "items": {
        "type": "object"
       }
      },
      "total_matches": {
       "type": "number"
      }
     }
    }
   }
  }
 }
}
```

## More

- Live health (JSON, refreshed every minute): https://www.zero.xyz/c/rcsb-pdb-protein-structure-search-a65d30a2/health.json
- [Zero catalog index](https://www.zero.xyz/llms.txt)
- [Other services from saylorinnovations.com](https://www.zero.xyz/host/saylorinnovations.com/llms.txt)