NASA ADS (Astrophysics Data System)

api.adsabs.harvard.edu · Science

Science Bearer Token Free Tier Astronomy Astrophysics Academic

Harvard-hosted NASA Astrophysics Data System — search and retrieve metadata and full text for millions of astronomy, astrophysics, and physics papers. Free API token, 5,000 queries/day.

Authentication

Bearer token Free API token — create an account at ui.adsabs.harvard.edu, then generate a token under your profile. Pass as Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN.

Sample Requests

GET Search astronomy papers

Search the ADS library for astrophysics papers.

https://api.adsabs.harvard.edu/v1/search/query?q=black holes&fl=title,author,year&rows=5

Hover any highlighted part to learn what it does

Headers — extra info sent with the request

Authorization

Bearer YOUR_TOKEN

curl -X GET "https://api.adsabs.harvard.edu/v1/search/query?q=black%20holes&fl=title%2Cauthor%2Cyear&rows=5" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN"

import requests
params = {
    "q": "black holes",
    "fl": "title,author,year",
    "rows": "5"
}
headers = {
    "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN"
}
response = requests.get(
    "https://api.adsabs.harvard.edu/v1/search/query",
    params=params,
    headers=headers,
)
print(response.json())

const url = new URL('https://api.adsabs.harvard.edu/v1/search/query');
url.searchParams.set('q', 'black holes');
url.searchParams.set('fl', 'title,author,year');
url.searchParams.set('rows', '5');

const response = await fetch(url, {
  headers: {
    'Authorization': 'Bearer YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN'
  },
}); 
const data = await response.json();
console.log(data);

package main

import (
	"fmt"
	"io"
	"net/http"
	"net/url"
)

func main() {
	baseURL, _ := url.Parse("https://api.adsabs.harvard.edu/v1/search/query")
	q := baseURL.Query()
	q.Set("q", "black holes")
	q.Set("fl", "title,author,year")
	q.Set("rows", "5")
	baseURL.RawQuery = q.Encode()
	targetURL := baseURL.String()
	req, _ := http.NewRequest("GET", targetURL, nil)
	req.Header.Set("Authorization", "Bearer YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN")

	client := &http.Client{}
	resp, _ := client.Do(req)
	defer resp.Body.Close()
	body, _ := io.ReadAll(resp.Body)
	fmt.Println(string(body))
}

require "net/http"
require "json"

uri = URI("https://api.adsabs.harvard.edu/v1/search/query")
uri.query = URI.encode_www_form({
  "q" => "black holes",
  "fl" => "title,author,year",
  "rows" => "5"
})

http = Net::HTTP.new(uri.host, uri.port)
http.use_ssl = uri.scheme == "https"

req = Net::HTTP::Get.new(uri)
req["Authorization"] = "Bearer YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN"

res = http.request(req)
puts JSON.parse(res.body)

<?php
$url = "https://api.adsabs.harvard.edu/v1/search/query?" . http_build_query([
    "q" => "black holes",
    "fl" => "title,author,year",
    "rows" => "5"
]);
$opts = ["http" => [
    "method" => "GET",
    "header" => implode("\r\n", [
        "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN"
    ]),
]];
$ctx = stream_context_create($opts);
$res = file_get_contents($url, false, $ctx);
print_r(json_decode($res, true));

GET Fetch paper abstract

Fetch a specific paper by its ADS bibcode.

https://api.adsabs.harvard.edu/v1/search/query?q=bibcode:2016ApJ...821L..18P&fl=title,abstract,author,citation_count

Hover any highlighted part to learn what it does

Headers — extra info sent with the request

Authorization

Bearer YOUR_TOKEN

curl -X GET "https://api.adsabs.harvard.edu/v1/search/query?q=bibcode%3A2016ApJ...821L..18P&fl=title%2Cabstract%2Cauthor%2Ccitation_count" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN"

import requests
params = {
    "q": "bibcode:2016ApJ...821L..18P",
    "fl": "title,abstract,author,citation_count"
}
headers = {
    "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN"
}
response = requests.get(
    "https://api.adsabs.harvard.edu/v1/search/query",
    params=params,
    headers=headers,
)
print(response.json())

const url = new URL('https://api.adsabs.harvard.edu/v1/search/query');
url.searchParams.set('q', 'bibcode:2016ApJ...821L..18P');
url.searchParams.set('fl', 'title,abstract,author,citation_count');

const response = await fetch(url, {
  headers: {
    'Authorization': 'Bearer YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN'
  },
}); 
const data = await response.json();
console.log(data);

package main

import (
	"fmt"
	"io"
	"net/http"
	"net/url"
)

func main() {
	baseURL, _ := url.Parse("https://api.adsabs.harvard.edu/v1/search/query")
	q := baseURL.Query()
	q.Set("q", "bibcode:2016ApJ...821L..18P")
	q.Set("fl", "title,abstract,author,citation_count")
	baseURL.RawQuery = q.Encode()
	targetURL := baseURL.String()
	req, _ := http.NewRequest("GET", targetURL, nil)
	req.Header.Set("Authorization", "Bearer YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN")

	client := &http.Client{}
	resp, _ := client.Do(req)
	defer resp.Body.Close()
	body, _ := io.ReadAll(resp.Body)
	fmt.Println(string(body))
}

require "net/http"
require "json"

uri = URI("https://api.adsabs.harvard.edu/v1/search/query")
uri.query = URI.encode_www_form({
  "q" => "bibcode:2016ApJ...821L..18P",
  "fl" => "title,abstract,author,citation_count"
})

http = Net::HTTP.new(uri.host, uri.port)
http.use_ssl = uri.scheme == "https"

req = Net::HTTP::Get.new(uri)
req["Authorization"] = "Bearer YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN"

res = http.request(req)
puts JSON.parse(res.body)

<?php
$url = "https://api.adsabs.harvard.edu/v1/search/query?" . http_build_query([
    "q" => "bibcode:2016ApJ...821L..18P",
    "fl" => "title,abstract,author,citation_count"
]);
$opts = ["http" => [
    "method" => "GET",
    "header" => implode("\r\n", [
        "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN"
    ]),
]];
$ctx = stream_context_create($opts);
$res = file_get_contents($url, false, $ctx);
print_r(json_decode($res, true));

Postman Setup Guide

Get Postman ↗

Create a free account at ui.adsabs.harvard.edu
Go to your profile → Generate a new API token
Set Authorization header: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN
Try GET https://api.adsabs.harvard.edu/v1/search/query?q=exoplanets&fl=title,author,year&rows=5
Limit: 5,000 queries/day

What can you build with NASA ADS (Astrophysics Data System)?

NASA ADS (Astrophysics Data System) is a Science API. Developers commonly use science APIs for:

accessing research datasets and scientific literature
powering academic and R&D applications
running scientific calculations and simulations
visualising experimental and observational data
integrating with research and reference databases

Bearer token. Your app exchanges credentials for a short-lived token, then sends it as an Authorization header. Tokens expire, so your code needs to handle renewal. NASA ADS (Astrophysics Data System) is free to use up to a usage limit, making it a low-risk choice to experiment with.

New to APIs? Read our beginner's guide

Open documentation ↗