# Alphaxiv Paper Lookup

> Look up any arxiv paper on alphaxiv.org to get a structured AI-generated overview. This is faster and more reliable than trying to read a raw PDF. Use when this capability is needed.

- Skill: `tomevault-io/alphaxiv-paper-lookup` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 2 files)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add tomevault-io/alphaxiv-paper-lookup`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/tomevault-io/alphaxiv-paper-lookup/raw
- Safety review: pending (external: skill-scanner PASS, skillspector PASS)
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Docs & Writing
- Author: tomevault-io (https://skillmd.com/u/tomevault-io)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/tomevault-io/alphaxiv-paper-lookup

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# AlphaXiv Paper Lookup

Look up any arxiv paper on alphaxiv.org to get a structured AI-generated overview. This is faster and more reliable than trying to read a raw PDF.

## When to Use

- User shares an arxiv URL (e.g. `arxiv.org/abs/2401.12345`)
- User mentions a paper ID (e.g. `2401.12345`)
- User asks you to explain, summarize, or analyze a research paper
- User shares an alphaxiv URL (e.g. `alphaxiv.org/overview/2401.12345`)

## Workflow

### Step 1: Extract the paper ID

Parse the paper ID from whatever the user provides:

| Input                                      | Paper ID       |
| ------------------------------------------ | -------------- |
| `https://arxiv.org/abs/2401.12345`         | `2401.12345`   |
| `https://arxiv.org/pdf/2401.12345`         | `2401.12345`   |
| `https://alphaxiv.org/overview/2401.12345` | `2401.12345`   |
| `2401.12345v2`                             | `2401.12345v2` |
| `2401.12345`                               | `2401.12345`   |

### Step 2: Fetch the machine-readable report

```bash
curl -s "https://alphaxiv.org/overview/{PAPER_ID}.md"
```

This returns the intermediate machine-readable report ¡ª a structured, detailed analysis of the paper optimized for LLM consumption. One call, plain markdown, no JSON parsing.

If this returns 404, the report hasn't been generated for this paper yet.

### Step 3: If you need more detail, fetch the full paper text

If the report doesn't contain the specific information the user is asking about (e.g. a particular equation, table, or section), fetch the full paper text:

```bash
curl -s "https://alphaxiv.org/abs/{PAPER_ID}.md"
```

This returns the full extracted text of the paper as markdown. Only use this as a fallback ¡ª the report is usually sufficient.

If this returns 404, the full text hasn't been processed yet. As a last resort, direct the user to the PDF at `https://arxiv.org/pdf/{PAPER_ID}`.

## Error Handling

- **404 on Step 2**: Report not generated for this paper.
- **404 on Step 3**: Full text not yet extracted for this paper.

## Notes

- No authentication required ¡ª these are public endpoints.

---
> Source: [ResearAI/DeepScientist](https://github.com/ResearAI/DeepScientist) — distributed by [TomeVault](https://tomevault.io).
<!-- tomevault:4.0:skill_md:2026-06-18 -->