How do I install the Xfetch skill?

Run npx skillmds@latest add vimalinx/xfetch in your terminal (requires Node.js), paste this page's agent-chat prompt into Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-connected agent, or download the SKILL.md file and copy it into your agent's skills directory.

Is Xfetch safe to use?

This skill has not completed SkillMD's automated safety review yet. Independent scanners report: SkillSpector: PASS, Skill Scanner: PASS. Capability flags: makes network calls. SkillMD never runs a skill's scripts for you; review the SKILL.md before installing.

Which AI agents work with Xfetch?

This skill is tagged as working with Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex. SKILL.md is an open format, so most agents that read a skills directory can load it too.

Is Xfetch free to use?

Yes. Installing skills from SkillMD is free, and the skill stays under its author's original license.

Who published Xfetch?

vimalinx (@vimalinx) published this skill. Their other Agent Skills are listed on their SkillMD profile.

Xfetch by vimalinx — Agent Skill

Name: Xfetch
Rating: 4.2 (5 reviews)
Author: vimalinx

File contents

xfetch

Local-archive fetch helper built on xcommon.sh plus rchive. It takes UIDs from -id, -input, stdin, or an ENTREZ_DIRECT message, then fetches matching records from a configured local archive/postings installation rather than from the live NCBI service.

Quick Start

Command: xfetch -db <database> -id <uid>
Local executable: /home/vimalinx/miniforge3/envs/bio/bin/xfetch
Critical environment: EDIRECT_LOCAL_ARCHIVE

When To Use This Tool

Fetching records from a prepared local PubMed/PMC/etc. archive instead of the live E-utilities endpoint
Streaming or turbo-fetching locally archived XML by UID
Consuming UIDs from stdin or an upstream ENTREZ_DIRECT message and retrieving the matching local records
Working inside a local/offline EDirect archive workflow

Common Patterns

# Fetch one UID from a local archive
export EDIRECT_LOCAL_ARCHIVE=/path/to/local/archive
xfetch -db pubmed -id 2539356

# Read UIDs from stdin
printf '2539356\n' | xfetch -db pubmed

# Use stream mode against the local archive
export EDIRECT_LOCAL_ARCHIVE=/path/to/local/archive
xfetch -db pubmed -stream -input ids.txt

Recommended Workflow

Point EDIRECT_LOCAL_ARCHIVE at a valid local archive root.
Supply -db plus a UID source (-id, -input, or stdin).
Use plain fetch mode for wrapped XML output or -stream when you want streamed archive content.
If the command prints wrapper XML but no records, debug the local archive/postings configuration before blaming UID parsing.

Guardrails

xfetch is a local-cache tool, not a remote efetch synonym.
-h/--help are safe and show usage; -version works and prints 24.0, but --version is unrecognized.
In local testing without a configured archive, xfetch -db pubmed -id 2539356 still printed the PubMed XML wrapper prologue/epilogue and then failed with Insufficient command-line arguments supplied to rchive.
The script sources xcommon.sh, loads database-specific wrappers from xfetch.ini, and then delegates to rchive -fetch or rchive -stream.
If EDIRECT_LOCAL_ARCHIVE is missing, the shared helper prints the missing-path error first.

---name: xfetchdescription: Use when retrieving records from a local EDirect archive via the `x*` local-cache stack, not when calling the remote NCBI `efetch` service directly.---# xfetchLocal-archive fetch helper built on `xcommon.sh` plus `rchive`. It takes UIDs from `-id`, `-input`, stdin, or an `ENTREZ_DIRECT` message, then fetches matching records from a configured local archive/postings installation rather than from the live NCBI service.## Quick Start- **Command:** `xfetch -db <database> -id <uid>`- **Local executable:** `/home/vimalinx/miniforge3/envs/bio/bin/xfetch`- **Critical environment:** `EDIRECT_LOCAL_ARCHIVE`## When To Use This Tool- Fetching records from a prepared local PubMed/PMC/etc. archive instead of the live E-utilities endpoint- Streaming or turbo-fetching locally archived XML by UID- Consuming UIDs from stdin or an upstream `ENTREZ_DIRECT` message and retrieving the matching local records- Working inside a local/offline EDirect archive workflow## Common Patterns```bash# Fetch one UID from a local archiveexport EDIRECT_LOCAL_ARCHIVE=/path/to/local/archivexfetch -db pubmed -id 2539356``````bash# Read UIDs from stdinprintf '2539356\n' | xfetch -db pubmed``````bash# Use stream mode against the local archiveexport EDIRECT_LOCAL_ARCHIVE=/path/to/local/archivexfetch -db pubmed -stream -input ids.txt```## Recommended Workflow1. Point `EDIRECT_LOCAL_ARCHIVE` at a valid local archive root.2. Supply `-db` plus a UID source (`-id`, `-input`, or stdin).3. Use plain fetch mode for wrapped XML output or `-stream` when you want streamed archive content.4. If the command prints wrapper XML but no records, debug the local archive/postings configuration before blaming UID parsing.## Guardrails- `xfetch` is a local-cache tool, not a remote `efetch` synonym.- `-h`/`--help` are safe and show usage; `-version` works and prints `24.0`, but `--version` is unrecognized.- In local testing without a configured archive, `xfetch -db pubmed -id 2539356` still printed the PubMed XML wrapper prologue/epilogue and then failed with `Insufficient command-line arguments supplied to rchive`.- The script sources `xcommon.sh`, loads database-specific wrappers from `xfetch.ini`, and then delegates to `rchive -fetch` or `rchive -stream`.- If `EDIRECT_LOCAL_ARCHIVE` is missing, the shared helper prints the missing-path error first.

Frequently asked questions

Xfetch