For the complete documentation index, see llms.txt. This page is also available as Markdown.

Quickstart

Get a cited answer to a research question in under five minutes.

What you will build

One request that returns a synthesized answer plus the papers it is grounded in, with a page-level citation for every claim.

Prerequisites

  1. API access — request it with the Apply for API Access form, free during public beta

  2. Python 3.9+, Node 18+, or just cURL

Step 1 — get an API key

Use the Apply for API Access button at the top of any page and tell us what you are building. We send your key once the request is approved. Test keys start sk_test_ and come with 500 free credits a month.

cURL
export SCISPACE_API_KEY=sk_test_your_api_key

The key is shown once

After creation you see only the prefix and last four characters. Store it in your secret manager now. See api-keys.

Step 2 — install the SDK

cURL
# Python pip install scispace # TypeScript npm install scispace # cURL — nothing to install

Step 3 — run a search

Searches are asynchronous. The SDKs hide the poll loop behind .wait().

curl https://api.scispace.com/v1/searches \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $SCISPACE_API_KEY" \ -H "SciSpace-Version: 2026-08-01" \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -H "Idempotency-Key: $(uuidgen)" \ -d '{"query":"How does climate change affect biodiversity?","depth":"standard"}'

Step 4 — read the response

json
{ "object": "search", "id": "srch_9dm2pq4x1a", "status": "succeeded", "depth": "standard", "paper_count": 20, "credits_cost": 5, "answer": { "object": "answer", "text": "Warming interacts with habitat fragmentation to accelerate local extinctions [1] …", "citations": [ { "index": 1, "quote": "…recent studies suggest that warming interacts with habitat fragmentation…", "source": { "type": "paper", "id": "pap_3kf9wq2m8x", "title": "…" }, "locations": [ { "page": 4, "bbox": { "x": 0.14, "y": 0.31, "width": 0.72, "height": 0.04 } } ] } ], "unsourced_claim_count": 0 } }

  • answer.text carries [n] markers matching citations[].index

  • locations[].page is 1-indexed; bbox values are fractions of the page — see citation-highlights

  • The response headers report X-Credits-Cost: 5 and X-Credits-Remaining

What just happened

  • You created a Search — a resource you can fetch, list, export, and cancel.

  • The answer's claims are linked to sources by Citation objects.

  • You spent 5 credits, the standard-depth price. See Credit and Depth.

Next steps

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