# Elicit's API

**The Elicit API is available on the Pro, Scale, and Enterprise plans.** It gives you three endpoints:

- **Search:** 138 million academic papers and 545,000 clinical trials, by semantic or keyword query.

- **Reports:** submit a research question and get a fully cited report drawn from hundreds of papers or trials.

- **Systematic Review:** run a full review end to end, with control over search strategy, screening criteria, extraction parameters, and reporting.

All three are also available through the Elicit MCP server, so Elicit can return cited answers inside Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, or any MCP-compatible client. See [Use Elicit via MCP Server](https://support.elicit.com/en/articles/14757404-use-elicit-via-mcp-server). Rate limits and pricing are documented at [docs.elicit.com](http://docs.elicit.com).

# Example uses:

![Screenshot showing example use cases for the Elicit API including running research at scale and integrating Elicit into AI tools](https://elicit-e64f0748155d.intercom-attachments-1.com/i/o/sumscdci/2317510957/5578e035728f47393ca570de1969/f70940e1-4f28-4b9d-8889-682f7d3a7845.png?expires=1789601400&signature=b91539c9670aa11cb62b2d0fbc13686ed44a25f61e366b41cb985fb500045d34&req=diMmEcx%2FnYhaXvMW1HO4zRJ1Zxwb%2FzPXrn6ELHPKhuz0wh3Wpxsf8eSMadsA%0AOrhlAAsdTHNVYE163YQ%3D%0A)

*Run research at scale*. Got 30 compounds to check, or 20 hypotheses to test across different populations? Write a short script and get structured results for all of them instead of running each one manually in the app.

*Integrate Elicit into your workflow.* Call the API from Claude or ChatGPT to get real citations while writing a paper, or build a Slack bot that pulls evidence into team discussions.

*Build on top of Elicit.* Many of you have asked about building internal research dashboards or combining Elicit evidence with your own datasets. We wanted to make that possible. Elicit's search and report generation work as a layer in whatever you're creating.

# Getting started

Create an API key at [elicit.com/developer](https://elicit.com/developer). Click your name at the bottom left of any page, then **Developer**. For managing, viewing, and deleting keys, see [Managing Your Elicit API Keys](https://support.elicit.com/en/articles/14757389-managing-your-elicit-api-keys).

***If you use Claude or ChatGPT:***

1. Create an API key at [elicit.com/developer](https://elicit.com/developer)

2. Give the AI tool your research question and the [API docs](https://docs.elicit.com)

3. It'll write a script for you to run to get results

***If you write code:***

1. Create an API key at [elicit.com/developer](https://elicit.com/developer)

2. Copy the code snippet below, swap in your key, and run it (Javascript and shell versions also available)

![Screenshot of a Python code snippet example for using the Elicit API to search academic papers](https://elicit-e64f0748155d.intercom-attachments-1.com/i/o/sumscdci/2317511044/51fc68758eb2b52a293985c6f6e7/b80448e1-88e7-4819-8b8b-fd3c5766d3fe.png?expires=1789601400&signature=5b3aeda0083c3cd0534aa518a7c3a1699cb7fd79dc875bea1e9dd85451ded01e&req=diMmEcx%2FnIFbXfMW1HO4zYc91s%2BySte28KcNP6lLNbDXR60Ds6o3Awo%2BSnz1%0AajtmGBXm54i17bLada4%3D%0A)

Get the code snippet from our Github [here](https://github.com/elicit/api-examples/blob/main/python/1_search.py).

Check out more code examples at <https://github.com/elicit/api-examples>. API reference and information on authentication, billing, and rate limits are available at [docs.elicit.com](http://docs.elicit.com).

The API and MCP server are available on the Pro, Scale, and Enterprise plans. If your plan doesn't include API access, upgrade from your Account Settings page.