Tag: API

Significant Updates Coming to the NCBI Datasets APIs and Command-Line Tools

As part of our ongoing effort to enhance your experience, we are updating the NCBI Datasets application programming interfaces (APIs). Beginning in June 2024, the v2alpha APIs will be promoted to the stable v2 version. At this time, the v1 API, the command-line interface (CLI) version 13 and older versions, and the Python library v1 will be deprecated and thus no longer supported for bug fixes or updates. Effective December 31, 2024, these will no longer be available for use.

Our updated APIs and CLI tools include new features and functionality based on your feedback. We’re committed to making this transition as smooth as possible and encourage you to review our FAQs for more details. If you use NCBI Datasets web pages and command-line tools v14+, no action is required. Continue reading “Significant Updates Coming to the NCBI Datasets APIs and Command-Line Tools” →

Coming Soon to ClinVar! Somatic Variants & Changes to the XML

Important Note: Support for both the old XML formats has been extended through the end of June 2024.

Do you rely on ClinVar XML files for your application or analytical pipeline? We are significantly updating ClinVar’s XML format to support the inclusion of new somatic variation data provided by submitters. In the coming months, you may need to make changes to your tool or pipeline code to continue to use the ClinVar XML.

What will change?

Update to the XML schema
Updates to the VCF and tab-delimited files
Look and feel of the website: new sections to display including somatic classifications
New submission templates for somatic variants, and updates to the submission templates for germline variants

Continue reading “Coming Soon to ClinVar! Somatic Variants & Changes to the XML” →

Coming soon: Updated PubMed E-utilities!

Important Note: This release is being postponed and will go live Monday, November 21, 2022.

PubMed will be moving to an updated version of the E-utilities  API on November 15, 2022. As previously announced, this updated version of E-utilities will use the same technology as the web version of PubMed released in 2020. So, search results returned by the updated ESearch E-utility  will now match those of the PubMed.gov website.

This update only affects E-utility calls with &db=pubmed. There are no changes to the E-utilities for other databases. You can refer to our previous post or watch our recorded webinar for more details on this update. Continue reading “Coming soon: Updated PubMed E-utilities!” →

PubMed API launch is pushed back

As we previously announced, we will be moving to an updated version of the E-utilities API for PubMed. In preparation for this launch, a test server is currently available to allow you to test your API calls on the new service and report issues. Thank you for trying out the test server and continuing to submit your feedback!

To address your comments, finalize updates, and to give you more time to prepare for the API update, we are pushing back the release of the new API until later this year. Continue reading “PubMed API launch is pushed back” →

Test Server for the PubMed API (E-utilities) is Now Available

Official update scheduled to launch June 2022

As previously announced, we will be moving to an updated version of the E-utilities API for PubMed. We are planning to delay this change until June 2022 to give you time to test your API calls on the new service, report issues, and provide your feedback. Don’t wait until launch! A test server is available leading up to the release and ready for you to try!

How do I use the test server?

The test server is available through the following URL:

Test server: https://eutilspreview.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/eutils/

Continue reading “Test Server for the PubMed API (E-utilities) is Now Available” →

Oct 20 Webinar: Introducing the updated PubMed E-utilities (API)

Join us on October 20, 2021 at 12PM US eastern time learn about an updated version of the E-utilities API for PubMed that we will launch on April 4, 2022. With few exceptions, this update will not change the E-utility URLs you currently use but will bring the search results up to date with the web version of PubMed released in 2020 and improve reliability. Attend this webinar to learn about how these changes will affect your API calls to PubMed and to get your questions answered.

Date and time: Wed, October 20, 2021 12:00 PM – 12:45 PM EDT
Register

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email with information about attending the webinar. A few days after the live presentation, you can view the recording on the NCBI webinars playlist on the NLM YouTube channel. You can learn about future webinars on the Webinars and Courses page.

Updated PubMed E-utilities coming soon!

Do you develop an application that uses the PubMed API? Do you need to access PubMed data programmatically? Then you’ll be interested to know that we will be launching an updated version of the E-utilities API for PubMed in late 2022. This updated version will align the functions of the E-utilities with the web version of PubMed released in 2020. For example, search results returned by the updated ESearch E-utility will now match those of web PubMed. To be clear, this update only affects E-utility calls with &db=pubmed. The behavior of all other Entrez databases will not change.

Why are we doing this?

This release will fully transfer all E-utility functions to the technology stack that supports web PubMed. What this means for you is not only consistent behavior for both web and API PubMed interfaces, but also more reliable performance.

Will URLs for PubMed E-utility calls be changing?

Fortunately, for the most part, no! With only a few exceptions, current E-utility URLs for PubMed (&db=pubmed) will continue to function after we release the update. Here are the exceptions:

ESearch will only be able to access the first 10,000 records retrieved by the search query (&retmax <= 10,000; &retstart + &retmax <= 10,000)
EPost will only be able to accept up to 10,000 PMIDs in a single URL request.
EFetch will no longer support returns in ASN.1 format.

Will the output of PubMed E-utility calls be changing?

Again, in almost all cases, no. Here are the exceptions:

ESearch will now return exactly the same PubMed IDs (PMIDs) that are currently returned by web PubMed
EFetch will now return XML data by default (&retmode is not set) rather than ASN.1. In other words, the default value of &retmode will become “xml”.

What should you do?

If you manage code that creates PubMed E-utility requests, review the above changes to ensure that your code will continue to function after the update.
Verify your code on a test server that we will make public later this fall. We’ll update this blog about the details when they become available.
Attend our webinar about these changes on October 20 if you have questions or concerns.

What will happen to the current version of the PubMed E-utilities after the release on April 4, 2022?

Once we release the updated PubMed E-utilities, the current version of the PubMed E-utilities will no longer be available. All PubMed requests will use the same technology stack.

Please write to us at info@ncbi.nlm.nih.gov if you have any questions or concerns.

NCBI on YouTube: ClinVar API, check data with GaPTools, get genetic context with Sequence Viewer

Every so often, we gather our most recent videos in one post on the blog, for your convenience. Scroll down – and don’t forget to subscribe to our channel!

Introducing GaPTools for dbGaP Submitters

This video introduces new standalone software called GaPTools, which you can use to check your data before submitting to dbGaP. GaPTools uses the same preliminary validation checks as the dbGaP submission portal.

Continue reading “NCBI on YouTube: ClinVar API, check data with GaPTools, get genetic context with Sequence Viewer” →

Automate your workflow with the ClinVar Submission API

ClinVar and our scientific and patient-care community rely on your submissions. With our new Application Programming Interface (API) for submissions, we’ve made it even easier for you to provide us with your most up-to-date classification of variants. The new RESTful API allows you to automate your submission workflow so that you can submit new records and update existing records faster. Setting up your account to use the API requires three one-time activities:

ClinVar Submission API Setup

Click on each of the steps in order to set up your account to use the API!

Continue reading “Automate your workflow with the ClinVar Submission API” →

Programmatic access to Gene data using Datasets command-line and API

In March, we announced NCBI Datasets, a new resource that lets you easily retrieve and download data from across NCBI databases. Did you know you can now fetch NCBI Gene data programmatically using the NCBI Datasets API or command-line tool? Quickly retrieve both metadata and gene sequence data for multiple Gene records including transcripts and proteins in one shell command or API request. The API documentation is a good way to get started with programmatic access (Figure 1).

Figure 1. The Datasets API documentation showing a demonstration retrieving Gene metadata using RefSeq mRNA accessions. The API returns a readily processed JSON object.

Continue reading “Programmatic access to Gene data using Datasets command-line and API” →