PubMed Database

Direct REST API access to the National Library of Medicine's biomedical literature repository for systematic reviews and research analysis.

Triggers

• User asks to search for medical/scientific literature
• User needs to find research papers on a cardiology topic
• User wants to build a literature review
• User requests evidence for a clinical claim
• User needs citations for an article or newsletter

Core Capabilities

Search Construction

Build sophisticated queries combining:

• Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT)
• Field tags: [mh] for MeSH terms, [au] for author, [ti] for title, [tiab] for title/abstract
• Publication filters by date, type, and availability

E-utilities API Endpoints

Endpoint	Purpose
ESearch	Search and retrieve PMIDs
EFetch	Retrieve full records
ESummary	Get document summaries
EPost	Upload ID lists
ELink	Find related articles

Rate limits: 3 requests/second (10 with API key)

Filtering Options

• Publication type (clinical trials, systematic reviews, meta-analyses)
• Date ranges
• Text availability (free full text, abstracts)
• Species (human studies)

Citation Export Formats

• NBIB (for reference managers)
• AMA, MLA, APA, Vancouver styles
• BibTeX for LaTeX

Example Queries

Cardiology-Specific Searches

# Recent SGLT2 inhibitor trials in heart failure
"SGLT2 inhibitors"[mh] AND "heart failure"[mh] AND "clinical trial"[pt] AND "2023"[dp]:present[dp]

# Interventional cardiology systematic reviews
"percutaneous coronary intervention"[mh] AND "systematic review"[pt]

# TAVR outcomes
"transcatheter aortic valve replacement"[tiab] AND (outcomes[tiab] OR mortality[tiab])

Building Evidence for Content

1. Start with MeSH terms for precision
2. Add free-text synonyms for coverage
3. Filter by publication type and recency
4. Review abstracts for relevance
5. Extract key findings with PMIDs for citation

Workflow Integration

When writing cardiology content:

1. Use this skill to find supporting evidence
2. Document PMIDs for all factual claims
3. Prefer systematic reviews and meta-analyses
4. Include recent trials (last 2-3 years) for currency
5. Cross-reference with citation-management skill for formatting

Best Practices

• Always verify claims with primary sources
• Note study limitations when citing
• Distinguish between observational and RCT evidence
• Use MeSH terms for reproducible searches
• Document search strategy for transparency