crossref.works.search
Search 150M+ scholarly works (journal articles, books, conference papers, datasets) by title, author, or full text. Returns DOI, title, authors, publisher, container (journal/book) title, published date, citation count, and abstract. Complements education.doi_lookup (which resolves a single known...
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What crossref.works.search does on Apibase
AI agents call crossref.works.search to retrieve information from Apibase without modifying anything. It is typically the context-gathering step in research, monitoring, and reporting workflows, before the agent takes action elsewhere.
| Parameter | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
rows | integer | — | Number of results to return (1-20, default 10) |
query | string | Yes | Search query across title, author, and full text (e.g. "quantum computing") |
Parameters from the server's own tool schema.
Why crossref.works.search is rated Low
Tool queries scholarly metadata without modification, deletion, or side effects on external systems.
From the tool's definition Search 150M+ scholarly works by title, author, or full text. Returns DOI, title, authors, publisher.
Attacks that exploit this kind of access
The rule that runs crossref.works.search safely
PolicyLayer is an MCP gateway: it sits between your AI agents and Apibase, and checks every tool call against a rule you set before the call runs. Nothing changes on the server itself. For crossref.works.search, this is the rule to start with:
crossref.works.search is read-only, so it stays allowed. Everything else on the server is denied unless you say otherwise.
The button opens the PolicyLayer dashboard: create your workspace, connect Apibase, apply this rule, and every crossref.works.search call is checked against it from then on.
Questions about crossref.works.search
Search 150M+ scholarly works (journal articles, books, conference papers, datasets) by title, author, or full text. Returns DOI, title, authors, publisher, container (journal/book) title, published date, citation count, and abstract. Complements education.doi_lookup (which resolves a single known DOI) by letting agents discover DOIs from a text query. Data: api.crossref.org (CrossRef REST API), no auth required, CC0 metadata. It is categorised as a Read tool in the Apibase MCP Server, which means it retrieves data without modifying state.
crossref.works.search accepts 2 parameters: rows, query. Required: query. The full parameter table on this page comes from the server's own tool schema.
Register the Apibase MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for crossref.works.search: allow, deny, rate-limit, or require approval. Point your MCP client at the PolicyLayer proxy URL and the rule is enforced on every call, before it reaches Apibase. Nothing to install.
crossref.works.search is a Read tool with low risk. Read-only tools are generally safe to allow by default.
Yes. Add a rate_limit block to the crossref.works.search rule in your PolicyLayer policy. For example, setting max: 10 and window: 60 limits the tool to 10 calls per minute. Rate limits are tracked per agent session and reset automatically.
Set action: deny in the PolicyLayer policy for crossref.works.search. The AI agent will receive a policy violation error and cannot call the tool. You can also include a reason field to explain why the tool is blocked.
crossref.works.search is provided by the Apibase MCP server (apibase-mcp-client). PolicyLayer sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.
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