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Skills paper-fetcher

Fetch academic papers from Sci-Hub given a DOI. Automatically downloads PDFs and saves them to research/papers/ with clean filenames. Use when the user provides a DOI or requests a paper from PubMed.

install
source · Clone the upstream repo
git clone https://github.com/openclaw/skills
Claude Code · Install into ~/.claude/skills/
T=$(mktemp -d) && git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/openclaw/skills "$T" && mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills && cp -r "$T/skills/biohackerrrrrr/paper-fetcher" ~/.claude/skills/clawdbot-skills-paper-fetcher && rm -rf "$T"
manifest: skills/biohackerrrrrr/paper-fetcher/SKILL.md
source content

Paper Fetcher

Automated academic paper retrieval from Sci-Hub.

Usage

Simple fetch:

Get paper: 10.1038/nature12345

Multiple papers:

Fetch these papers:
- 10.1016/j.cell.2023.01.001
- 10.1038/s41586-2023-06789-0
- 10.1126/science.abc1234

With context:

Get the epitalon paper: 10.1007/s12603-011-0032-7

What It Does

  1. Takes DOI as input
  2. Navigates to https://www.sci-hub.su/DOI
  3. Downloads the PDF
  4. Saves to 
    research/papers/
    with clean filename
  5. Returns confirmation with file path

Output Location

workspace/
└── research/
    └── papers/
        ├── paper_10.1038_nature12345.pdf
        ├── paper_10.1016_j.cell.2023.01.001.pdf
        └── ...

Filename Format

paper_[DOI with slashes replaced].pdf

Examples:

  • DOI: 
    10.1038/nature12345
    → 
    paper_10.1038_nature12345.pdf
  • DOI: 
    10.1016/j.cell.2023.01.001
    → 
    paper_10.1016_j.cell.2023.01.001.pdf

Workflow

When user provides a DOI:

  1. Extract DOI - Parse from message (with or without https://doi.org/ prefix)
  2. Navigate Sci-Hub - Use browser to load https://www.sci-hub.su/DOI
  3. Wait for PDF - Let page load and find download link
  4. Download - Save PDF to research/papers/
  5. Confirm - Report success with file path

Error Handling

If paper not found on Sci-Hub:

  • Report that Sci-Hub couldn't find it
  • Suggest checking the DOI format
  • User can try manual search

If download fails:

  • Report the error
  • Provide Sci-Hub URL for manual download

Integration

With Obsidian Sync:

  • Papers saved in research/papers/
  • Can create notes linking to PDFs
  • Sync metadata to Obsidian vault

With Research Automation:

  • Fetch papers discovered in research runs
  • Build reference library automatically
  • Cross-reference with protocol notes

Tips

Finding DOIs:

  • PubMed: Listed in article details
  • Paper itself: Usually on first page
  • Google Scholar: In citation info

Format flexibility:

  • With prefix: 
    https://doi.org/10.1038/nature12345
    ✅
  • Without prefix: 
    10.1038/nature12345
    ✅
  • Either format works

Batch fetching:

  • Send multiple DOIs at once
  • Processed sequentially
  • All saved to research/papers/

Status: Active
Sci-Hub Domain: https://www.sci-hub.su
Save Location: research/papers/