cli

Elicit API — CLI

A command-line tool for searching papers and creating reports from your terminal. No dependencies beyond the Python standard library.

Setup

export ELICIT_API_KEY="your-api-key"   # get one at https://elicit.com/settings

No pip install needed — the script uses only urllib and other stdlib modules.

Usage

Search papers

python elicit.py search "effects of sleep deprivation on cognition"

With filters:

python elicit.py search "CBT for insomnia" --type RCT --min-year 2020
python elicit.py search "CRISPR gene editing" --pubmed-only --max-results 10
python elicit.py search "vaccine efficacy" --min-year 2020 --max-year 2024

Create a report

Reports take 5-15 minutes. The CLI polls and shows progress:

python elicit.py report "What is the evidence for melatonin improving sleep quality?"

Create without waiting:

python elicit.py report "melatonin and sleep quality" --no-wait

Control the scope:

python elicit.py report "melatonin and sleep" --search-papers 100 --extract-papers 20

List reports

python elicit.py reports
python elicit.py reports --status completed --limit 5

Raw JSON output

Add --json to any command to get the raw API response:

python elicit.py search "sleep deprivation" --json
python elicit.py report "melatonin and sleep" --json

Available filters

Flag	Description	Example
--min-year	Earliest publication year	--min-year 2020
--max-year	Latest publication year	--max-year 2024
--type	Study type	--type RCT, --type Meta-analysis
--pubmed-only	Restrict to PubMed-indexed papers	--pubmed-only
--max-results	Max papers to return	--max-results 10