Environment:ThreeSR Awesome Inference Time Scaling Semantic Scholar API Environment
| Knowledge Sources | |
|---|---|
| Domains | Infrastructure, API_Integration, Academic_Search |
| Last Updated | 2026-02-14 00:00 GMT |
Overview
Network environment with access to the Semantic Scholar Academic Graph API, required for paper search and detail retrieval operations in the automated workflow.
Description
This environment provides HTTP access to two Semantic Scholar API endpoints used by the fetch_semantic_info.py script:
- Graph API v1 (
https://api.semanticscholar.org/graph/v1/paper/search) -- used bysearch_papers()for keyword-based paper discovery. - Paper API v1 (
https://api.semanticscholar.org/v1/paper/{paper_id}) -- used byget_paper_info()for fetching extended metadata (arxivId, abstract).
Both endpoints are public and do not require authentication. However, they are subject to rate limiting by Semantic Scholar.
Usage
Use this environment whenever running the Automated Paper Addition workflow, specifically:
- Search_Papers_Function -- queries the Graph API for papers matching a keyword
- Get_Paper_Info_Function -- fetches paper details including arXiv ID and abstract
- Format_Paper_Info_Function -- internally calls
get_paper_info()during formatting
System Requirements
| Category | Requirement | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Network | Internet access | HTTPS outbound to api.semanticscholar.org
|
| Firewall | Port 443 open | Standard HTTPS |
| DNS | Able to resolve api.semanticscholar.org |
Standard DNS resolution |
Dependencies
API Endpoints
https://api.semanticscholar.org/graph/v1/paper/search-- Paper search (Graph API)https://api.semanticscholar.org/v1/paper/{paper_id}-- Paper details (Legacy API)
Rate Limits
Semantic Scholar imposes rate limits on unauthenticated requests. The exact limits are not documented in the script, but the commented-out time.sleep(10) at line 217 suggests the author is aware of this constraint.
Credentials
No API keys or tokens are required. The Semantic Scholar endpoints used by this script are public.
Optional: Semantic Scholar offers an API key program for higher rate limits. If needed, the key would be passed via an x-api-key HTTP header. The current script does not support this.
Quick Install
# No installation needed beyond the Python runtime with requests.
# Verify API access with a simple curl command:
curl -s "https://api.semanticscholar.org/graph/v1/paper/search?query=test&limit=1" | python3 -m json.tool
Code Evidence
API base URL constant from fetch_semantic_info.py:9:
BASE_URL = "https://api.semanticscholar.org/graph/v1/"
Graph API search call from fetch_semantic_info.py:24-28:
url = f"{BASE_URL}paper/search?query={query}&fields={FIELDS}&limit={limit}&sort=year"
response = requests.get(url)
if response.status_code != 200:
print("Error fetching data from Semantic Scholar API")
return []
Legacy v1 paper detail call from fetch_semantic_info.py:44-46:
url = f'https://api.semanticscholar.org/v1/paper/{paper_id}'
response = requests.get(url)
return response.json()
Commented-out rate limiting from fetch_semantic_info.py:217:
# Optionally: pause between queries to avoid too frequent requests
# time.sleep(10)
Common Errors
| Error Message | Cause | Solution |
|---|---|---|
Error fetching data from Semantic Scholar API (printed by script) |
API returned non-200 status (rate limited, server error, or network issue) | Wait and retry; check internet connectivity; consider enabling the commented-out time.sleep(10)
|
requests.exceptions.ConnectionError |
No internet access or DNS failure | Verify internet connectivity and that api.semanticscholar.org is reachable
|
json.decoder.JSONDecodeError |
API returned non-JSON response (e.g., HTML error page) | Usually caused by rate limiting; wait before retrying |
Compatibility Notes
- Two API versions: The script uses two different Semantic Scholar API versions. The search function uses Graph API v1 (
graph/v1/) while the detail function uses the legacy v1 API (v1/). These have different response schemas. - No authentication support: The script does not implement API key headers. For high-volume usage, Semantic Scholar offers an API key program with higher rate limits.
- No retry logic: The script does not retry failed API calls. A single failure (e.g., rate limiting) will result in an empty result set or incomplete data.