doiget
A single-binary CLI + stdio MCP server that turns DOIs and arXiv ids into local PDFs through official, OA-first APIs. Designed as the agent-facing companion to BiblioFetch.jl.
Docs: stable = the Zola site (built from main); dev = rustdoc built from next; API = docs.rs (latest published release).
Status: Shipping on crates.io (doiget-core, doiget-cli,
doiget-mcp), with sigstore-signed binaries + an SBOM attached to the GitHub
Release. Tier 1 + Tier 2 sources, the stdio MCP server, citation-graph
expansion, and gated TDM sources are all implemented. Releases are cut by a
single signed git tag through the tag-driven pipeline (see
ADR-0025); release-plz was
retired. See CHANGELOG.md for history and
docs/PHASES.md for the phase plan.
Posture
doiget is a general-purpose automation tool for retrieving papers via official publisher APIs. By design, doiget only attempts retrieval through:
- Public Open Access sources (default — Crossref, Unpaywall, arXiv).
- Credentials the user has personally configured for their own institutional or personal subscriptions (opt-in, compile-time gated).
doiget does not work around any access control mechanism, redistribute papers, host content, operate as a SaaS, or bundle any publisher API keys.
Users are responsible for ensuring they have the right to access the content they request and for compliance with each source's Terms of Service.
See docs/LEGAL.md and docs/SCOPE.md.
Documentation
| Reader | Entry point |
|---|---|
| CLI user | This README, then doiget --help, then docs/CONFIG.md and docs/ERRORS.md for non-trivial flags / exit codes |
| Agent / MCP host integrator | docs/MCP_TOOLS.md + docs/INTEGRATION/README.md |
| Library user (Rust) | docs/PUBLIC_API.md + crates.io rustdoc |
| Contributor | CONTRIBUTING.md → docs/ARCHITECTURE.md → docs/DECISIONS/ |
| Publisher legal team | docs/LEGAL.md + CONTACT.md |
| Security researcher | docs/SECURITY.md + docs/PROVENANCE_LOG.md + docs/CAPABILITY.md |
| BiblioFetch.jl user | docs/MIGRATION.md + docs/STORE.md + docs/SAFEKEY.md |
Architecture: docs/ARCHITECTURE.md Threat model: docs/SECURITY.md Permanent non-goals: docs/SCOPE.md Phase plan: docs/PHASES.md ADRs: docs/DECISIONS/
Installation
doiget ships a single self-contained binary — the Linux build is fully static (musl), so it runs on old glibc / HPC boxes too. Every channel installs the same checksum-verified binary from the signed GitHub Release.
Shell installer (Linux / macOS)
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/sotashimozono/doiget/main/scripts/install.sh | sh
Installs to ~/.local/bin (override with DOIGET_INSTALL_DIR); pin a version with
DOIGET_VERSION=0.6.0. The script verifies the published SHA-256 sidecar before installing.
PowerShell installer (Windows)
irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/sotashimozono/doiget/main/scripts/install.ps1 | iex
From crates.io (Rust toolchain)
cargo install doiget-cli # installs the `doiget` binary
Further prebuilt-binary channels (Homebrew tap, cargo binstall, npm/npx, Nix flake,
.deb) are tracked in #247. Every
release asset is cosign-keyless signed (<asset>.cosign.bundle) for optional verification.
Quick start
# Fetch a paper by DOI (Open Access only by default)
doiget fetch 10.1103/PhysRevLett.130.200601
# Fetch by arXiv id
doiget fetch arXiv:2401.12345
# Batch fetch
doiget batch refs.txt
# Verify a bibliography's references resolve (no PDF download) — CI gate
doiget verify docs/references.bib --strict
# Lint a .bib for structural issues (no network): missing fields,
# blank fields, $$-display-math titles. Read-only and math-aware.
doiget lint docs/references.bib
# Inspect what was fetched
doiget info 10.1103/PhysRevLett.130.200601
# Run as MCP server (stdio)
doiget serve
Default features fetch only Open Access PDFs through Crossref / Unpaywall / arXiv. Institutional TDM access (Springer OA, APS Harvest, Elsevier ScienceDirect TDM) is not in the default published binary; it must be opted in at build time per publisher. See docs/SOURCES.md.
Coexistence with BiblioFetch.jl
doiget and BiblioFetch.jl share the same on-disk store format (TOML metadata + PDF files
under a configurable store root). doiget defaults to ./papers (under the current working
directory; ADR-0036), BiblioFetch.jl to ~/papers/; point both at the same root (e.g.
DOIGET_STORE_ROOT=~/papers) to share one store. The shared schema, locking protocol, and
atomic write contract are
specified in docs/STORE.md. Reference test vectors for the shared safekey
algorithm are in docs/SAFEKEY.md.
| Tool | Best for |
|---|---|
| BiblioFetch.jl | Julia REPL, research vault, citation graph exploration |
| doiget | Agents / MCP hosts, batch operations, scripted pipelines, container deployments |
License
MIT for the doiget source code and binaries (see LICENSE).
The license under which doiget retrieves papers is separate and is determined by each paper's own license, the publisher's API Terms of Service, and the user's own access rights. doiget does not relicense fetched content.
Contact
Takedown requests, security disclosures, and other formal correspondence: CONTACT.md.