Install Jentic One Beta

Connect the Crossref REST API to your agent

Jentic One is a self-hosted execution layer for AI agents. It lets your agent call the Crossref REST API, or any other public or private API you need. You set the rules, the agent never sees your credentials, and every call is logged.

Two steps, two machines. Install the instance in a safe environment, then register your agent from wherever it runs.

Step 1: Jentic One Host machine

# On the machine that will host your Jentic One instance:
curl -fsSL "https://jentic.com/install.sh?src=apis&api=%2Fapis%2Fapi.crossref.org%2Fcrossref" | sh

Step 2: Agent machine

# On the machine where your agent runs (keep this separate from the instance):
curl -fsSL "https://jentic.com/install.sh?src=apis&api=%2Fapis%2Fapi.crossref.org%2Fcrossref" | sh
jentic register       # connects your agent to your Jentic One instance

Jentic One is in public beta. The setup above keeps your agent separate from the instance, which is what you want before using real credentials: an agent running as the same OS user as Jentic One can read its stored keys directly. Just evaluating? A single local install is fine to start. See the secure deployment guide for the tiers.

Capabilities

What an agent can do with Crossref REST API.

Search scholarly works and retrieve a work by DOI

Browse funders and the works they funded

Browse members and the works they registered

Look up journals by ISSN and their works

List work types and licenses

GET STARTED

Start building with Crossref REST API

Explore with Jentic One

View OpenAPI Document

Use Cases

Patterns agents use Crossref REST API for, with concrete tasks.

★ Citation Metadata Lookup

A research agent resolves a DOI to full citation metadata for a reference list. It retrieves the work by DOI and reads the title, authors, and publication details. Through Jentic the agent finds the work operation and calls it directly with the DOI.

Retrieve a work by its DOI and return its citation metadata

Literature Search

A discovery agent searches Crossref for works matching a query and filters the results. It queries the works endpoint with search terms and reads back the matching records. This backs a literature review without scraping publisher sites.

Search works for a query and return the matching publications with metadata

Funding Analysis

An agent maps research output to funders to analyze funding impact. It browses funders and retrieves the works associated with a funder. This lets an analysis tool group publications by funding source.

Look up a funder and retrieve the works it funded for analysis

Journal and License Enrichment

A repository agent enriches records with journal and license information from Crossref. It looks up a journal by ISSN and reads license terms for works. This appends authoritative source and reuse metadata to internal records.

Look up a journal by ISSN and read the license terms for its works

Key Endpoints

17 endpoints — jentic publishes the only available openapi specification for crossref rest api, keeping it validated and agent-ready.

METHOD

PATH

DESCRIPTION

GET

/works

Search scholarly works

GET

/works/{doi}

Get a work by DOI

GET

/funders

List funders

GET

/members

List members

GET

/journals

List journals

GET

/journals/{issn}

Get a journal by ISSN

GET

/types

List work types

GET

/works

Search scholarly works

GET

/works/{doi}

Get a work by DOI

GET

/funders

List funders

GET

/members

List members

GET

/journals

List journals

GET

/journals/{issn}

Get a journal by ISSN

GET

/types

List work types

Why Jentic?

What agents get from Jentic-routed access to this vendor.

Setup

Wiring Crossref by hand means constructing query requests against api.crossref.org and parsing its responses yourself. Through Jentic you install once, import Crossref from the API Directory, and your agent calls it.

Permission scoping

Crossref is read-only, so a rule limits your agent to the operations it needs, such as searching works. You choose which operations it may call, so funder, journal, or member queries are included only when you add them.

Credential isolation

Crossref is a public API and needs no credentials, so there is nothing for Jentic to hold or inject. Your agent reaches it directly through your self-hosted Jentic One instance.

Intent-based discovery

Agents search Jentic by intent such as 'search scholarly works' or 'get a work by DOI', and Jentic returns the matching Crossref operation with its parameters so the agent calls the right endpoint without browsing the reference docs.

FAQs

Specific to using Crossref REST API through Jentic.

Why is there no official OpenAPI spec for Crossref REST API?

Crossref does not publish an OpenAPI specification for its REST API. Jentic generates and maintains this spec so that AI agents and developers can call the Crossref REST API via structured tooling. It is validated against the live API and kept up to date. To run it on your own infrastructure, install Jentic One from its GitHub repo.

Does the Crossref REST API require authentication?

No. The Crossref REST API is public and requires no authentication or API key, so an agent can read scholarly metadata directly. Providing a contact address places you in Crossref's polite pool for more reliable service, but no credential is needed to call it.

How do I resolve a DOI with the Crossref REST API?

The Crossref REST API retrieves a work by its DOI and returns full citation metadata such as title, authors, and publication details. An agent can pass a DOI to the work operation and read back the structured record for a reference list.

What are the rate limits for the Crossref REST API?

Crossref does not fix rate limits in the OpenAPI spec and adjusts service by traffic, favoring the polite pool. Check the Crossref documentation at https://www.crossref.org/documentation/retrieve-metadata/rest-api for current guidance, and back off when you receive a 429 response.

How do I search scholarly works through Jentic?

Search Jentic for 'search scholarly works', import Crossref from the API Directory, and your agent gets the works operation with its query parameters so it can call it directly and read back the matching publications.

Can I limit what my agent is allowed to do with the Crossref REST API?

Yes. The API is read-only, so you write a rule that allows the agent only the operations it needs, such as searching works, leaving funder, journal, or member queries out unless you add them. Because Jentic One is self-hosted, those rules and the audit log of every call stay on your own infrastructure.

Is there a Crossref REST API MCP server?

You do not need an MCP server to give your agent the Crossref REST API. Jentic connects it directly from the API Directory: import it and your agent can search works and browse funders and journals. That also keeps your agent's context free of an extra server's tool definitions.

Crossref REST API

Name: Crossref REST API
Brand: Crossref REST API
Availability: InStock

Agent-ready OpenAPI document · curated by JenticData EnrichmentData Transformationnone17 EndpointsREST

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For Agents

Search and retrieve scholarly metadata by DOI and browse funders, members, journals, types, licenses, and prefixes from Crossref's open citation database.

Use for: I want to search for scholarly works by keyword, Retrieve the metadata for a work by its DOI, Find works funded by a particular funder, Look up a journal by its ISSN

Not supported: Read-only scholarly metadata from Crossref. Does not register DOIs, deposit metadata, or provide full-text article content.

Jentic publishes the only available OpenAPI specification for Crossref REST API, keeping it validated and agent-ready. The Crossref REST API provides open access to scholarly metadata for millions of publications registered with Crossref. It searches and retrieves works by DOI, and it browses funders, members, journals, work types, licenses, and prefixes, each with their associated works. Every operation is a read, so an agent can look up citations, funding, and publication metadata without any write access.

Jentic One on Github View OpenAPI Document