pyalex

library0.21pypypi✓ verified 89d ago

Pyalex is a Python wrapper for the OpenAlex API, providing convenient access to scholarly data (authors, works, institutions, etc.) from the OpenAlex database. Current version is 0.21, requiring Python >=3.8. It follows the OpenAlex API versioning and is actively maintained.

http-networking data ai-ml

pip install pyalex

package ↗

INSTALL

IMPORT

SIG · PYALEX

pyalex

http-networkingpythonv0.21

Install

—

Import

—

Disk

—

Pass rate

0/ 10

Env Coverage0 / 10

glibc

3.9–3.13

musl

3.9–3.13

Install & Compatibility

Where this runs

tested against v0.21 · pip install

no network on importno background threads

Install × environment matrix

Each cell = how many times install + import succeeded across repeated harness runs. Partial = flaky.
glibc = Debian/Ubuntu slim · musl = Alpine Linux

musl

glibc

py 3.10

1/2 runs

py 3.11

1/2 runs

py 3.12

1/2 runs

py 3.13

1/2 runs

py 3.9

1/2 runs

Code

Verified usage

Verified import paths — ran on the pinned version, not inferred.

Works

✓ from pyalex import Works

✗ from pyalex.Works import Works

Works is a top-level class, not a submodule. The incorrect import will raise ModuleNotFoundError.

Authors

✓ from pyalex import Authors

✗ import pyalex.Authors

Common mistake: trying to import as a module instead of a class.

Config

✓ from pyalex import Config

Config is used to set API key and email, e.g., Config.email = 'your@email.com'.

Basic usage: fetch a single work by ID and perform a search query.

from pyalex import Works, Config import os # Configure email (optional but recommended for polite API usage) Config.email = os.environ.get('OPENALEX_EMAIL', 'you@example.com') # Fetch a work by OpenAlex ID work = Works()['W2741809807'] print(work['title']) # Search for works for work in Works().search('machine learning').get(): print(work['title']) break

Debug

Known issues

breakingIn pyalex 0.19 and earlier, the `Works()` call without arguments returned an iterator over all works. In 0.20+, you must explicitly call `.get()` to execute the query. Direct iteration over `Works()` without `.get()` now raises a TypeError.

fix

Add `.get()` to the end of your query chain, e.g., `Works().search('AI').get()`.

affects: >=0.20

gotchaThe OpenAlex API has a rate limit of 10 requests per second for unauthenticated requests and 100 per second with an email header. Pyalex does not automatically add email; you must set `Config.email`. Without it, you may get 429 errors under heavy usage.

fix

Set `Config.email = 'your@email.com'` at the start of your script to get a higher rate limit and polite usage.

affects: all

deprecatedThe `works()` function (lowercase) is deprecated in favor of `Works` class (uppercase). The old function may be removed in a future version.

fix

Replace `from pyalex import works; works()...` with `from pyalex import Works; Works()...`.

affects: >=0.17

gotchaWhen using `.search()` with multiple filters, ensure you chain them correctly. Filters like `filter={'year': 2020}` and `search='term'` are applied as separate calls, not combined in one filter dict.

fix

For combined filters, use `.filter()` with a single dict, e.g., `Works().filter({'year': 2020, 'is_oa': True}).get()`.

affects: all

Errors

Common errors & fixes

ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'pyalex.Works'

Incorrect import path; Works is a class, not a submodule.

fix

Use `from pyalex import Works` instead of `from pyalex.Works import Works`.

TypeError: 'Config' object is not callable

Trying to call Config() as a function; Config is a class used to set attributes directly.

fix

Do not instantiate Config. Use `Config.email = '...'` directly.

AttributeError: 'Works' object has no attribute '__iter__'

In pyalex 0.20+, Works() is no longer iterable without calling .get(). This is a common error when upgrading from older versions.

fix

Call `.get()` on the query object before iterating, e.g., `for work in Works().get():`.

Upgrade

Version history

0.21latest on PyPI · released Feb 23, 2026

Audit

Dependencies

requestsrequiredHTTP client for API calls

backoffrequiredRetry mechanism for rate limits

tqdmoptionalProgress bars for iterators

Agent activity

12 hits · last 30 days

node

OpenAI (training)

Resources

packagehttps://pypi.org/project/pyalex/ ↗