What it does
PubCrawl searches published literature, clinical trial registries, and prescribing information to help medical writers find, explore, and evaluate the evidence base for a project. It supports structured searches across PubMed, trial databases, SmPCs, and USPIs, and can retrieve abstracts, full texts, and citation details for the papers you need.The problem it solves
Before a medical writer can summarise a paper, extract key messages, or build a content outline, they need to find the right sources. Literature discovery is often the first step in a project, and one of the most time-consuming. Searching PubMed, filtering results, cross-referencing trial registries, and tracking down prescribing information across multiple databases is manual, repetitive work. PubCrawl consolidates this into a single search workflow. The writer defines what they are looking for (by indication, compound, trial ID, or research question) and PubCrawl returns structured results they can evaluate and feed into downstream workflows.How it differs from RefCheckr
PubCrawl and RefCheckr serve different stages of the content development pipeline:| PubCrawl | RefCheckr | |
|---|---|---|
| When | Before writing — finding and selecting sources | After writing — verifying claims against cited sources |
| Purpose | Literature discovery and evidence exploration | Claim-to-reference accuracy checking |
| Input | A search query, indication, or compound name | A document with claims and cited references |
| Output | Papers, abstracts, trial records, prescribing information | Verification results (supported / not supported / mismatch) |
Where it fits in the playbook
PubCrawl is most relevant at the start of a project, before the core writing workflows begin:| Workflow | Role |
|---|---|
| Summarise a source paper | Supporting tool — find and retrieve the paper before summarising it |
| Extract key messages | Supporting tool — identify the evidence base and find related publications |
| Congress / poster summary | Supporting tool — find related publications and trial data alongside poster content |
How to use it in a workflow
- Define your search — Specify the indication, compound, trial, or research question
- Run PubCrawl — Search across PubMed, trial registries, and prescribing information databases
- Review results — Evaluate the returned papers, abstracts, and records for relevance
- Select your sources — Choose the publications that will serve as source materials for the project
- Proceed to the writing workflow — Feed the selected sources into Summarise a Source Paper, Extract Key Messages, or another downstream workflow
What it does well
- Searches PubMed and returns structured citation data and abstracts
- Retrieves full-text articles where available
- Searches clinical trial registries for trial records and results
- Retrieves SmPCs and USPIs for prescribing information
- Finds related papers from a starting reference
- Supports indication-based and compound-based searches
How it works
PubCrawl is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server. MCP is an open standard created by Anthropic that lets AI assistants call external tools securely. In practice, this means PubCrawl connects directly to your AI assistant (Claude Desktop, Cursor, or any MCP-compatible client) and gives it real-time access to PubMed, clinical trial registries, prescribing information databases, and more. When you ask a question about a compound, indication, or trial, the AI calls PubCrawl, which queries the live databases and returns structured, verified results with real PMIDs and DOIs. No API keys required. Install withnpm install -g @pharmatools/pubcrawl and add it to your client configuration.
What it does not do
- Does not assess study quality. PubCrawl finds publications; it does not appraise their methodology or assess risk of bias.
- Does not replace a systematic literature review. For formal SLRs, PubCrawl can support the search phase but does not replace the structured methodology, screening, or reporting required.
- Does not select your sources for you. The writer decides which papers are relevant, appropriate, and sufficient for the project.
Risk tier
PubCrawl is used in low-risk workflows. It supports the evidence discovery phase, which is a preparatory step before content development begins. The risk sits in what you do with the sources you find, not in finding them.Complementary tools
PubCrawl is designed for structured biomedical evidence retrieval within a medical writing workflow. Other tools serve different parts of the research process:- NotebookLM — upload papers and ask questions grounded in the source text. Useful for familiarising yourself with complex papers, identifying key themes, and preparing for downstream writing. The writer must still verify study design, endpoints, limitations, and interpretation.
- Claude Cowork — work with multiple source documents (papers, protocols, statistical outputs) in a structured project workspace. Useful for analysing several papers together, comparing trial results, and drafting structured sections from supplied sources. The writer remains responsible for verifying that all relevant details were captured.
- Elicit — structured paper extraction and synthesis. Useful during exploratory research or when comparing findings across multiple papers.
- Consensus — fast research question exploration across published literature. Useful for early framing before a structured search.
- Perplexity — AI-powered search with cited sources. Useful for quick fact-checking, background research, and locating specific claims in the literature.
- Zotero / EndNote — reference library management. Store, organise, and cite the papers PubCrawl helps you find.
Try PubCrawl at PharmaTools.AI →