Query Scholarly Data with the Hexagraph GraphQL API

Use Hexagraph’s GraphQL endpoint to fetch multiple scholarly entities in a single query. Explore outputs, authors, and more with the interactive playground.

Hexagraph provides a code-first GraphQL gateway at https://hexagraph-core.onrender.com/graphql. The same URL doubles as an interactive browser playground powered by Apollo Sandbox, so you can explore the schema, write queries, and inspect responses without leaving your browser — no client setup required. For programmatic access, send a standard POST request with a JSON body.

The GraphQL Playground

Navigate to https://hexagraph-core.onrender.com/graphql in your browser to open the Apollo Sandbox. The playground gives you:

• Schema explorer — browse all available query types, arguments, and return fields in the left-hand panel.
• Autocomplete — the query editor surfaces field suggestions as you type, so you can discover the full data model interactively.
• Live execution — click Run to fire a query against the live Hexagraph API and inspect the response inline.

No sign-in or API key is needed. The playground is the fastest way to prototype a query before wiring it into your application.

Making GraphQL Requests

All GraphQL operations use a single endpoint and HTTP method. Send your query as the query property of a JSON body in a POST request:

curl -X POST https://hexagraph-core.onrender.com/graphql \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"query": "{ output(id: \"OA:W2107277218\") { id title year } }"}'

Example response

{
  "data": {
    "output": {
      "id": "OA:W2107277218",
      "title": "Artificial Intelligence in Clinical Decision Support",
      "year": 2022
    }
  }
}

Because you asked only for id, title, and year, those are the only three fields returned — the response is exactly as wide as you declared, no more.

Available Queries

output(id)

Fetch a single scholarly work by its OA:ID. Use this when you have a known identifier and need its full metadata record.

query GetOutput {
  output(id: "OA:W2107277218") {
    id
    doi
    title
    year
    date
    citations
    authors {
      name
    }
  }
}

Example response

{
  "data": {
    "output": {
      "id": "OA:W2107277218",
      "doi": "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.artint.2022.103751",
      "title": "Artificial Intelligence in Clinical Decision Support",
      "year": 2022,
      "date": "2022-04-15",
      "citations": 148,
      "authors": [
        { "name": "Jordan Rivera" },
        { "name": "Priya Nambiar" }
      ]
    }
  }
}

outputs(query)

Search and filter the full outputs index. The query argument mirrors the REST endpoint’s search, filter, page, and per_page parameters, but returns only the fields you declare.

query SearchPublications {
  outputs(query: {
    search: "artificial intelligence"
    filter: "has_doi:true"
    page: 1
    per_page: 3
  }) {
    id
    doi
    title
    date
    source
    citations
    authors {
      name
      affiliations
    }
  }
}

Example response

{
  "data": {
    "outputs": [
      {
        "id": "OA:W2107277218",
        "doi": "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.artint.2022.103751",
        "title": "Artificial Intelligence in Clinical Decision Support",
        "date": "2022-04-15",
        "source": "Artificial Intelligence",
        "citations": 148,
        "authors": [
          { "name": "Jordan Rivera", "affiliations": ["Massachusetts Institute of Technology"] }
        ]
      }
    ]
  }
}

author(id)

Fetch a complete researcher profile by OA:ID, including citation metrics and institutional affiliations.

query GetAuthorProfile {
  author(id: "OA:A5086208034") {
    id
    orcid
    name
    citations
    outputs
    affiliations {
      institution {
        name
      }
    }
  }
}

Example response

{
  "data": {
    "author": {
      "id": "OA:A5086208034",
      "orcid": "https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1825-0097",
      "name": "Jordan Rivera",
      "citations": 6201,
      "outputs": 84,
      "affiliations": [
        { "institution": { "name": "Massachusetts Institute of Technology" } },
        { "institution": { "name": "Stanford University" } }
      ]
    }
  }
}

Batching Multiple Lookups

One of GraphQL’s most practical advantages is the ability to resolve multiple independent entities in a single HTTP request. The example below fetches both a scholarly output and an author profile in one round trip, using aliases to give each field a distinct key in the response:

query BatchLookup {
  paper: output(id: "OA:W2107277218") {
    id
    title
    year
    citations
  }

  researcher: author(id: "OA:A5086208034") {
    id
    name
    citations
    outputs
  }
}

Example response

{
  "data": {
    "paper": {
      "id": "OA:W2107277218",
      "title": "Artificial Intelligence in Clinical Decision Support",
      "year": 2022,
      "citations": 148
    },
    "researcher": {
      "id": "OA:A5086208034",
      "name": "Jordan Rivera",
      "citations": 6201,
      "outputs": 84
    }
  }
}

Two records retrieved — one API call charged against your rate limit quota.

Benefits over REST

Capability	REST	GraphQL
Request only specific fields	❌ Full object always returned	✅ Declare exactly what you need
Combine multiple entity lookups	❌ One request per entity	✅ Batch in a single request
Interactive exploration	❌ Requires external tooling	✅ Built-in browser playground
Precise rate-limit efficiency	❌ Each entity = one request	✅ Many entities = one request

Using GraphQL to batch multiple entity lookups into a single request is the most efficient way to stay within Hexagraph’s rate limits (30 requests/min, 1,000/day) when building integrations. A single query that fetches ten outputs and five author profiles counts as just one request against your quota.