Paper Alerts (Email, Telegram, Discord, Slack & more)¶

Get new papers matching your searches delivered by email, Telegram, Discord, Slack, Teams and 12 other channels on a schedule, run for free by GitHub Actions. You don't need a server, and you don't edit any files: everything is set in your fork's Settings.

Each digest lists only papers that are new since the last one, grouped by search, with title, authors, journal and a link. A CSV (or BibTeX/RIS) of the same papers is attached, ready for Zotero or Mendeley.

What you receive¶

For each search: how many new papers were published, broken down by source, with the titles listed under each source.

📚 Lixplore: 5 new papers (26 Sep 2026)

🔎 GLP-1 — 5 new (PubMed 3, EuropePMC 2)
▸ PubMed: 3 new
1. GLP-1 Receptor Agonists in Heart Failure: A Systematic Review…
    Yuan Y, Chen C, Li X et al. · Drugs · 2026
2. …
▸ EuropePMC: 2 new
1. Patient characteristics and early experiences with anti-obesity medications…
▸ arXiv: 0 new

Every title links to the paper. Email adds a CSV (or BibTeX/RIS) attachment of the same papers.

Each source returns at most LIXPLORE_MAX_RESULTS papers per search (default 20). If a database found more in the search window, the digest says so, e.g. PubMed: 20 new (+39 more matches not listed). Raise LIXPLORE_MAX_RESULTS to list them all. Some of those extra matches may be papers sent in an earlier digest, because the window overlaps the previous run by two days.

Setup (about 5 minutes)¶

1. Fork the repository¶

Click Fork on github.com/pryndor/Lixplore_cli.

In your fork, open the Actions tab and click "I understand my workflows, go ahead and enable them". GitHub turns scheduled workflows off in new forks until you do this.

2. Add your searches¶

Go to Settings → Secrets and variables → Actions → Variables → New repository variable.

Name: LIXPLORE_QUERIES. Value: one search per line.

semaglutide AND obesity
CRISPR base editing

To give a search a name, or its own sources, use name | query | sources:

GLP-1 | semaglutide AND obesity | pubmed,europepmc
LLM agents | large language model agents | arxiv

Sources: pubmed, europepmc, arxiv, crossref, doaj, or the CLI letters (PEX). Queries use each source's normal search syntax, the same as lixplore -q.

Keep your topics private

Variables are visible to anyone who can see the repository. To keep searches private, create LIXPLORE_QUERIES as a Secret instead. Both work.

3. Add at least one delivery channel¶

Add these under Settings → Secrets and variables → Actions → Secrets. Configure as many channels as you like; every configured one receives the digest. Variable names match the daily_stock_analysis project, so the same secrets work in both.

Email¶

Secret	Value
`EMAIL_SENDER`	Address that sends the digest, e.g. `you@gmail.com`
`EMAIL_PASSWORD`	An app password, not your normal password
`EMAIL_RECEIVERS`	Optional. Comma-separated recipients. Defaults to the sender

For Gmail, create an app password at myaccount.google.com/apppasswords; 2-Step Verification must be on. The SMTP server is picked automatically for Gmail, Outlook/Hotmail, Yahoo, iCloud, Zoho, Proton, QQ and 163. For any other provider, also add SMTP_SERVER and SMTP_PORT.

Telegram¶

Secret	Value
`TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN`	From @BotFather: send `/newbot` and copy the token
`TELEGRAM_CHAT_ID`	Your chat ID. Comma-separate several to send to more than one chat
`TELEGRAM_MESSAGE_THREAD_ID`	Optional. A topic ID in a forum-style group

To find your chat ID, send any message to your new bot, then open https://api.telegram.org/bot<TOKEN>/getUpdates and copy "chat":{"id": ...}. For a group, add the bot to the group first; group IDs start with -.

Other channels¶

Channel	Secrets	Notes
Discord	`DISCORD_WEBHOOK_URL`	Channel → Edit → Integrations → Webhooks. Or bot mode: `DISCORD_BOT_TOKEN` + `DISCORD_MAIN_CHANNEL_ID`
Slack	`SLACK_WEBHOOK_URL`	Incoming Webhooks app. Or bot mode: `SLACK_BOT_TOKEN` + `SLACK_CHANNEL_ID`. The webhook form also works for Mattermost and Rocket.Chat
Microsoft Teams	`TEAMS_WEBHOOK_URL`	Channel → Workflows → "Post to a channel when a webhook request is received"
Google Chat	`GOOGLE_CHAT_WEBHOOK_URL`	Space → Apps & integrations → Webhooks
Matrix / Element	`MATRIX_HOMESERVER`, `MATRIX_ACCESS_TOKEN`, `MATRIX_ROOM_ID`	e.g. `https://matrix.org`, a bot account's token, `!abc:matrix.org`
WeCom (WeChat Work)	`WECHAT_WEBHOOK_URL`	Group robot URL. Variable `WECHAT_MSG_TYPE=text` if markdown doesn't render
Feishu / Lark	`FEISHU_WEBHOOK_URL`	Custom bot. Optional `FEISHU_WEBHOOK_SECRET` (signature check) and `FEISHU_WEBHOOK_KEYWORD` (keyword check)
DingTalk	`DINGTALK_WEBHOOK_URL`	Robot URL. Optional `DINGTALK_SECRET` for signed requests
ntfy	`NTFY_URL`	Full topic URL, e.g. `https://ntfy.sh/my-papers-x7k2`. Optional `NTFY_TOKEN`
Gotify	`GOTIFY_URL`, `GOTIFY_TOKEN`	Your server URL and an application token
Pushover	`PUSHOVER_USER_KEY`, `PUSHOVER_API_TOKEN`	Sends a short summary (Pushover caps messages at 1024 characters)
PushPlus	`PUSHPLUS_TOKEN`	Optional `PUSHPLUS_TOPIC` for group push
ServerChan3	`SERVERCHAN3_SENDKEY`
AstrBot	`ASTRBOT_URL`	Optional `ASTRBOT_TOKEN` signs requests
Custom webhook	`CUSTOM_WEBHOOK_URLS`	Comma-separated. See below

Set WEBHOOK_VERIFY_SSL=false only for a self-hosted ntfy, Gotify, AstrBot or custom endpoint with a self-signed certificate.

Custom webhook: WhatsApp, SMS and anything else¶

CUSTOM_WEBHOOK_URLS receives a JSON POST with subject, total, text, markdown, and alerts (each with its articles). Point it at n8n, Zapier, Make or IFTTT to forward digests to WhatsApp, SMS, Notion, a spreadsheet or anything those tools support. Add CUSTOM_WEBHOOK_BEARER_TOKEN if the endpoint needs auth.

To send a different body shape, set CUSTOM_WEBHOOK_BODY_TEMPLATE (a Variable). It can use $title, $title_json, $content and $content_json. For example, for Bark:

{"title": $title_json, "body": $content_json}

4. Test it¶

Open Actions → Lixplore Alerts → Run workflow:

test sends a short "you're set up" message to every configured channel.
dry-run fetches papers and shows the digest on the run page without sending anything.
run does a real send.

That's it. From now on the digest arrives automatically.

Schedule¶

Set these as Variables:

Variable	Default	Example
`LIXPLORE_SEND_DAYS`	`daily`	`mon-fri`, `mon,thu`, `mon`
`LIXPLORE_SEND_HOUR_UTC`	`6`	`2` for about 07:30 in India, `13` for about 09:00 US Eastern

GitHub schedules can't read variables, so the workflow wakes up every hour and sends once per send day, as soon as the chosen hour has passed. GitHub may start scheduled runs 5–30 minutes late. Hourly wake-ups are free on public repositories. On a private fork each check counts as about one Actions minute, roughly 720 of the 2,000 free minutes a month.

All settings¶

Everything is optional except LIXPLORE_QUERIES and one delivery channel.

Name	Where	Default	Meaning
`LIXPLORE_QUERIES`	Variable or Secret	—	Searches, as above
`LIXPLORE_SOURCES`	Variable	`pubmed,europepmc,arxiv`	Sources for lines that don't list their own
`LIXPLORE_MAX_RESULTS`	Variable	`20`	Newest papers listed per search per source; beyond this the digest shows a "+N more" count
`LIXPLORE_LOOKBACK_DAYS`	Variable	`auto`	Search window. `auto` = longest gap between send days + 2
`LIXPLORE_DEDUPE`	Variable	`true`	Merge the same paper found in several sources
`LIXPLORE_SEND_WHEN_EMPTY`	Variable	`false`	Send a "0 new papers" digest too
`LIXPLORE_ATTACH_FORMAT`	Variable	`csv`	`csv`, `bibtex`, `ris`, `json`, `xlsx` or `none`
`EMAIL_SENDER_NAME`	Variable	`Lixplore Alerts`	Display name on the email
`PUBMED_EMAIL`, `PUBMED_API_KEY`	Secret	—	Optional. Only raises NCBI's rate limit from 3 to 10 requests/second; useful with many PubMed searches

How "new" is decided¶

Each source is asked only for papers added in the search window: PubMed entry date, Europe PMC first-index date, arXiv submission date, Crossref DOI registration date, and DOAJ record creation date. The window overlaps previous runs by two days to catch records indexed late.

Papers already sent are remembered on a small lixplore-state branch that the workflow maintains in your fork. A paper is skipped if its DOI or title matches one sent in the last 120 days. The history is updated only after at least one channel delivers successfully, so a failed send is retried at the next hourly check.

Crossref matching is loose

Crossref ranks by word overlap and ignores AND/OR, so filtering it to only new records can surface weak matches. It is not in the default sources for that reason.

Running on your own computer (pip install)¶

Alerts also work without GitHub. Use the same settings in a .env file:

pip install -U lixplore-cli        # 1.1.0 or later
mkdir ~/lixplore-alerts && cd ~/lixplore-alerts
lixplore --alerts init             # creates a commented .env template here
# edit .env: add LIXPLORE_QUERIES and one channel's settings
lixplore --alerts check            # validate settings
lixplore --alerts test             # test message to each channel
lixplore --alerts dry-run          # preview the digest, send nothing
lixplore --alerts run              # fetch, send, remember

To run it automatically, lixplore --alerts schedule prints the exact line for your system, with the right folder and Python path filled in:

Linux / macOS: a crontab -e line
Windows: a schtasks command for Task Scheduler

It uses LIXPLORE_SEND_DAYS from your .env, runs at 08:00 local time by default, and accepts --hour 7 to change that. It only prints the command; nothing is installed for you.

Local runs keep their sent-paper history in .lixplore-state/ in that folder, so each digest still has only new papers. The computer must be on at the scheduled time; if that's a problem, use a GitHub fork instead.

lixplore-alerts <mode> is the same as lixplore --alerts <mode>. Normal searches (lixplore -P -q ...) are unchanged; alerts are an extra feature you only use if you want them.

Troubleshooting¶

Symptom	Fix
Workflow never runs	Enable workflows in your fork's Actions tab
`LIXPLORE_QUERIES is not set`	Add the variable. The name is case-sensitive
Email `Authentication failed`	Use an app password, not your account password
Telegram `chat not found`	Message the bot first, or add it to the group, then recheck the chat ID
One channel fails	The others still send. The run shows a warning naming the failed channel
No message arrived	Nothing new is not sent unless `LIXPLORE_SEND_WHEN_EMPTY=true`. The run page summary shows what was found
Want to resend everything	Delete the `lixplore-state` branch in your fork