fix(database-lookup): retire dead PatentsView search API for ODP

[Divyansh151005]

Summary

references/uspto.md still taught https://search.patentsview.org/api/v1/ as the primary PatentsView search API. After USPTO's 2026-03-20 Open Data Portal migration that host is NXDOMAIN, so every agent following the skill hard-fails. The old patentsview.org/apis/keyrequest flow is also obsolete.

This PR:

• Rewrites the PatentsView section around the ODP transition guide and the published PatentsView bulk dataset pages
• Marks PatentSearch as paused (no invented replacement search URL)
• Swaps the credentials row from PATENTSVIEW_API_KEY / keyrequest to USPTO_ODP_API_KEY / https://data.uspto.gov/apikey
• Notes the pause in database_selection_guide.md
• Replaces the 404 ClinicalTrials bulk URL AllAPIJSON.zip with the working AllPublicXML.zip → legacy public-xml zip path
• Bumps metadata.version to "1.4"

PEDS and TSDR sections are unchanged.

Type of change

• Update to an existing skill

Skills touched

• database-lookup

How this was tested

$ host search.patentsview.org
Host search.patentsview.org not found: 3(NXDOMAIN)

$ curl -sI -L https://api.patentsview.org/patents/query
# 301 → https://data.uspto.gov/support/transition-guide/patentsview (200)

$ curl -sI https://clinicaltrials.gov/AllAPIJSON.zip
# 404

$ curl -sIL https://clinicaltrials.gov/AllPublicXML.zip
# 301 → /api/legacy/public-xml?format=zip
# 200 application/zip  content-disposition: attachment; filename=ctg-public-xml.zip

$ curl -sI https://data.uspto.gov/support/transition-guide/patentsview
# 200

$ uv run skills-ref validate ./skills/database-lookup
Valid skill: skills/database-lookup

$ uv run --with pytest python -m pytest tests/_meta -q
10 passed, 1213 subtests passed

Checked 2026-08-30 against USPTO's published transition guidance (PatentSearch paused; bulk tables on ODP).

Related issues and references

Fixes #243.

• https://data.uspto.gov/support/transition-guide/patentsview
• https://www.uspto.gov/subscription-center/2026/patentsview-migrating-uspto-open-data-portal-march-20

Checklist

Skill format

• The skill directory name and the name frontmatter match exactly.
• The skill directory contains only SKILL.md, references/, scripts/, and assets/.
• SKILL.md has valid YAML frontmatter and a Markdown body.
• Only the six spec-defined top-level fields are present; everything else lives under metadata.
• metadata is a block mapping, not single-line JSON, and scalar values are quoted where needed.
• metadata.version exists, is quoted, and is bumped.
• The description says both what the skill does and when an agent should use it.

Validation and tests

• uv run skills-ref validate ./skills/database-lookup passes.
• tests/_meta passes.
• Security scanner — docs-only change; scanner not run.

Content and safety

• Examples and scripts were tested, or are clearly marked as illustrative.
• No secrets, credentials, private data, or unsafe instructions are included.
• Credentials the skill needs are named in the credentials table (USPTO_ODP_API_KEY).

Notes for reviewers

• I did not invent a replacement PatentSearch base URL; USPTO has not published one yet. Agents are steered to ODP bulk datasets and told to surface the pause when interactive search is requested.
• USPTO_ODP_API_KEY is the local .env name for the ODP key (header per ODP docs). Old PATENTSVIEW_API_KEY values are incompatible per USPTO.

[rajpratham1]

uspto.md still contains outdated PatentsView API instructions after documenting that the PatentSearch API is paused/unavailable. The later sections still reference PATENTSVIEW_API_KEY, the old key-request URL, and the old API as working. Please remove or update these remaining references so the documentation consistently points users to USPTO ODP and USPTO_ODP_API_KEY.

[Divyansh151005]

Thanks for the review, @rajpratham1 — I double-checked the tip of this branch (fe2d6a1) against your notes.

Claim: later sections still reference PATENTSVIEW_API_KEY

On this PR head, that string does not appear anywhere under skills/database-lookup/:

$ git grep PATENTSVIEW_API_KEY HEAD -- skills/database-lookup
# (no matches)

What changed vs main:

• SKILL.md credentials row: PATENTSVIEW_API_KEY + patentsview.org/apis/keyrequest → USPTO_ODP_API_KEY + https://data.uspto.gov/apikey
• uspto.md no longer documents loading PATENTSVIEW_API_KEY from .env

If you were looking at the GitHub diff, the PATENTSVIEW_API_KEY / keyrequest lines show only on the removed (red) side from main.

Claim: old key-request URL / old API still presented as working

The only remaining mentions of the old hosts are explicit do-not-use / historical notes:

• Status block: PatentSearch at search.patentsview.org is unavailable (NXDOMAIN); do not call it; do not register at the old keyrequest flow
• Auth section: ODP key from data.uspto.gov/apikey; old PatentSearch keys are not compatible; env var is USPTO_ODP_API_KEY
• Historical note: legacy hosts must not be used until USPTO republishes an ODP-hosted replacement
• Limitations: PatentSearch is paused; use ODP bulk datasets

There are no remaining search endpoint examples (GET /patent/?…&api_key=…) in the PR.

Live re-check (2026-08-30)

$ host search.patentsview.org
Host search.patentsview.org not found: 3(NXDOMAIN)

$ curl -sI https://patentsview.org/apis/keyrequest
# 301 → https://data.uspto.gov/support/transition-guide/patentsview

That matches USPTO’s ODP PatentsView transition guide: PatentSearch paused; previously issued PatentSearch keys incompatible; bulk data on ODP.

If the ask is to remove even the historical mentions

Happy to do a follow-up commit that drops the old host/keyrequest strings entirely and keeps only ODP links — but as written, the tip already points agents at ODP + USPTO_ODP_API_KEY, not at a live PatentSearch flow. Let me know which you prefer (or if a maintainer wants a different wording).