BioGRID API Reference

Base URL

https://webservice.thebiogrid.org/interactions

Authentication

API key REQUIRED. Register free at https://webservice.thebiogrid.org/ to obtain an access key.

Pass as query parameter: ?accesskey=YOUR_ACCESS_KEY

Rate Limits

Not formally published. Reasonable usage expected.

Response Format

JSON (with &format=json), tab-delimited (&format=tab2), or XML. Default is tab2.

Key Endpoints

1. Search Interactions by Gene

GET https://webservice.thebiogrid.org/interactions?accesskey={key}&format=json&searchNames=true&geneList={gene_symbol}&taxId={taxon_id}

Example — get TP53 interactions in human:

GET https://webservice.thebiogrid.org/interactions?accesskey=YOUR_KEY&format=json&searchNames=true&geneList=TP53&taxId=9606&max=50

2. Multiple Genes

GET https://webservice.thebiogrid.org/interactions?accesskey={key}&format=json&geneList=BRCA1|BRCA2&taxId=9606&max=100

Separate gene names with | (pipe).

3. Filter by Evidence Type

GET https://webservice.thebiogrid.org/interactions?accesskey={key}&format=json&geneList=TP53&taxId=9606&evidenceList=physical&max=50

Evidence types: physical, genetic.

4. Filter by Experimental System

GET https://webservice.thebiogrid.org/interactions?accesskey={key}&format=json&geneList=TP53&taxId=9606&experimentalSystemList=Two-hybrid&max=50

Systems include: Two-hybrid, Affinity Capture-MS, Co-fractionation, Reconstituted Complex, Synthetic Lethality, Dosage Rescue, etc.

5. Search by BioGRID Interaction ID

GET https://webservice.thebiogrid.org/interactions/{interaction_id}?accesskey={key}&format=json

6. Search by PubMed ID

GET https://webservice.thebiogrid.org/interactions?accesskey={key}&format=json&pubmedList=12345678

7. Inter-species Interactions

GET https://webservice.thebiogrid.org/interactions?accesskey={key}&format=json&geneList=TP53&taxId=9606&interSpeciesExcluded=false

8. Include Interactor Annotations

GET https://webservice.thebiogrid.org/interactions?accesskey={key}&format=json&geneList=TP53&taxId=9606&includeInteractors=true&max=50

Common Query Parameters

Parameter	Description
`geneList`	Gene symbol(s), pipe-separated
`taxId`	NCBI taxonomy ID (9606=human, 10090=mouse, 559292=yeast)
`max`	Max results to return (default 10000)
`start`	Offset for pagination
`format`	`json`, `tab2`, `extendedTab2`, `count`
`searchNames`	`true` to match official symbols
`selfInteractionsExcluded`	`true` to exclude self-interactions
`evidenceList`	`physical` or `genetic`
`throughputTag`	`low` or `high`

JSON Response Structure

json

{
  "12345": {
    "BIOGRID_INTERACTION_ID": 12345,
    "ENTREZ_GENE_A": "7157",
    "ENTREZ_GENE_B": "672",
    "OFFICIAL_SYMBOL_A": "TP53",
    "OFFICIAL_SYMBOL_B": "BRCA1",
    "EXPERIMENTAL_SYSTEM": "Two-hybrid",
    "EXPERIMENTAL_SYSTEM_TYPE": "physical",
    "PUBMED_ID": "9482880",
    "ORGANISM_A": 9606,
    "ORGANISM_B": 9606,
    "THROUGHPUT": "Low Throughput",
    "SCORE": "-"
  }
}

Count-Only Query

GET https://webservice.thebiogrid.org/interactions?accesskey={key}&format=count&geneList=TP53&taxId=9606

Returns just the integer count.

Notes

BioGRID aggregates curated interaction data from literature.
Covers physical (protein-protein) and genetic interactions.
For bulk data, use BioGRID downloads (tab-delimited files) at https://downloads.thebiogrid.org/.
Cross-reference with STRING for combined interaction evidence.