ClinicalTrials.gov v2 API Guide

Overview

ClinicalTrials.gov is the world's largest clinical trial registry, maintained by the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM) at NIH. It contains over 576,000 study records from 220+ countries covering interventional trials, observational studies, and expanded access programs. The v2 API provides structured JSON access with field-level filtering, cursor-based pagination, and statistics endpoints.

Key v2 improvements over the legacy API: JSON-native responses, sparse field selection via the fields parameter, nextPageToken pagination, and dedicated statistics endpoints. Study data is organized into protocolSection (sponsor-submitted) and derivedSection (NLM-computed).

Authentication

No authentication required. All endpoints are publicly accessible without API keys or registration. Users should comply with NCBI usage policies and maintain reasonable request rates.

Core Endpoints

Search Studies

• URL: GET https://clinicaltrials.gov/api/v2/studies
• Parameters: