FAQ Answers
What makes Minicule different from traditional literature search tools?
Minicule doesn’t just retrieve papers — it constructs *reasoning-ready knowledge graphs*. Its AI interprets semantic relationships across heterogeneous sources, dynamically infers connections not explicitly stated, and surfaces high-value hypotheses grounded in multi-source evidence — turning passive search into active discovery.
Which scientific databases does Minicule integrate with natively?
Minicule maintains certified, rate-optimized integrations with PubMed (MEDLINE/PubMed Central), OpenAlex (open scholarly metadata), and USPTO (patent full-text and image databases). Additional connectors for clinicaltrials.gov, EGA, and UniProt are available in Enterprise plans.
Is there a free tier for individual researchers?
Yes. The Free plan includes 1 million monthly tokens, access to core graph-building features, 1 GB of private storage, and unlimited public dataset queries — ideal for exploratory research and academic prototyping.
Do academic institutions receive special licensing terms?
Affiliated academic users qualify for a 50% discount across Pro, Team, and Enterprise plans — verified via institutional email and intended for non-commercial, education- or grant-funded research use.
How does team collaboration function within Minicule?
The Team plan enables shared workspaces with granular permissions (view/edit/admin), real-time co-editing of graphs, change history tracking, and integrated commenting — supporting seamless collaboration across labs, departments, or global consortia.
What do “Tokens” represent in Minicule’s usage model?
Tokens measure computational effort: each AI inference (e.g., entity extraction, relationship classification, graph expansion) consumes tokens proportional to input size and complexity. This ensures fair, transparent, and scalable resource allocation — no hidden fees or surprise overages.
Can Minicule be deployed behind an institutional firewall?
Absolutely. The Enterprise offering includes Docker-based private deployment, FIPS-compliant encryption, offline mode support, and optional integration with institutional identity providers (SAML/OIDC) — meeting strict regulatory and security requirements.