4 Commands

Every BLAST URLAPI request must have the following format:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/blast/Blast.cgi?CMD=command&parameter=value&parameter=value ...

Here, 'CMD=command' defines the type of action to be taken, while 'parameter=value' pairs are specific setting of the parameters for the command, each separated from previous pair by an ampersand symbol (&). Some commands have mandatory parameters.

For example, 'CMD=Get' requires an 'RID' parameter with a valid RID as its value. Currently, BLAST URLAPI supports five commands, Put, Get, Info, Web and request. We will leave Web and request out since they are not relevant to searches through BLAST URLAPI.