Materials Discovery And Bulk Selection

2. Prune before download

• Use the CSV output as the candidate ledger instead of retyping IDs from memory.
• Keep the filter logic explicit so later bulk or slab comparisons remain auditable.

3. Download only retained candidates

• mp_download_structure writes conventional standard structures under output_dir.
• It supports partial success: some mp_id values can fail while others download cleanly.
• Use the returned results and errors rather than assuming every requested ID resolved.

4. Hand off the shortlist

• Once the bulk shortlist is stable, hand it to bulk-relax-and-reference for relaxation and reference-state cleanup.

Method-critical defaults

• Keep the search criteria, requested fields, and shortlist filter fixed while you compare candidates.
• Do not treat a candidate table built with a different field set as interchangeable with the current shortlist.

Output Contract

Return:

• search CSV path
• retained mp_id list
• downloaded structure path(s)
• any partial-download failures that still need follow-up

References

• If a task needs advanced MP field selection, inspect the tool schema before broadening the search request.
• Use bulk-relax-and-reference when the discovery phase is finished and you need a real reference structure.