Use Shortlinks to Transition to the PDB Beta Archive

IP
Irina Persikova
Fri, Aug 21, 2026 9:04 PM

The PDB Beta Archive
https://www.wwpdb.org/news/news.php?year=2026#69ebcdca1103c56d3f444159
will replace the current archive July 21, 2027. The PDB Beta Archive
organization supports the transition to extended PDB IDs. Users are
strongly encouraged to start using this new directory structure and
extended PDB IDs now.

“Shortlinks” https://www.wwpdb.org/ftp/pdb-beta-ftp-sites#dataStCon
are URLs that can be used for downloading data from the beta archive
today without the need to know or code specific file paths, e.g.,

https://files-beta.wwpdb.org/download/pdb_00001abc.cif.gz

When the PDB Beta Archive becomes the main PDB Archive, shortlink users
will only need to update the domain name for these shortlinks:

https://files.wwpdb.org/download/pdb_00001abc.cif.gz

wwPDB recommends that users with automated workflows adopt shortlinks today.

    Example Shortlinks

Please read the full news here:
https://www.wwpdb.org/news/news?year=2026#6a4fc5f40fba48755e86064b

On behalf of the wwPDB,

--
IRINA PERSIKOVA, Ph.D.
Deputy Biocuration Lead, RCSB Protein Data Bank
Research Associate, Institute for Quantitative Biomedicine
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
174 Frelinghuysen Road, Piscataway NJ 08854
P: 848.445.4938 | E: irina.persikova@rcsb.org
mailto:irina.persikova@rcsb.org
rcsb.org <www.rcsb.org> | iqb.rutgers.edu http://iqb.rutgers.edu |
facebook https://www.facebook.com/RCSBPDB | twitter
https://twitter.com/buildmodels

The PDB Beta Archive <https://www.wwpdb.org/news/news.php?year=2026#69ebcdca1103c56d3f444159> will replace the current archive July 21, 2027. The PDB Beta Archive organization supports the transition to extended PDB IDs. Users are strongly encouraged to start using this new directory structure and extended PDB IDs now. “Shortlinks” <https://www.wwpdb.org/ftp/pdb-beta-ftp-sites#dataStCon> are URLs that can be used for downloading data from the beta archive today without the need to know or code specific file paths, e.g., https://files-beta.wwpdb.org/download/pdb_00001abc.cif.gz When the PDB Beta Archive becomes the main PDB Archive, shortlink users will only need to update the domain name for these shortlinks: https://files.wwpdb.org/download/pdb_00001abc.cif.gz wwPDB recommends that users with automated workflows adopt shortlinks today. Example Shortlinks * https://files-beta.wwpdb.org/download/pdb_00001abc.cif.gz * https://files-beta.wwpdb.org/download/pdb_00001abc-sf.cif.gz * https://files-beta.wwpdb.org/download/pdb_00001abc_nmr-data.str.gz * https://files-beta.wwpdb.org/ligands/download/ATP.cif * … Transition Resources * PDB ID Extension FAQ <https://www.wwpdb.org/documentation/pdb-id-extension-faq> * PDB Beta Archive Overview: includes beta archive access, scripts, shortlink URLs, and other resources <https://www.wwpdb.org/ftp/pdb-beta-ftp-sites> * PDBx/mmCIF software resources <https://mmcif.wwpdb.org/docs/software-resources.html> * Understanding PDBx/mmCIF format <https://pdb101.rcsb.org/learn/guide-to-understanding-pdb-data/beginner%E2%80%99s-guide-to-pdbx-mmcif> * PDBx/mmCIF User Guide <https://mmcif.wwpdb.org/docs/user-guide/guide.html> * PDBx/mmCIF Dictionary <https://mmcif.wwpdb.org/> * PDB -> PDBx/mmCIF correspondences <https://mmcif.wwpdb.org/docs/pdb_to_pdbx_correspondences.html> * An online PDBx/mmCIF Editor <https://pdbj.org/cif-editor/> Please read the full news here: https://www.wwpdb.org/news/news?year=2026#6a4fc5f40fba48755e86064b On behalf of the wwPDB, -- IRINA PERSIKOVA, Ph.D. Deputy Biocuration Lead, RCSB Protein Data Bank Research Associate, Institute for Quantitative Biomedicine Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey 174 Frelinghuysen Road, Piscataway NJ 08854 P: 848.445.4938 | E: irina.persikova@rcsb.org <mailto:irina.persikova@rcsb.org> rcsb.org <www.rcsb.org> | iqb.rutgers.edu <http://iqb.rutgers.edu> | facebook <https://www.facebook.com/RCSBPDB> | twitter <https://twitter.com/buildmodels>