diff --git a/pubs/apis.py b/pubs/apis.py
index 0812ba5..a627cf5 100644
--- a/pubs/apis.py
+++ b/pubs/apis.py
@@ -1,7 +1,9 @@
 """Interface for Remote Bibliographic APIs"""
 
 import requests
+import feedparser
 from bs4 import BeautifulSoup
+from uis import get_ui
 
 
 def doi2bibtex(doi):
@@ -25,3 +27,32 @@ def isbn2bibtex(isbn):
     citation = soup.find("textarea").text
 
     return citation
+
+
+def arxiv2bibtex(arxiv_id):
+    """Return a bibtex string of metadata from an arXiv ID"""
+
+    url = 'https://export.arxiv.org/api/query?id_list=' + arxiv_id
+    r = requests.get(url)
+    feed = feedparser.parse(r.text)
+    entry = feed.entries[0]
+
+    if 'title' not in entry:
+        ui = get_ui()
+        ui.error('malformed arXiv ID: {}'.format(arxiv_id))
+    if 'arxiv_doi' in entry:
+        return doi2bibtex(entry['arxiv_doi'])
+    else:
+        # Create a bibentry from the metadata.
+        bibtext = '@misc{{{},\n'.format(arxiv_id)
+        bibtext += 'Author = {'
+        for i, author in enumerate(entry['authors']):
+            bibtext += author['name']
+            if i < len(entry['authors']) - 1:
+                bibtext += ' and '
+        bibtext += '},\n'
+        bibtext += 'Title = {{{}}},\n'.format(entry['title'].strip('\n'))
+        bibtext += 'Year = {{{}}},\n'.format(entry['published_parsed'].tm_year)
+        bibtext += 'Eprint = {{arXiv:{}}},\n'.format(arxiv_id)
+        bibtext += '}'
+        return bibtext
diff --git a/pubs/commands/add_cmd.py b/pubs/commands/add_cmd.py
index a22c0a5..d4031f6 100644
--- a/pubs/commands/add_cmd.py
+++ b/pubs/commands/add_cmd.py
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ def parser(subparsers, conf):
                         help='bibtex file')
     parser.add_argument('-D', '--doi', help='doi number to retrieve the bibtex entry, if it is not provided', default=None, action=ValidateDOI)
     parser.add_argument('-I', '--isbn', help='isbn number to retrieve the bibtex entry, if it is not provided', default=None)
+    parser.add_argument('-X', '--arxiv', help='arXiv ID to retrieve the bibtex entry, if it is not provided', default=None)
     parser.add_argument('-d', '--docfile', help='pdf or ps file', default=None)
     parser.add_argument('-t', '--tags', help='tags associated to the paper, separated by commas',
                         default=None
@@ -67,6 +68,19 @@ def bibentry_from_editor(conf, ui, rp):
     return bibentry
 
 
+def api_call(fn, arg):
+    """Calls the appropriate API command.
+
+    :param fn: The API function to call.
+    :param arg: The argument to give the API call.
+    """
+    bibentry_raw = fn(arg)
+    bibentry = rp.databroker.verify(bibentry_raw)
+    return bibentry
+    if bibentry is None:
+        ui.error('invalid doi {} or unable to retrieve bibfile from it.'.format(args.doi))
+
+
 def command(conf, args):
     """
     :param bibfile: bibtex file (in .bib, .bibml or .yaml format.
@@ -86,21 +100,26 @@ def command(conf, args):
         if args.doi is None and args.isbn is None:
             bibentry = bibentry_from_editor(conf, ui, rp)
         else:
+            bibentry = None
             if args.doi is not None:
                 bibentry_raw = apis.doi2bibtex(args.doi)
                 bibentry = rp.databroker.verify(bibentry_raw)
                 if bibentry is None:
                     ui.error('invalid doi {} or unable to retrieve bibfile from it.'.format(args.doi))
-                    if args.isbn is None:
-                        ui.exit(1)
             if args.isbn is not None:
                 bibentry_raw = apis.isbn2bibtex(args.isbn)
                 bibentry = rp.databroker.verify(bibentry_raw)
                 if bibentry is None:
                     ui.error('invalid isbn {} or unable to retrieve bibfile from it.'.format(args.isbn))
-                    ui.exit(1)
                 # TODO distinguish between cases, offer to open the error page in a webbrowser.
                 # TODO offer to confirm/change citekey
+            if args.arxiv is not None:
+                bibentry_raw = apis.arxiv2bibtex(args.arxiv)
+                bibentry = rp.databroker.verify(bibentry_raw)
+                if bibentry is None:
+                    ui.error('invalid arxiv id {} or unable to retrieve bibfile from it.'.format(args.arxiv_id))
+            if bibentry is None:
+                ui.exit(1)
     else:
         bibentry_raw = content.get_content(bibfile, ui=ui)
         bibentry = rp.databroker.verify(bibentry_raw)
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index 4e10580..da1abec 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -4,3 +4,4 @@ python-dateutil
 requests
 configobj
 beautifulsoup4
+feedparser
diff --git a/tests/test_apis.py b/tests/test_apis.py
index 087f32f..8c2017c 100644
--- a/tests/test_apis.py
+++ b/tests/test_apis.py
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ import dotdot
 
 from pubs.p3 import ustr
 from pubs.endecoder import EnDecoder
-from pubs.apis import doi2bibtex, isbn2bibtex
+from pubs.apis import arxiv2bibtex, doi2bibtex, isbn2bibtex
 
 
 class TestDOI2Bibtex(unittest.TestCase):
@@ -60,5 +60,30 @@ class TestISBN2Bibtex(unittest.TestCase):
             self.endecoder.decode_bibdata(bib)
 
 
+class TestArxiv2Bibtex(unittest.TestCase):
+
+    def setUp(self):
+        self.endecoder = EnDecoder()
+
+    def test_parses_to_bibtex_with_doi(self):
+        bib = arxiv2bibtex('astro-ph/9812133')
+        b = self.endecoder.decode_bibdata(bib)
+        self.assertEqual(len(b), 1)
+        entry = b[list(b)[0]]
+        self.assertEqual(entry['author'][0], 'Perlmutter, S.')
+        self.assertEqual(entry['year'], '1999')
+
+    def test_parses_to_bibtex_without_doi(self):
+        bib = arxiv2bibtex('math/0211159')
+        b = self.endecoder.decode_bibdata(bib)
+        self.assertEqual(len(b), 1)
+        entry = b[list(b)[0]]
+        self.assertEqual(entry['author'][0], 'Perelman, Grisha')
+        self.assertEqual(entry['year'], '2002')
+        self.assertEqual(
+                entry['title'],
+                'The entropy formula for the Ricci flow and its geometric applications')
+
+
 # Note: apparently ottobib.com uses caracter modifiers for accents instead
 # of the correct unicode characters. TODO: Should we convert them?