basicmethods.py

import requests

URL =  "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/sys-bio/cesium/main/model_db/cesiumDB.json"

def filter(data, criteria):
    return [item for item in data if all(item.get(k) == v for k, v in criteria.items())]

def filter_antimony_string(data, criteria):
    return [item["antString"] for item in data if all(item.get(k) == v for k, v in criteria.items())]

def get_models_by_criteria(criteria):
    r = requests.get(url = URL)
    results = filter(r.json(), criteria)
    return {"models" : results, "count" : len(results)}

def get_antimony_strings_by_criteria(criteria):
    r = requests.get(url = URL)
    results = filter_antimony_string(r.json(), criteria)
    return {"models" : results, "count" : len(results)}

#example: get the amount of models with 12 reactions
print(get_models_by_criteria({"numReactions":12})["count"])

Besides the 'get_models_by_criteria()' we will probably want specific method names for each search making it easier for the user to grab the models. For the 'get_models_by_criteria()' the user will have to know what the valid criteria are (maybe have a help method that lists valid criteria).
So methods like getModelsWithNumberOfReactions(number, modelType) and getModelsWithNumberOfSpecies(number, modelType) .
We will need to discuss this with the goal of making it easy for the user to get the results they want.