Agent skill

Biothings API

by wentorai in wentorai/research-plugins

Query gene, variant, and drug annotations via BioThings APIs

MITAuto-check passedResearch & Science

Install Biothings API

skills CLI
$ npx skills add wentorai/research-plugins --skill biothings-api -a claude-code

Project install by default; add -g for ~/.claude/skills/.

GitHub CLI
$ gh skill install wentorai/research-plugins biothings-api --agent claude-code

Project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).

Manual copy
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/wentorai/research-plugins.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/domains/biomedical/biothings-api .claude/skills/biothings-api && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.claude/skills/ instead of .claude/skills for a personal install. The folder must contain SKILL.md.

Claude Code skills documentation · loads skills from .claude/skills/

Facts

Skill name
biothings-api
GitHub stars
298
Used in
1 other repo
Token cost
~2.2k tokens
SKILL.md length
487 words
Files
1
Skills in repo
405
Repo updated
First seen
Licence
MIT

At a glance

Query gene, variant, and drug annotations via BioThings APIs

  • Research & Science work in your project
  • SKILL.md covers Overview, Authentication, MyGene.info — Gene Annotations and MyVariant.info — Variant…, plus 6 more sections
  • Calls curl

What it does

Biothings API is an agent skill from wentorai/research-plugins. Query gene, variant, and drug annotations via BioThings APIs

Its SKILL.md is about 2.2k tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. It is a single SKILL.md file with no bundled scripts.

It sits in Research & Science. It works with NCBI. The repository describes itself as: 350+ academic research skills, MCP configs, and plugins for Research-Claw and AI agents. The licence is MIT.

When your agent uses it

  • Research & Science work in your project

Example prompts

  • “/biothings-api”

Requirements

  • Python 3

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit bf44b3c. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.

  • Tool permissions

    Pre-approves nothing: there is no allowed-tools line, so your agent's usual permission prompts apply.

    From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.

  • Runs code

    Shell commands in SKILL.md call:

    • curl

    From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.

  • Network

    Links to these hosts (documentation or services it may open):

    • biothings.io
    • doi.org

    From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.

  • Credentials

    Names no API keys, tokens, secrets or passwords.

    From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.

Context cost

Biothings API loads about 2.2k tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 19 tokens; SKILL.md has 487 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it
~19
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches
~2.2k

Estimates: characters ÷ 4, the usual rule of thumb; real counts depend on the model's tokenizer. Scripts and assets cost tokens only if the agent reads them.

Safety

Auto-check passed

The automated check found no risky patterns in SKILL.md.

Automated static check — not a guarantee. Review scripts before installing. It scans the text of SKILL.md for risky patterns (piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files, hidden Unicode, destructive commands); files beside SKILL.md are not scanned.

SKILL.md

The full file from wentorai/research-plugins at commit bf44b3c, republished under its MIT licence (© wentorai). 487 words, ~2,222 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/biothings-api/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder).
name
biothings-api
description
Query gene, variant, and drug annotations via BioThings APIs

BioThings API Suite

Overview

BioThings is a family of high-performance biomedical annotation APIs developed at the Scripps Research Institute. The suite provides unified, up-to-date access to gene, variant, and chemical/drug annotations aggregated from dozens of authoritative sources. Three primary services cover the core entities in translational research:

  • MyGene.info — Gene annotations from NCBI Entrez, Ensembl, UniProt, GO, KEGG, Reactome, and 20+ sources.
  • MyVariant.info — Variant annotations from dbSNP, ClinVar, gnomAD, CADD, COSMIC, and 15+ sources.
  • MyChem.info — Drug and chemical annotations from NDC, DrugBank, ChEMBL, FDA, PubChem, and 10+ sources.

All three share identical query syntax, require no authentication, and return JSON. Free for academic and commercial use.

Authentication

No authentication or API keys are required. All endpoints are open-access.

bash
# No API key needed — just query directly
curl "https://mygene.info/v3/query?q=BRCA1&size=1"

MyGene.info — Gene Annotations

Search Genes
GET https://mygene.info/v3/query?q={query}&size={n}

Query by gene symbol, name, Entrez ID, Ensembl ID, or keyword. Supports boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT) and field-specific queries like symbol:CDK2.

bash
curl -s "https://mygene.info/v3/query?q=BRCA1&size=1"

Response:

json
{
  "took": 178,
  "total": 13223,
  "hits": [
    {
      "_id": "672",
      "_score": 145.6796,
      "entrezgene": "672",
      "name": "BRCA1 DNA repair associated",
      "symbol": "BRCA1",
      "taxid": 9606
    }
  ]
}
Get Gene by ID
GET https://mygene.info/v3/gene/{entrez_id}

Returns comprehensive annotations for a single gene. Use the fields parameter to select specific data sources.

bash
# Full annotation (large response)
curl -s "https://mygene.info/v3/gene/1017"

# Selective fields
curl -s "https://mygene.info/v3/gene/1017?fields=symbol,name,summary,genomic_pos,go"

Response (key fields for CDK2, Entrez ID 1017):

json
{
  "_id": "1017",
  "symbol": "CDK2",
  "name": "cyclin dependent kinase 2",
  "HGNC": "1771",
  "MIM": "116953",
  "AllianceGenome": "1771",
  "taxid": 9606,
  "type_of_gene": "protein-coding"
}

The full response includes accessions, Gene Ontology terms, pathway memberships (KEGG, Reactome, WikiPathways), protein domains (InterPro, Pfam), homology data, and genomic coordinates.

MyVariant.info — Variant Annotations

Search Variants
GET https://myvariant.info/v1/query?q={query}&size={n}

Query by rsID, HGVS notation (e.g., chr7:g.140453136A>T), gene symbol, or ClinVar significance. Returns aggregated annotations from 15+ sources.

bash
curl -s "https://myvariant.info/v1/query?q=rs58991260&size=1"

Response (truncated):

json
{
  "took": 20,
  "total": 1,
  "hits": [
    {
      "_id": "chr1:g.218631822G>A",
      "_score": 21.382616,
      "dbsnp": {
        "rsid": "rs58991260",
        "vartype": "snv",
        "ref": "G",
        "alt": "A",
        "chrom": "1"
      },
      "cadd": {
        "phred": 1.679,
        "consequence": "INTERGENIC",
        "chrom": 1,
        "pos": 218631822
      },
      "gnomad_genome": {
        "af": { "af": 0.0150338, "af_afr": 0.0528007, "af_eas": 0.0, "af_nfe": 0.00032417 },
        "alt": "A",
        "ref": "G"
      }
    }
  ]
}
Get Variant by HGVS ID
GET https://myvariant.info/v1/variant/{hgvs_id}
bash
curl -s "https://myvariant.info/v1/variant/chr1:g.218631822G>A?fields=dbsnp,cadd,clinvar"

MyChem.info — Drug & Chemical Annotations

Search Drugs/Chemicals
GET https://mychem.info/v1/query?q={query}&size={n}

Query by drug name, NDC code, InChIKey, or active ingredient. Aggregates data from FDA NDC, DrugBank, ChEMBL, PubChem, SIDER, and more.

bash
curl -s "https://mychem.info/v1/query?q=aspirin&size=1"

Response (truncated):

json
{
  "took": 82,
  "total": 248,
  "hits": [
    {
      "_id": "0615-8613",
      "_score": 13.657401,
      "ndc": {
        "substancename": "ASPIRIN",
        "nonproprietaryname": "Aspirin",
        "proprietaryname": "Adult Low Dose Aspirin",
        "active_numerator_strength": "81",
        "active_ingred_unit": "mg/1",
        "dosageformname": "TABLET, DELAYED RELEASE",
        "routename": "ORAL",
        "producttypename": "HUMAN OTC DRUG",
        "pharm_classes": [
          "Cyclooxygenase Inhibitors [MoA]",
          "Decreased Platelet Aggregation [PE]",
          "Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal [CS]",
          "Nonsteroidal Anti-inflammatory Drug [EPC]",
          "Platelet Aggregation Inhibitor [EPC]"
        ]
      }
    }
  ]
}
Get Chemical by ID
GET https://mychem.info/v1/chem/{id}
bash
curl -s "https://mychem.info/v1/chem/CHEMBL25?fields=drugbank,chembl,pubchem"

Query Syntax (Shared Across All Three APIs)

All BioThings APIs share the same query engine. Key features:

FeatureSyntaxExample
Field-specificfield:valuesymbol:TP53
BooleanAND, OR, NOTBRCA1 AND cancer
Wildcard*CDK*
Range[min TO max]exac.af:[0.01 TO 0.05]
Paginationsize, fromsize=20&from=40
Field selectionfieldsfields=symbol,name,go
Sortingsortsort=_score:desc
Batch POSTPOST with idsUp to 1000 IDs per request
Show full SKILL.md (168 more words)Show less

Rate Limits

  • GET requests: 3 per second sustained; bursts up to 10/s tolerated
  • POST batch requests: 1 per second; up to 1000 IDs per batch
  • No daily cap for reasonable academic usage
  • Best practice: Add 350ms delays between sequential requests; use batch POST for bulk queries
  • User-Agent header: Set a descriptive User-Agent for priority support from the BioThings team

Python Example: Cross-API Gene-Variant-Drug Lookup

python
import requests, time

MYGENE = "https://mygene.info/v3"
MYVARIANT = "https://myvariant.info/v1"
MYCHEM = "https://mychem.info/v1"

def search_gene(symbol):
    resp = requests.get(f"{MYGENE}/query",
                        params={"q": f"symbol:{symbol}", "size": 1, "species": "human"})
    resp.raise_for_status()
    hits = resp.json().get("hits", [])
    return hits[0] if hits else {}

def search_variants(gene_symbol, size=5):
    resp = requests.get(f"{MYVARIANT}/query",
                        params={"q": f"clinvar.gene.symbol:{gene_symbol}",
                                "fields": "dbsnp.rsid,clinvar.rcv.clinical_significance,cadd.phred",
                                "size": size})
    resp.raise_for_status()
    return resp.json().get("hits", [])

def search_drug(name):
    resp = requests.get(f"{MYCHEM}/query",
                        params={"q": name, "size": 1,
                                "fields": "ndc.substancename,ndc.pharm_classes"})
    resp.raise_for_status()
    hits = resp.json().get("hits", [])
    return hits[0] if hits else {}

# Translational research pipeline: gene -> variants -> drug
gene = search_gene("BRCA1")
print(f"Gene: {gene.get('symbol')} (Entrez: {gene.get('entrezgene')})")
time.sleep(0.35)

variants = search_variants("BRCA1", size=3)
for v in variants:
    rsid = v.get("dbsnp", {}).get("rsid", v.get("_id"))
    print(f"  Variant: {rsid} | CADD: {v.get('cadd', {}).get('phred', 'N/A')}")
time.sleep(0.35)

drug = search_drug("olaparib")
print(f"  Drug: {drug.get('ndc', {}).get('substancename', 'N/A')}")

Academic Use Cases

  • GWAS follow-up: Annotate thousands of significant SNPs with allele frequencies (gnomAD), functional predictions (CADD, SIFT, PolyPhen), and clinical significance (ClinVar) via MyVariant.info batch queries.
  • Drug target mapping: Link gene symbols to pathway memberships (KEGG, Reactome) via MyGene.info, then find approved drugs targeting those pathways via MyChem.info.
  • Pharmacogenomics: Cross-reference variant annotations with drug metabolism data to identify clinically actionable gene-drug interactions.
  • Systematic reviews: Programmatically collect gene/variant metadata across large candidate lists to populate supplementary tables in genomics publications.

References

© wentorai, MIT. Rendered from Markdown: HTML in the file is shown as text, images as links, and headings moved down two levels. Raw file

Files

Just SKILL.md in skills/domains/biomedical/biothings-api of wentorai/research-plugins.

Open the folder on GitHubat commit bf44b3c

Used in 1 other repository

We found 1 copy of this SKILL.md (exact, near-identical or edited) in other folders, from 1 other GitHub owner. This page covers the copy in wentorai/research-plugins, which our catalogue first saw on October 7, 2026.

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Works with

Questions about Biothings API

What does Biothings API do?

Query gene, variant, and drug annotations via BioThings APIs. Biothings API is an agent skill from wentorai/research-plugins.

When should I use Biothings API?

Biothings API fits situations like: research & Science work in your project.

How do I install Biothings API in Claude Code?

Run `npx skills add wentorai/research-plugins --skill biothings-api -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/domains/biomedical/biothings-api in wentorai/research-plugins) into .claude/skills/biothings-api in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.

How do I install Biothings API in Codex?

Run `npx skills add wentorai/research-plugins --skill biothings-api -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/domains/biomedical/biothings-api in wentorai/research-plugins) into .agents/skills/biothings-api in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.

Can I use Biothings API in Cursor, Gemini CLI or GitHub Copilot?

Cursor, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot and OpenCode also load SKILL.md folders. With the skills CLI, run `npx skills add wentorai/research-plugins --skill biothings-api -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/biothings-api, .gemini/skills/biothings-api, .github/skills/biothings-api and .opencode/skills/biothings-api in your project.

What does Biothings API need to run?

Going by SKILL.md and its folder, Biothings API needs the command-line tools its instructions call (curl). Our summary lists: Python 3.

Does Biothings API access the network?

SKILL.md names 2 domains. As links in the text: biothings.io and doi.org. This is read from the text; nothing was executed.

Is Biothings API safe to install?

Our automated static check of SKILL.md found no risky patterns, such as piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files or hidden Unicode. It is not a guarantee. Review the folder before installing.

What licence does Biothings API use?

Biothings API is published under the MIT licence (the repository's licence). It allows redistribution, so the full SKILL.md is shown on this page.

How many tokens does Biothings API use?

About 2.2k tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 8.9k characters). Agents keep only the skill's name and description in context until a task matches; then they load SKILL.md in full.

What are the alternatives to Biothings API?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with Biothings API: Dbsnp Database (google-deepmind/science-skills, 3.2k stars), Biopython Bioinformatics (aiming-lab/AutoResearchClaw, 15k stars), Bio Write Sequences (GPTomics/bioSkills, 1.2k stars) and Mako Lore (liebaojun/MakoCode, 155 stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains Biothings API?

wentorai (a GitHub user) maintains it in wentorai/research-plugins, which has 298 GitHub stars. The repository holds 405 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on June 19, 2026.

Source: wentorai/research-plugins on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.