Agent skill

Docking Tools

by DrugClaw in DrugClaw/DrugClaw

Molecular docking workflow guide and reusable pipeline template for AutoDock Vina, Open Babel, and PyMOL.

Apache-2.0Auto-check passedResearch & Science

Install Docking Tools

skills CLI
$ npx skills add DrugClaw/DrugClaw --skill docking-tools -a claude-code

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

GitHub CLI
$ gh skill install DrugClaw/DrugClaw docking-tools --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/DrugClaw/DrugClaw.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/pharma/docking-tools .claude/skills/docking-tools && 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
docking-tools
GitHub stars
125
Token cost
~2.1k tokens
SKILL.md length
666 words
Files
4
Skills in repo
25
Repo updated
First seen
Licence
Apache-2.0

At a glance

Molecular docking workflow guide and reusable pipeline template for AutoDock Vina, Open Babel, and PyMOL.

  • Works in 3 steps: co-crystal ligand coordinates → active-site residue coordinates → whole-structure bounding box
  • Tasks that involve Drug discovery and cheminformatics
  • SKILL.md covers Runtime Requirements, Preferred Workflow, Fast Start and Manifest Guidance, plus 4 more sections
  • Runs Python scripts from its folder; calls python3

What it does

Docking Tools is an agent skill from DrugClaw/DrugClaw. Molecular docking workflow guide and reusable pipeline template for AutoDock Vina, Open Babel, and PyMOL.

Its SKILL.md is about 2.1k tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. The skill folder holds 4 other files (for example `templates/README.md`, `templates/docking_manifest.example.json` and `templates/docking_workflow.py`).

It sits in Research & Science, covering Drug discovery and cheminformatics. The repository describes itself as: 💊 AI Research Assistant for Accelerated Drug Discovery. 🦞. The licence is Apache-2.0.

When your agent uses it

  • Tasks that involve Drug discovery and cheminformatics

Example prompts

  • “/docking-tools”

Requirements

  • Python 3
  • Docker

Workflow steps

3 steps, taken from the first numbered list in SKILL.md.

  1. co-crystal ligand coordinates
  2. active-site residue coordinates
  3. whole-structure bounding box

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit 960a6e0. 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

    Ships script files (Python), which the agent can run.

    Shell commands in SKILL.md call:

    • python3

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

  • Network

    No URLs in SKILL.md.

    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

Docking Tools loads about 2.1k tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 30 tokens; SKILL.md has 666 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it
~30
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches
~2.1k

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 DrugClaw/DrugClaw at commit 960a6e0, republished under its Apache-2.0 licence (© DrugClaw). 666 words, ~2,089 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/docking-tools/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder). This skill also uses 3 other files; get the full folder from GitHub.
name
docking-tools
description
Molecular docking workflow guide and reusable pipeline template for AutoDock Vina, Open Babel, and PyMOL.
source
drugclaw
updated_at
2026-03-10

Docking Tools

Use this skill when the user asks to:

  • dock a ligand, compound, or drug against a receptor
  • estimate binding poses or affinities
  • inspect a binding site or ligand contacts
  • render docking poses or interaction figures
  • batch-screen ligands and summarize docking rankings

DrugClaw does not ship a native docking engine module. This skill packages a reusable non-GUI docking workflow into a CLI template under templates/.

Runtime Requirements

The workflow assumes the runtime provides:

  • obabel
  • vina
  • pymol
  • pdbfixer for receptor cleanup and protonation
  • Python modules used by the fuller docking and downstream chemistry workflow: openbabel, deepchem, pdbfixer, pyscf, rdkit, psutil, rsa, bs4, requests, pandas, matplotlib, seaborn, sklearn, Bio

Check first:

bash
which obabel vina pymol pdbfixer || true
vina --version || true
obabel -V || true
python3 - <<'PY'
mods = ["openbabel", "deepchem", "pdbfixer", "pyscf", "rdkit", "psutil", "rsa", "bs4", "requests", "pandas", "matplotlib", "seaborn", "sklearn", "Bio"]
for name in mods:
    try:
        __import__(name)
        print(f"{name}: ok")
    except Exception as exc:
        print(f"{name}: missing ({exc})")
PY

If these tools are missing, say so immediately. Prefer the unified science sandbox image documented in docker/drug-sandbox.Dockerfile and docs/operations/science-runtime.md.

Preferred Workflow

Use the bundled template instead of rebuilding the pipeline ad hoc.

Bundled assets:

  • templates/docking_workflow.py
  • templates/docking_manifest.example.json
  • templates/README.md

The template ports these usable desktop-tool capabilities into DrugClaw:

  • ligand download from PubChem, ChEMBL, ZINC, TCMSP, local DrugBank exports, and the online DrugBank discovery API
  • receptor download from RCSB PDB, AlphaFold DB
  • SMILES and sequence-driven structure generation
  • receptor preprocessing with pdbfixer -> obabel
  • ligand preprocessing with 2D-to-3D generation, forcefield minimization, and biomolecule fallbacks
  • automatic search-box inference from co-crystal ligands, active residues, or bounding boxes
  • batch AutoDock Vina docking
  • PDBQT-to-PDB complex assembly while preserving ligand coordinates
  • CSV, heatmap, evaluation note, and paper-style markdown report generation
  • optional PyMOL rendering for top hits
  • optional heuristic ML rescoring when descriptors are available
  • optional downstream DeepChem featurization or PySCF sanity checks outside the core docking pipeline
  • optional chemistry post-processing with ADMET, ligand-only QSAR models, structure-aware affinity scoring, and virtual-screen reranking through chem-tools
  • direct handoff from docked complexes into chem-tools/templates/protein_ligand_affinity.py for structure-aware affinity scoring

Scope boundary:

  • port the computational workflow
  • do not port the original GUI, installer wizard, or license/device-fingerprint logic

Fast Start

From the skill directory or a copied template workspace:

bash
python3 templates/docking_workflow.py init-manifest -o docking_manifest.json
python3 templates/docking_workflow.py doctor --manifest docking_manifest.json
python3 templates/docking_workflow.py run --manifest docking_manifest.json

doctor now fails on dependencies that the current manifest actually requires. Use --strict when you also want optional plotting and chemistry extras audited. If the manifest uses drugbank ligands or chem_postprocess, the sibling chem-tools/templates bundle must also be present; doctor now checks that explicitly.

Incremental execution:

bash
python3 templates/docking_workflow.py fetch --manifest docking_manifest.json
python3 templates/docking_workflow.py prepare --manifest docking_manifest.json
python3 templates/docking_workflow.py box --manifest docking_manifest.json
python3 templates/docking_workflow.py dock --manifest docking_manifest.json
python3 templates/docking_workflow.py analyze --manifest docking_manifest.json
python3 templates/docking_workflow.py render --manifest docking_manifest.json --top-n 5
Show full SKILL.md (308 more words)Show less

Manifest Guidance

Use templates/docking_manifest.example.json as the base.

Supported input styles include:

  • ligand source: smiles, local, pubchem, chembl, zinc, tcmsp, drugbank, auto
  • receptor source: local, pdb, alphafold, peptide, protein, protein_sequence, nucleic, nucleic_sequence, auto

For drugbank ligands, set either settings.drugbank_catalog to a local DrugBank CSV, TSV, JSON, or XML export, or configure settings.drugbank_api_key / settings.drugbank_api_token for online lookup. The fetch stage will save both the exported structure and a per-drug JSON property file under inputs/ligands/.

Manual box override example:

json
{
  "box": {
    "mode": "manual",
    "center": [10.5, -3.2, 22.1],
    "size": [24, 24, 24]
  }
}

If box is omitted, the template tries:

  1. co-crystal ligand coordinates
  2. active-site residue coordinates
  3. whole-structure bounding box

Optional chemistry post-processing block:

json
{
  "chem_postprocess": {
    "enabled": true,
    "run_admet": true,
    "run_virtual_screen": true,
    "affinity_model": "./models/affinity.joblib",
    "structure_affinity_model": "./models/protein_affinity.joblib",
    "bioactivity_model": "./models/bioactivity.joblib",
    "affinity_direction": "higher-better",
    "top_n": 25,
    "weights": {
      "affinity": 0.35,
      "activity": 0.35,
      "admet": 0.20,
      "docking": 0.10
    }
  }
}

When this block is enabled, analyze also writes ligand-level chemistry outputs under results/analysis/chem/.

Working Principles

  • Create a dedicated working directory such as ./docking/.
  • Keep the manifest, generated configs, logs, and renders together for reproducibility.
  • Tell the user whether the search box came from prior knowledge, co-crystal geometry, active residues, or a geometric fallback.
  • Treat docking scores as ranking heuristics, not experimental truth.
  • When the pipeline falls back from protein-specific cleanup to generic conversion, report that explicitly.

Output Layout

The template writes:

  • inputs/
  • prepared/
  • configs/
  • results/docking/
  • results/complexes/
  • results/renders/
  • results/analysis/
  • metadata/session.json
  • metadata/history.jsonl

Key deliverables:

  • results/analysis/docking_summary.csv
  • results/analysis/binding_energy_matrix.csv
  • results/analysis/ligand_best_scores.csv
  • results/analysis/binding_energy_heatmap.png
  • results/analysis/evaluation.md
  • results/analysis/paper_report.md
  • results/analysis/ml_scores.csv when the ML stage is available
  • results/analysis/chem/ when chemistry post-processing is enabled
  • inputs/ligands/*.drugbank.json when DrugBank-backed ligands are used

Failure Modes

  • obabel missing: cannot prepare receptor or ligand
  • vina missing: cannot score poses
  • pdbfixer missing: protein receptor cleanup falls back poorly; say so explicitly
  • no settings.drugbank_catalog and no settings.drugbank_api_key / settings.drugbank_api_token: DrugBank ligands cannot be resolved
  • no plausible box definition: ask for catalytic residues, a co-crystal ligand, or approximate binding-site coordinates
  • PyMOL missing: still return text results plus the generated .pml scripts
  • chemistry models missing: keep docking outputs and skip the optional reranking stage explicitly
  • structure-affinity model missing: keep docking outputs, ligand-only chemistry outputs, and skip structure-aware scoring explicitly
text
I used the bundled docking workflow template to prepare the receptor and ligand, generate the docking box, run AutoDock Vina, and save the artifacts in `docking/`.
The top-ranked pose reports `-8.1 kcal/mol` in `results/analysis/docking_summary.csv`.
I also generated `evaluation.md`, `paper_report.md`, and a PyMOL render script for the top hits.
This is a docking ranking result, not a measured binding affinity; the main uncertainty is the search-box definition.

© DrugClaw, Apache-2.0. Rendered from Markdown: HTML in the file is shown as text, images as links, and headings moved down two levels. Raw file

Files

SKILL.md and 3 other files in skills/pharma/docking-tools of DrugClaw/DrugClaw.

  • SKILL.md
  • templates/README.md
  • templates/docking_manifest.example.json
  • templates/docking_workflow.py

Open the folder on GitHubat commit 960a6e0

Compare with similar skills

Docking Tools next to the 5 skills that share the most tags, products or categories with it. Stars are the repository's; “used in” counts other GitHub owners with a copy.

Docking Tools compared with similar skills
SkillStarsUsed inTokensAuto-checkLicenceRepo updated
Docking Tools this skillDrugClaw/DrugClaw125—~2.1kAutomated safety check: PassApache-2.0
MolecodeAtomFlow-AI/MoleCode305—~1.9kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Drug DiscoveryTommy-yw/RunbookHermes5461 repos~2.3kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
DiffDock Molecular DockingK-Dense-AI/scientific-agent-skills48k1 repos~3kAutomated safety check: NotesMIT
Biomedical Analysis Dispatchxjtulyc/MedgeClaw6171 repos~2kAutomated safety check: PassNone
Edu Chem Reactionwy51ai/edulab1.4k—~1.2kAutomated safety check: PassApache-2.0

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Questions about Docking Tools

What does Docking Tools do?

Molecular docking workflow guide and reusable pipeline template for AutoDock Vina, Open Babel, and PyMOL. Docking Tools is an agent skill from DrugClaw/DrugClaw. Molecular docking workflow guide and reusable pipeline template for AutoDock Vina, Open Babel, and PyMOL.

When should I use Docking Tools?

Docking Tools fits situations like: tasks that involve Drug discovery and cheminformatics.

How do I install Docking Tools in Claude Code?

Run `npx skills add DrugClaw/DrugClaw --skill docking-tools -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/pharma/docking-tools in DrugClaw/DrugClaw) into .claude/skills/docking-tools in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.

How do I install Docking Tools in Codex?

Run `npx skills add DrugClaw/DrugClaw --skill docking-tools -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/pharma/docking-tools in DrugClaw/DrugClaw) into .agents/skills/docking-tools in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.

Can I use Docking Tools 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 DrugClaw/DrugClaw --skill docking-tools -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/docking-tools, .gemini/skills/docking-tools, .github/skills/docking-tools and .opencode/skills/docking-tools in your project.

What does Docking Tools need to run?

Going by SKILL.md and its folder, Docking Tools needs Python for the scripts in its folder and the command-line tools its instructions call (python3). Our summary lists: Python 3; Docker.

Does Docking Tools access the network?

SKILL.md contains no URLs. Any network use would come from the scripts or tools the agent runs. This is read from the text; nothing was executed.

Is Docking Tools 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 Docking Tools use?

Docking Tools is published under the Apache-2.0 licence (the repository's licence). It allows redistribution, so the full SKILL.md is shown on this page.

How many tokens does Docking Tools use?

About 2.1k tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 8.4k 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 Docking Tools?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with Docking Tools: Molecode (AtomFlow-AI/MoleCode, 305 stars), Drug Discovery (Tommy-yw/RunbookHermes, 546 stars), DiffDock Molecular Docking (K-Dense-AI/scientific-agent-skills, 48k stars) and Biomedical Analysis Dispatch (xjtulyc/MedgeClaw, 617 stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains Docking Tools?

DrugClaw (a GitHub organization) maintains it in DrugClaw/DrugClaw, which has 125 GitHub stars. The repository holds 25 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on March 23, 2026.

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