Agent skill

Monarch Database

by jaechang-hits in jaechang-hits/SciAgent-Skills

Monarch Initiative knowledge graph REST API for disease-gene-phenotype associations and cross-species orthology.

BSD-3-ClauseAuto-check passedResearch & Science

Install Monarch Database

skills CLI
$ npx skills add jaechang-hits/SciAgent-Skills --skill monarch-database -a claude-code

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

GitHub CLI
$ gh skill install jaechang-hits/SciAgent-Skills monarch-database --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/jaechang-hits/SciAgent-Skills.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/genomics-bioinformatics/databases/monarch-database .claude/skills/monarch-database && 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
monarch-database
GitHub stars
370
Used in
1 other repo
Token cost
~6.6k tokens
SKILL.md length
1,108 words
Files
1
Skills in repo
163
Repo updated
First seen
Licence
BSD-3-Clause

At a glance

Monarch Initiative knowledge graph REST API for disease-gene-phenotype associations and cross-species orthology.

  • Works in 5 steps: Resolve names to IDs first using… → Use CausalGeneToDiseaseAssociation for… → Paginate large result sets with offset:… → …
  • Rare disease gene prioritization and phenotype-based candidate ranking
  • SKILL.md covers Overview, When to Use, Prerequisites and Quick Start, plus 9 more sections
  • Calls pip; reaches api.monarchinitiative.org

What it does

Monarch Database is an agent skill from jaechang-hits/SciAgent-Skills. Monarch Initiative knowledge graph REST API for disease-gene-phenotype associations and cross-species orthology. MONDO disease-to-gene/phenotype, HP phenotype profiles, cross-species comparisons. Use for rare disease gene prioritization and phenotype-based candidate ranking. For GWAS use gwas-database; for clinical pathogenicity use clinvar-database.

Its SKILL.md is about 6.6k 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, covering Knowledge graphs, Prioritization frameworks and Bioinformatics. The repository describes itself as: 197 bioinformatics & life science skills for Claude Code and AI agents — BixBench 92.0% accuracy. RNA-seq, single-cell, drug discovery, proteomics, and more. Powers OmicsHorizon. The licence is BSD-3-Clause.

When your agent uses it

  • Rare disease gene prioritization and phenotype-based candidate ranking
  • Tasks that involve Knowledge graphs
  • Tasks that involve Prioritization frameworks

Example prompts

  • “/monarch-database”

Requirements

  • Python 3

Workflow steps

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

  1. Resolve names to IDs first using /search: All association queries require CURIE IDs (e.g., MONDO:0007374), not free-text. Use…
  2. Use CausalGeneToDiseaseAssociation for gene lists, not GeneToDiseaseAssociation: The broader category includes susceptibility associations…
  3. Paginate large result sets with offset: The default limit is 20 and max is 500. Check result["total"] and paginate with offset increments…
  4. Use time.sleep(0.3) between requests in batch loops: The API is publicly accessible without rate limit documentation; polite access avoids…
  5. Cross-reference gene IDs with HGNC for human genes: Monarch may return HGNC:XXXX or NCBIGene:XXXX IDs. Use the HGNC prefix for downstream…

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit 82c862c. 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:

    • pip

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

  • Network

    Hosts in commands or code, which the agent is likely to contact:

    • api.monarchinitiative.org

    Also links to:

    • monarchinitiative.org
    • doi.org
    • mondo.monarchinitiative.org
    • hpo.jax.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

Monarch Database loads about 6.6k tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 92 tokens; SKILL.md has 1,108 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it
~92
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches
~6.6k

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 jaechang-hits/SciAgent-Skills at commit 82c862c, republished under its BSD-3-Clause licence (© jaechang-hits). 1,108 words, ~6,633 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/monarch-database/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder).
name
monarch-database
description
Monarch Initiative knowledge graph REST API for disease-gene-phenotype associations and cross-species orthology. MONDO disease-to-gene/phenotype, HP phenotype profiles, cross-species comparisons. Use for rare disease gene prioritization and phenotype-based candidate ranking. For GWAS use gwas-database; for clinical pathogenicity use clinvar-database.
license
BSD-3-Clause

monarch-database

Overview

The Monarch Initiative integrates disease-phenotype-gene relationships from 30+ biomedical databases (OMIM, Orphanet, ClinVar, MGI, ZFIN, Reactome) into a unified knowledge graph. The REST API at https://api.monarchinitiative.org/v3/api provides access to associations between genes, diseases, and phenotypes using MONDO disease IDs, Human Phenotype Ontology (HPO) terms, and standard gene identifiers. No authentication is required; the service is free for academic use.

When to Use

  • Mapping a disease (MONDO ID) to all associated causal genes and their evidence sources
  • Retrieving phenotype profiles (HP terms) for a disease to build phenotypic similarity models
  • Ranking candidate genes by phenotypic similarity to a patient's HPO symptom list
  • Querying cross-species gene-phenotype associations (mouse, zebrafish, fly) for model organism comparisons
  • Exploring rare disease gene-phenotype networks for diagnostic candidate generation
  • Resolving entity metadata (gene symbol, disease name, phenotype label) from a MONDO/HP/HGNC ID
  • Use opentargets-database instead when you need drug-target evidence scores or tractability data alongside disease associations
  • Use clinvar-database when you need clinical pathogenicity classifications with submitter review status

Prerequisites

  • Python packages: requests, pandas, matplotlib
  • Data requirements: MONDO IDs (e.g., MONDO:0007374), HP term IDs (e.g., HP:0001250), or gene symbols/HGNC IDs
  • Environment: internet connection; no API key required
  • Rate limits: no published rate limit; use time.sleep(0.3) between batch requests; avoid bursts over 10 requests/second
bash
pip install requests pandas matplotlib

Quick Start

python
import requests

MONARCH_API = "https://api.monarchinitiative.org/v3/api"

def monarch_get(endpoint: str, params: dict = None) -> dict:
    """GET request to Monarch API; raises on HTTP errors."""
    r = requests.get(f"{MONARCH_API}{endpoint}", params=params, timeout=30)
    r.raise_for_status()
    return r.json()

# Get all genes associated with Marfan syndrome (MONDO:0007374)
result = monarch_get("/association/all", params={
    "subject": "MONDO:0007374",
    "category": "biolink:GeneToDiseaseAssociation",
    "limit": 10
})
print(f"Total gene associations: {result['total']}")
for item in result["items"][:5]:
    obj = item.get("object", {})
    print(f"  Gene: {obj.get('label', 'N/A')}  ({obj.get('id', 'N/A')})")
# Total gene associations: 3
# Gene: FBN1  (HGNC:3603)

Core API

Query 1: Disease-Gene Associations

Retrieve all genes associated with a disease by MONDO ID. Returns causal gene records with evidence metadata.

python
import requests
import pandas as pd
import time

MONARCH_API = "https://api.monarchinitiative.org/v3/api"

def monarch_get(endpoint, params=None):
    r = requests.get(f"{MONARCH_API}{endpoint}", params=params, timeout=30)
    r.raise_for_status()
    return r.json()

def get_disease_genes(mondo_id: str, limit: int = 200) -> pd.DataFrame:
    """Return DataFrame of genes associated with a disease."""
    result = monarch_get("/association/all", params={
        "subject": mondo_id,
        "category": "biolink:CausalGeneToDiseaseAssociation",
        "limit": limit
    })
    rows = []
    for item in result.get("items", []):
        obj = item.get("object", {})
        rows.append({
            "gene_id": obj.get("id"),
            "gene_symbol": obj.get("label"),
            "taxon": obj.get("taxon", {}).get("label") if obj.get("taxon") else None,
            "relation": item.get("predicate"),
            "evidence_count": len(item.get("evidence", [])),
        })
    return pd.DataFrame(rows)

# Cystic fibrosis (MONDO:0009861)
df = get_disease_genes("MONDO:0009861")
print(f"Genes for cystic fibrosis: {len(df)}")
print(df[["gene_symbol", "gene_id", "relation"]].to_string(index=False))
# Genes for cystic fibrosis: 1
# gene_symbol  gene_id    relation
#        CFTR  HGNC:1884  biolink:causes
Query 2: Disease-Phenotype Associations

Retrieve HPO phenotype terms linked to a disease. Useful for building phenotype profiles and similarity scoring.

python
def get_disease_phenotypes(mondo_id: str, limit: int = 200) -> pd.DataFrame:
    """Return DataFrame of phenotypes (HP terms) for a disease."""
    result = monarch_get("/association/all", params={
        "subject": mondo_id,
        "category": "biolink:DiseaseToPhenotypicFeatureAssociation",
        "limit": limit
    })
    rows = []
    for item in result.get("items", []):
        obj = item.get("object", {})
        rows.append({
            "hp_id": obj.get("id"),
            "phenotype": obj.get("label"),
            "frequency": item.get("frequency", {}).get("label") if item.get("frequency") else None,
            "onset": item.get("onset", {}).get("label") if item.get("onset") else None,
        })
    return pd.DataFrame(rows)

# Marfan syndrome (MONDO:0007374)
df = get_disease_phenotypes("MONDO:0007374", limit=50)
print(f"Phenotypes for Marfan syndrome: {len(df)}")
print(df[["phenotype", "hp_id", "frequency"]].head(8).to_string(index=False))
# Phenotypes for Marfan syndrome: 26
# phenotype                      hp_id        frequency
# Aortic root aneurysm        HP:0002616    HP:0040281  ...
Query 3: Entity Lookup

Retrieve metadata for any Monarch entity (gene, disease, phenotype) by its identifier.

python
def get_entity(entity_id: str) -> dict:
    """Retrieve metadata for a gene, disease, or phenotype by its ID."""
    result = monarch_get(f"/entity/{entity_id}")
    return result

# Look up HP:0001250 (Seizure)
hp = get_entity("HP:0001250")
print(f"Name: {hp.get('name')}")
print(f"ID: {hp.get('id')}")
print(f"Description: {hp.get('description', '')[:120]}")
print(f"Synonyms: {[s.get('val') for s in hp.get('synonyms', [])[:3]]}")
# Name: Seizure
# ID: HP:0001250
# Description: A seizure is an intermittent abnormality of nervous system physiology ...

# Look up a MONDO disease
disease = get_entity("MONDO:0007374")
print(f"\nDisease: {disease.get('name')}")
print(f"ID: {disease.get('id')}")
Query 4: Text Search for Entities

Search for entities by free-text label, useful for resolving disease names or phenotype terms to IDs.

python
def search_entities(query: str, category: str = None, limit: int = 10) -> list:
    """Search Monarch entities by label/synonym."""
    params = {"q": query, "limit": limit}
    if category:
        params["category"] = category
    result = monarch_get("/search", params=params)
    return result.get("items", [])

# Search for "Ehlers-Danlos" diseases
hits = search_entities("Ehlers-Danlos", category="biolink:Disease", limit=8)
for hit in hits:
    print(f"  {hit.get('id'):<25}  {hit.get('name', 'N/A')}")
# MONDO:0020066              Ehlers-Danlos syndrome
# MONDO:0007522              classical Ehlers-Danlos syndrome
# MONDO:0007528              hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome
# MONDO:0007523              kyphoscoliotic Ehlers-Danlos syndrome
Query 5: Gene-to-Disease Associations

Retrieve diseases associated with a gene. Useful for understanding a gene's disease spectrum.

python
def get_gene_diseases(gene_id: str, limit: int = 100) -> pd.DataFrame:
    """Return DataFrame of diseases associated with a gene."""
    result = monarch_get("/association/all", params={
        "subject": gene_id,
        "category": "biolink:GeneToDiseaseAssociation",
        "limit": limit
    })
    rows = []
    for item in result.get("items", []):
        obj = item.get("object", {})
        rows.append({
            "disease_id": obj.get("id"),
            "disease_name": obj.get("label"),
            "predicate": item.get("predicate"),
        })
    return pd.DataFrame(rows)

# Diseases caused by FBN1 (HGNC:3603)
df = get_gene_diseases("HGNC:3603")
print(f"Diseases linked to FBN1: {len(df)}")
print(df[["disease_name", "disease_id"]].head(5).to_string(index=False))
# Diseases linked to FBN1: 8
# disease_name                     disease_id
# Marfan syndrome                  MONDO:0007374
# Stiff skin syndrome              MONDO:0007926
Query 6: Gene-Phenotype Associations (Cross-Species)

Query phenotypes linked to a gene across species including mouse, zebrafish, and human.

python
def get_gene_phenotypes(gene_id: str, limit: int = 100) -> pd.DataFrame:
    """Return gene-phenotype associations, optionally across species."""
    result = monarch_get("/association/all", params={
        "subject": gene_id,
        "category": "biolink:GeneToPhenotypicFeatureAssociation",
        "limit": limit
    })
    rows = []
    for item in result.get("items", []):
        subj = item.get("subject", {})
        obj = item.get("object", {})
        rows.append({
            "gene_id": subj.get("id"),
            "gene_symbol": subj.get("label"),
            "taxon": subj.get("taxon", {}).get("label") if subj.get("taxon") else None,
            "phenotype_id": obj.get("id"),
            "phenotype": obj.get("label"),
        })
    return pd.DataFrame(rows)

# Phenotypes for human FBN1
df = get_gene_phenotypes("HGNC:3603")
print(f"FBN1 phenotype associations: {len(df)}")
print(df[["taxon", "phenotype"]].value_counts("taxon"))
# Homo sapiens    18
# Mus musculus     6
Query 7: Histopheno — Phenotype Distribution for a Disease

Retrieve summarized phenotype counts by anatomical system for a disease, useful for phenotype spectrum overviews.

python
def get_histopheno(mondo_id: str) -> dict:
    """Retrieve summarized phenotype distribution for a disease."""
    result = monarch_get(f"/histopheno/{mondo_id}")
    return result

hist = get_histopheno("MONDO:0007374")   # Marfan syndrome
items = hist.get("items", [])
print(f"Phenotype categories for Marfan syndrome ({len(items)} systems):")
for item in sorted(items, key=lambda x: x.get("count", 0), reverse=True)[:8]:
    print(f"  {item.get('label', 'N/A'):<40}  n={item.get('count', 0)}")
# Connective tissue                         n=12
# Cardiovascular system                     n=8
# Eye                                       n=6
Query 8: Phenotype-to-Gene Associations

Given a set of HP phenotype terms, retrieve associated genes — the basis of phenotype-matching tools.

python
def get_phenotype_genes(hp_id: str, limit: int = 50) -> pd.DataFrame:
    """Return genes associated with a phenotype term."""
    result = monarch_get("/association/all", params={
        "object": hp_id,
        "category": "biolink:GeneToPhenotypicFeatureAssociation",
        "limit": limit
    })
    rows = []
    for item in result.get("items", []):
        subj = item.get("subject", {})
        rows.append({
            "gene_id": subj.get("id"),
            "gene_symbol": subj.get("label"),
            "taxon": subj.get("taxon", {}).get("label") if subj.get("taxon") else None,
        })
    return pd.DataFrame(rows)

# HP:0001631 — Atrial septal defect
df = get_phenotype_genes("HP:0001631")
print(f"Genes associated with Atrial septal defect: {len(df)}")
print(df[df["taxon"] == "Homo sapiens"]["gene_symbol"].head(8).tolist())
# ['TBX5', 'GATA4', 'NKX2-5', 'MYH6', 'ACTC1', ...]

Key Concepts

Monarch Identifier System

Monarch uses ontology-based compact URIs (CURIEs) as identifiers:

PrefixNamespaceExample
MONDOMondo Disease OntologyMONDO:0007374 (Marfan syndrome)
HPHuman Phenotype OntologyHP:0001250 (Seizure)
HGNCHGNC human genesHGNC:3603 (FBN1)
NCBIGeneNCBI Gene IDsNCBIGene:2200 (FBN1)
MGIMouse Genome InformaticsMGI:95489 (Fbn1 mouse)
ZFINZebrafish Information NetworkZFIN:ZDB-GENE-...

Use the /search endpoint to convert free-text names to IDs before querying associations.

Association Categories

Monarch uses biolink model categories for associations:

CategoryMeaning
biolink:CausalGeneToDiseaseAssociationGene causes the disease
biolink:DiseaseToPhenotypicFeatureAssociationDisease → phenotype (HPO terms)
biolink:GeneToPhenotypicFeatureAssociationGene → phenotype (any species)
biolink:GeneToDiseaseAssociationAny gene-disease link (broader)

Use CausalGeneToDiseaseAssociation for pathogenic gene lists; use GeneToDiseaseAssociation for broader evidence including susceptibility loci.

Common Workflows

Workflow 1: Rare Disease Gene Prioritization

Goal: Given a set of HPO terms from a patient, retrieve all diseases with overlapping phenotypes and their causal genes.

python
import requests
import pandas as pd
import time

MONARCH_API = "https://api.monarchinitiative.org/v3/api"

def monarch_get(endpoint, params=None):
    r = requests.get(f"{MONARCH_API}{endpoint}", params=params, timeout=30)
    r.raise_for_status()
    return r.json()

# Patient HPO profile
patient_hp_terms = ["HP:0001250", "HP:0000252", "HP:0001263"]   # Seizure, Microcephaly, DD

gene_scores = {}
for hp_id in patient_hp_terms:
    result = monarch_get("/association/all", params={
        "object": hp_id,
        "category": "biolink:DiseaseToPhenotypicFeatureAssociation",
        "limit": 50
    })
    diseases = [item.get("subject", {}).get("id") for item in result.get("items", [])]
    # For each disease, get causal genes
    for disease_id in diseases[:5]:    # limit per phenotype for demo
        gene_result = monarch_get("/association/all", params={
            "subject": disease_id,
            "category": "biolink:CausalGeneToDiseaseAssociation",
            "limit": 20
        })
        for item in gene_result.get("items", []):
            gene_sym = item.get("object", {}).get("label", "")
            if gene_sym:
                gene_scores[gene_sym] = gene_scores.get(gene_sym, 0) + 1
        time.sleep(0.3)

# Rank genes by co-occurrence with patient phenotypes
df = pd.DataFrame(
    [(gene, score) for gene, score in gene_scores.items()],
    columns=["gene_symbol", "phenotype_overlap_score"]
).sort_values("phenotype_overlap_score", ascending=False)
print(f"Candidate genes ranked by phenotype overlap (n={len(df)})")
print(df.head(10).to_string(index=False))
df.to_csv("candidate_genes_phenotype_ranked.csv", index=False)
Workflow 2: Disease Phenotype Profile and Visualization

Goal: Retrieve all HPO terms for a disease, summarize by anatomical category, and plot a bar chart.

python
import requests
import pandas as pd
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import time

MONARCH_API = "https://api.monarchinitiative.org/v3/api"

def monarch_get(endpoint, params=None):
    r = requests.get(f"{MONARCH_API}{endpoint}", params=params, timeout=30)
    r.raise_for_status()
    return r.json()

mondo_id = "MONDO:0009861"   # Cystic fibrosis
disease_info = monarch_get(f"/entity/{mondo_id}")
disease_name = disease_info.get("name", mondo_id)

# Step 1: Get phenotype associations
result = monarch_get("/association/all", params={
    "subject": mondo_id,
    "category": "biolink:DiseaseToPhenotypicFeatureAssociation",
    "limit": 200
})
items = result.get("items", [])
print(f"Phenotypes for {disease_name}: {len(items)}")

# Step 2: Gather HP term labels
rows = []
for item in items:
    obj = item.get("object", {})
    rows.append({
        "hp_id": obj.get("id"),
        "phenotype": obj.get("label"),
        "frequency": item.get("frequency", {}).get("label") if item.get("frequency") else "Unknown"
    })
df = pd.DataFrame(rows)

# Step 3: Histopheno summary for bar chart
hist = monarch_get(f"/histopheno/{mondo_id}")
hist_items = sorted(hist.get("items", []), key=lambda x: x.get("count", 0), reverse=True)[:12]
systems = [x.get("label", "Other")[:25] for x in hist_items]
counts = [x.get("count", 0) for x in hist_items]

fig, ax = plt.subplots(figsize=(10, 5))
bars = ax.barh(systems[::-1], counts[::-1], color="#2196F3")
ax.bar_label(bars, fmt="%d", padding=3)
ax.set_xlabel("Phenotype Count")
ax.set_title(f"Phenotype Distribution by System\n{disease_name} ({mondo_id})")
plt.tight_layout()
plt.savefig("monarch_phenotype_distribution.png", dpi=150, bbox_inches="tight")
print(f"Saved monarch_phenotype_distribution.png ({len(df)} total phenotypes)")

# Step 4: Export HPO terms
df.to_csv(f"{mondo_id.replace(':', '_')}_phenotypes.csv", index=False)
print(df[["hp_id", "phenotype", "frequency"]].head(8).to_string(index=False))
Workflow 3: Cross-Species Gene-Disease Network

Goal: Build a table of disease-gene associations including mouse model genes for a list of rare diseases.

python
import requests
import pandas as pd
import time

MONARCH_API = "https://api.monarchinitiative.org/v3/api"

def monarch_get(endpoint, params=None):
    r = requests.get(f"{MONARCH_API}{endpoint}", params=params, timeout=30)
    r.raise_for_status()
    return r.json()

diseases = {
    "MONDO:0007374": "Marfan syndrome",
    "MONDO:0009861": "Cystic fibrosis",
    "MONDO:0007522": "Classical EDS",
}

all_rows = []
for mondo_id, disease_name in diseases.items():
    # Human causal genes
    result = monarch_get("/association/all", params={
        "subject": mondo_id,
        "category": "biolink:CausalGeneToDiseaseAssociation",
        "limit": 50
    })
    for item in result.get("items", []):
        obj = item.get("object", {})
        all_rows.append({
            "disease_id": mondo_id,
            "disease_name": disease_name,
            "gene_id": obj.get("id"),
            "gene_symbol": obj.get("label"),
            "species": "Homo sapiens",
        })
    time.sleep(0.3)

df = pd.DataFrame(all_rows)
df.to_csv("rare_disease_gene_network.csv", index=False)
print(f"Associations collected: {len(df)}")
print(df.groupby("disease_name")["gene_symbol"].apply(list).to_string())

Key Parameters

ParameterFunction/EndpointDefaultRange / OptionsEffect
category/association/all(none)biolink:CausalGeneToDiseaseAssociation, biolink:DiseaseToPhenotypicFeatureAssociation, biolink:GeneToPhenotypicFeatureAssociation, biolink:GeneToDiseaseAssociationFilters association type
subject/association/all(none)CURIE string (e.g., MONDO:0007374)Source entity (disease or gene)
object/association/all(none)CURIE string (e.g., HP:0001250)Target entity (phenotype or disease)
limit/association/all, /search201–500Max items returned per page
offset/association/all0integerPagination offset
q/search(none)free-text stringLabel/synonym text search
entity_id/entity/{id}(none)CURIE stringEntity ID for metadata lookup
mondo_id/histopheno/{id}(none)MONDO CURIEDisease ID for phenotype histogram
Show full SKILL.md (496 more words)Show less

Best Practices

  1. Resolve names to IDs first using /search: All association queries require CURIE IDs (e.g., MONDO:0007374), not free-text. Use search_entities() to resolve "Marfan syndrome" → MONDO:0007374 before querying associations.

  2. Use CausalGeneToDiseaseAssociation for gene lists, not GeneToDiseaseAssociation: The broader category includes susceptibility associations and ambiguous links. Causal associations have stronger evidence support.

  3. Paginate large result sets with offset: The default limit is 20 and max is 500. Check result["total"] and paginate with offset increments to retrieve all records for diseases with many phenotypes:

    python
    total = monarch_get("/association/all", params={"subject": mondo_id, "category": "...", "limit": 1})["total"]
    all_items = []
    for offset in range(0, total, 200):
        batch = monarch_get("/association/all", params={"subject": mondo_id, "category": "...", "limit": 200, "offset": offset})
        all_items.extend(batch.get("items", []))
        time.sleep(0.3)
  4. Use time.sleep(0.3) between requests in batch loops: The API is publicly accessible without rate limit documentation; polite access avoids throttling for multi-disease workflows.

  5. Cross-reference gene IDs with HGNC for human genes: Monarch may return HGNC:XXXX or NCBIGene:XXXX IDs. Use the HGNC prefix for downstream tools that require HGNC; use the /entity/{id} endpoint to retrieve the alternative ID.

Common Recipes

Recipe: Resolve Disease Name to MONDO ID

When to use: Convert a disease name string to the canonical MONDO identifier before querying.

python
import requests

MONARCH_API = "https://api.monarchinitiative.org/v3/api"

def resolve_disease(name: str, top_n: int = 5) -> list:
    """Search for disease name and return top MONDO ID candidates."""
    r = requests.get(f"{MONARCH_API}/search",
                     params={"q": name, "category": "biolink:Disease", "limit": top_n},
                     timeout=15)
    r.raise_for_status()
    return [(h.get("id"), h.get("name")) for h in r.json().get("items", [])]

candidates = resolve_disease("Huntington disease")
for mondo_id, label in candidates:
    print(f"  {mondo_id:<25}  {label}")
# MONDO:0007739              Huntington disease
# MONDO:0024321              Huntington disease-like 1
Recipe: Batch Disease-Gene Lookup

When to use: Retrieve causal genes for a list of MONDO IDs in one call each, with results combined into a single DataFrame.

python
import requests
import pandas as pd
import time

MONARCH_API = "https://api.monarchinitiative.org/v3/api"

def get_causal_genes(mondo_id):
    r = requests.get(f"{MONARCH_API}/association/all",
                     params={"subject": mondo_id,
                             "category": "biolink:CausalGeneToDiseaseAssociation",
                             "limit": 100},
                     timeout=30)
    r.raise_for_status()
    data = r.json()
    return [(item.get("object", {}).get("id"), item.get("object", {}).get("label"))
            for item in data.get("items", [])]

disease_ids = ["MONDO:0007374", "MONDO:0009861", "MONDO:0007739"]
rows = []
for mondo_id in disease_ids:
    for gene_id, gene_sym in get_causal_genes(mondo_id):
        rows.append({"disease_id": mondo_id, "gene_id": gene_id, "gene_symbol": gene_sym})
    time.sleep(0.3)

df = pd.DataFrame(rows)
print(df.to_string(index=False))
df.to_csv("batch_disease_genes.csv", index=False)
print(f"\nTotal disease-gene pairs: {len(df)}")
Recipe: HPO Profile Similarity Seed

When to use: Retrieve disease HPO profiles to use as input seeds for phenotype similarity tools (e.g., Phenomizer, LIRICAL).

python
import requests, json

MONARCH_API = "https://api.monarchinitiative.org/v3/api"

def get_hp_profile(mondo_id, limit=500):
    """Return list of HP term IDs for a disease."""
    r = requests.get(f"{MONARCH_API}/association/all",
                     params={"subject": mondo_id,
                             "category": "biolink:DiseaseToPhenotypicFeatureAssociation",
                             "limit": limit},
                     timeout=30)
    r.raise_for_status()
    items = r.json().get("items", [])
    return [item.get("object", {}).get("id") for item in items if item.get("object", {}).get("id")]

hp_terms = get_hp_profile("MONDO:0007374")   # Marfan syndrome
print(f"HP terms for Marfan syndrome: {len(hp_terms)}")
print(hp_terms[:8])
# ['HP:0002616', 'HP:0001166', 'HP:0000768', 'HP:0001083', ...]

# Save for downstream phenotype similarity tool input
with open("MONDO_0007374_hp_profile.json", "w") as f:
    json.dump({"disease": "MONDO:0007374", "hpo_terms": hp_terms}, f, indent=2)
print("Saved MONDO_0007374_hp_profile.json")

Troubleshooting

ProblemCauseSolution
Empty items listWrong category string or entity has no associations of that typeCheck the category name exactly; try biolink:GeneToDiseaseAssociation as a broader fallback
404 Not Found for /entity/{id}Malformed CURIE or deprecated IDVerify ID format (e.g., MONDO:0007374 not MONDO_0007374); use /search to find current IDs
total is 0 but entity existsSubject/object direction reversedCheck whether you need subject or object parameter; gene→disease uses subject=gene_id; disease→phenotype uses subject=disease_id
requests.exceptions.TimeoutAPI overloaded or network issueIncrease timeout=60; retry with exponential backoff
Gene ID returned as NCBIGene instead of HGNCMonarch may use either namespaceUse /entity/{id} to retrieve xrefs field for alternative IDs including HGNC, Ensembl
Results differ between API calls for same entityMonarch knowledge graph is updated regularlyPin your data collection date; note API version in methods section
Rate-limited or slow responsesToo many rapid requestsAdd time.sleep(0.5) between batch requests; use limit=200 to reduce total requests
  • clinvar-database — clinical pathogenicity classifications for specific variants (complements Monarch's gene-disease associations)
  • gwas-database — GWAS Catalog associations for common variants and traits
  • opentargets-database — drug-target evidence with tractability and safety scores
  • ensembl-database — gene/transcript annotation and cross-species orthology via Ensembl REST API
  • gseapy-gene-enrichment — gene set enrichment analysis using the Monarch-derived gene lists

References

© jaechang-hits, BSD-3-Clause. 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/genomics-bioinformatics/databases/monarch-database of jaechang-hits/SciAgent-Skills.

Open the folder on GitHubat commit 82c862c

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 jaechang-hits/SciAgent-Skills, which our catalogue first saw on October 7, 2026.

Compare with similar skills

Monarch Database 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.

Monarch Database compared with similar skills
SkillStarsUsed inTokensAuto-checkLicenceRepo updated
Monarch Database this skilljaechang-hits/SciAgent-Skills3701 repos~6.6kAutomated safety check: PassBSD-3-Clause
Bio Ensembl RESTGPTomics/bioSkills1.2k2 repos~3.6kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Pride FetchClawBio/ClawBio1.2k—~4.2kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Ensembl Databaseaipoch/medical-research-skills2k—~1.5kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Alphagenome Single Variant Analysisgoogle-deepmind/science-skills3.2k2 repos~3kAutomated safety check: NotesApache-2.0
UniProt Database Accessdavila7/claude-code-templates32k14 repos~1.7kAutomated safety check: PassMIT

Similar skills

  • Bio Ensembl REST

    GPTomics/bioSkills

    Query the Ensembl REST API for gene/transcript/protein lookup, sequence retrieval, comparative genomics (Compara), variant effect prediction (VEP), regulatory features, and cross-species…

    1.2k GitHub starsUsed in 2 repos~3.6k tokens
    Research & ScienceAuto-check passed
  • Pride Fetch

    ClawBio/ClawBio

    Query metadata and download data from the PRIDE Archive, EMBL-EBI's proteomics identifications database, via the PRIDE Archive REST API v3.

    1.2k GitHub stars~4.2k tokensUpdated today
    Research & ScienceAuto-check passed
  • Ensembl Database

    aipoch/medical-research-skills

    Access Ensembl REST API for vertebrate genomic data; use when you need gene/ID lookups, sequence retrieval, variant effect prediction (VEP), or homology/assembly coordinate mapping.

    2k GitHub stars~1.5k tokensUpdated 22 days ago
    Research & ScienceAuto-check passed
  • Alphagenome Single Variant Analysis

    google-deepmind/science-skills

    Analyzes genetic variant effects on gene expression (RNA-seq), chromatin accessibility (DNASE), histone marks (ChIP), and transcription factors using the AlphaGenome API.

    3.2k GitHub starsUsed in 2 repos~3k tokens
    Research & ScienceAuto-check: notes
  • UniProt Database Access

    davila7/claude-code-templates

    Queries the UniProt REST API directly to search proteins, fetch FASTA sequences, map IDs between databases and read Swiss-Prot and TrEMBL entries.

    32k GitHub starsUsed in 14 repos~1.7k tokens
    Research & ScienceAuto-check passed
  • End-to-end post-GWAS causal inference pipeline orchestrating heritability partitioning, genetic correlation, Mendelian randomization with CHP-aware sensitivity (CAUSE / LHC-MR), colocalization…

    1.2k GitHub starsUsed in 2 repos~5.5k tokens
    Research & ScienceAuto-check passed

More from jaechang-hits/SciAgent-Skills

All 163 skills in this repo
  • Molecular Visualization 3dmol

    jaechang-hits/SciAgent-Skills

    3Dmol.js WebGL molecular visualization emitted as self-contained HTML.

    370 GitHub stars~3.2k tokensUpdated 10 days ago
    Auto-check passed
  • Cobrapy Metabolic Modeling

    jaechang-hits/SciAgent-Skills

    Constraint-based (COBRA) analysis of genome-scale metabolic models: FBA, FVA, knockouts, flux sampling, production envelopes, gapfilling, media optimization.

    370 GitHub starsUsed in 1 repo~4.9k tokens
    Auto-check passed
  • Rdkit Chemdraw Cdxml

    jaechang-hits/SciAgent-Skills

    Read, write, and edit ChemDraw CDX/CDXML files with RDKit's rdkit.Chem.rdChemDraw plus direct XML editing, always paired with a rendered PNG.

    370 GitHub stars~6.9k tokensUpdated 10 days ago
    Auto-check passed
  • Pubmed Database

    jaechang-hits/SciAgent-Skills

    Programmatic PubMed access via NCBI E-utilities REST API. An agent skill from jaechang-hits/SciAgent-Skills.

    370 GitHub starsUsed in 1 repo~4.4k tokens
    Auto-check passed
  • Sciagent Skill Creator

    jaechang-hits/SciAgent-Skills

    Scaffold a new SciAgent-Skills entry. An agent skill from jaechang-hits/SciAgent-Skills.

    370 GitHub stars~2.3k tokensUpdated 10 days ago
    Auto-check passed
  • Anndata Data Structure

    jaechang-hits/SciAgent-Skills

    Annotated matrices for single-cell genomics. An agent skill from jaechang-hits/SciAgent-Skills.

    370 GitHub starsUsed in 2 repos~5.8k tokens
    Auto-check passed

Questions about Monarch Database

What does Monarch Database do?

Monarch Initiative knowledge graph REST API for disease-gene-phenotype associations and cross-species orthology. Monarch Database is an agent skill from jaechang-hits/SciAgent-Skills. Monarch Initiative knowledge graph REST API for disease-gene-phenotype associations and cross-species orthology.

When should I use Monarch Database?

Monarch Database fits situations like: rare disease gene prioritization and phenotype-based candidate ranking; tasks that involve Knowledge graphs; tasks that involve Prioritization frameworks.

How do I install Monarch Database in Claude Code?

Run `npx skills add jaechang-hits/SciAgent-Skills --skill monarch-database -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/genomics-bioinformatics/databases/monarch-database in jaechang-hits/SciAgent-Skills) into .claude/skills/monarch-database in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.

How do I install Monarch Database in Codex?

Run `npx skills add jaechang-hits/SciAgent-Skills --skill monarch-database -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/genomics-bioinformatics/databases/monarch-database in jaechang-hits/SciAgent-Skills) into .agents/skills/monarch-database in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.

Can I use Monarch Database 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 jaechang-hits/SciAgent-Skills --skill monarch-database -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/monarch-database, .gemini/skills/monarch-database, .github/skills/monarch-database and .opencode/skills/monarch-database in your project.

What does Monarch Database need to run?

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

Does Monarch Database access the network?

SKILL.md names 5 domains. In commands or code: api.monarchinitiative.org; the agent is likely to contact it when it follows the instructions. As links in the text: monarchinitiative.org, doi.org, mondo.monarchinitiative.org and hpo.jax.org. This is read from the text; nothing was executed.

Is Monarch Database 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 Monarch Database use?

Monarch Database is published under the BSD-3-Clause licence (declared in SKILL.md). It allows redistribution, so the full SKILL.md is shown on this page.

How many tokens does Monarch Database use?

About 6.6k tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 27k 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 Monarch Database?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with Monarch Database: Bio Ensembl REST (GPTomics/bioSkills, 1.2k stars), Pride Fetch (ClawBio/ClawBio, 1.2k stars), Ensembl Database (aipoch/medical-research-skills, 2k stars) and Alphagenome Single Variant Analysis (google-deepmind/science-skills, 3.2k stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains Monarch Database?

jaechang-hits (a GitHub user) maintains it in jaechang-hits/SciAgent-Skills, which has 370 GitHub stars. The repository holds 163 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on September 29, 2026.

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