Fetch and analyze protein structures from RCSB PDB. An agent skill from adaptyvbio/protein-design-skills.

MITAuto-check passedResearch & Science

Install Pdb

skills CLI
$ npx skills add adaptyvbio/protein-design-skills --skill pdb -a claude-code

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

GitHub CLI
$ gh skill install adaptyvbio/protein-design-skills pdb --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/adaptyvbio/protein-design-skills.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/pdb .claude/skills/pdb && 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
pdb
GitHub stars
163
Used in
4 other repos
Token cost
~1.4k tokens
SKILL.md length
132 words
Files
1
Skills in repo
24
Repo updated
First seen
Licence
MIT

At a glance

Fetch and analyze protein structures from RCSB PDB. An agent skill from adaptyvbio/protein-design-skills.

  • Works in 6 steps: Download structure: curl -o target.pdb… → Identify target chain → Remove waters and ligands (if needed) → …
  • Need to download a structure by PDB ID
  • SKILL.md covers Fetching Structures, Structure Preparation, Searching PDB and Structure Analysis, plus 2 more sections
  • Calls curl; reaches files.rcsb.org and rcsb.org

What it does

Pdb is an agent skill from adaptyvbio/protein-design-skills. Fetch and analyze protein structures from RCSB PDB. Use this skill when: (1) Need to download a structure by PDB ID, (2) Search for similar structures, (3) Prepare target for binder design, (4) Extract specific chains or domains, (5) Get structure metadata. For sequence lookup, use uniprot. For binder design workflow, use binder-design.

Its SKILL.md is about 1.4k 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 Protein structure and design. It works with UniProt. The repository describes itself as: Claude Code skills for protein design. The licence is MIT.

When your agent uses it

  • Need to download a structure by PDB ID
  • Search for similar structures
  • Prepare target for binder design
  • Extract specific chains

Example prompts

  • “/pdb”

Requirements

  • Python 3

Workflow steps

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

  1. Download structure: curl -o target.pdb "https://files.rcsb.org/download/XXXX.pdb"
  2. Identify target chain
  3. Remove waters and ligands (if needed)
  4. Trim to binding region + buffer
  5. Identify potential hotspots
  6. Renumber if needed

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit 59dd633. 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

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

    • files.rcsb.org
    • rcsb.org
    • search.rcsb.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

Pdb loads about 1.4k tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 86 tokens; SKILL.md has 132 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it
~86
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches
~1.4k

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 adaptyvbio/protein-design-skills at commit 59dd633, republished under its MIT licence (© adaptyvbio). 132 words, ~1,373 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/pdb/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder).
name
pdb
description
Fetch and analyze protein structures from RCSB PDB. Use this skill when: (1) Need to download a structure by PDB ID, (2) Search for similar structures, (3) Prepare target for binder design, (4) Extract specific chains or domains, (5) Get structure metadata. For sequence lookup, use uniprot. For binder design workflow, use binder-design.
license
MIT
category
utilities
tags
database, structure, fetch

PDB Database Access

Note: This skill uses the RCSB PDB web API directly. No Modal deployment needed - all operations run locally via HTTP requests.

Fetching Structures

By PDB ID
bash
# Download PDB file
curl -o 1alu.pdb "https://files.rcsb.org/download/1ALU.pdb"

# Download mmCIF
curl -o 1alu.cif "https://files.rcsb.org/download/1ALU.cif"
Using Python
python
from Bio.PDB import PDBList

pdbl = PDBList()
pdbl.retrieve_pdb_file("1ABC", pdir="structures/", file_format="pdb")
Using RCSB API
python
import requests

def fetch_pdb(pdb_id: str, format: str = "pdb") -> str:
    """Fetch structure from RCSB PDB."""
    url = f"https://files.rcsb.org/download/{pdb_id}.{format}"
    response = requests.get(url)
    response.raise_for_status()
    return response.text

def fetch_fasta(pdb_id: str) -> str:
    """Fetch sequence in FASTA format."""
    url = f"https://www.rcsb.org/fasta/entry/{pdb_id}"
    return requests.get(url).text

# Example usage
pdb_content = fetch_pdb("1ALU")
with open("1ALU.pdb", "w") as f:
    f.write(pdb_content)

Structure Preparation

Selecting Chains
python
from Bio.PDB import PDBParser, PDBIO, Select

class ChainSelect(Select):
    def __init__(self, chain_id):
        self.chain_id = chain_id

    def accept_chain(self, chain):
        return chain.id == self.chain_id

# Extract chain A
parser = PDBParser()
structure = parser.get_structure("protein", "1abc.pdb")
io = PDBIO()
io.set_structure(structure)
io.save("chain_A.pdb", ChainSelect("A"))
Trimming to Binding Region
python
def trim_around_residues(pdb_file, center_residues, buffer=10.0):
    """Trim structure to region around specified residues."""
    parser = PDBParser()
    structure = parser.get_structure("protein", pdb_file)

    # Get center coordinates
    center_coords = []
    for res in structure.get_residues():
        if res.id[1] in center_residues:
            center_coords.extend([a.coord for a in res.get_atoms()])

    center = np.mean(center_coords, axis=0)

    # Keep residues within buffer
    class RegionSelect(Select):
        def accept_residue(self, res):
            for atom in res.get_atoms():
                if np.linalg.norm(atom.coord - center) < buffer:
                    return True
            return False

    io = PDBIO()
    io.set_structure(structure)
    io.save("trimmed.pdb", RegionSelect())

Searching PDB

RCSB Search API
python
import requests

query = {
    "query": {
        "type": "terminal",
        "service": "full_text",
        "parameters": {
            "value": "EGFR kinase domain"
        }
    },
    "return_type": "entry"
}

response = requests.post(
    "https://search.rcsb.org/rcsbsearch/v2/query",
    json=query
)
results = response.json()
By Sequence Similarity
python
query = {
    "query": {
        "type": "terminal",
        "service": "sequence",
        "parameters": {
            "value": "MKTAYIAKQRQISFVK...",
            "evalue_cutoff": 1e-10,
            "identity_cutoff": 0.9
        }
    }
}

Structure Analysis

Get Chain Info
python
def get_structure_info(pdb_file):
    parser = PDBParser(QUIET=True)
    structure = parser.get_structure("protein", pdb_file)

    info = {
        "chains": [],
        "total_residues": 0
    }

    for model in structure:
        for chain in model:
            residues = list(chain.get_residues())
            info["chains"].append({
                "id": chain.id,
                "length": len(residues),
                "first_res": residues[0].id[1],
                "last_res": residues[-1].id[1]
            })
            info["total_residues"] += len(residues)

    return info
Find Interface Residues
python
def find_interface_residues(pdb_file, chain_a, chain_b, distance=4.0):
    """Find residues at interface between two chains."""
    parser = PDBParser(QUIET=True)
    structure = parser.get_structure("complex", pdb_file)

    interface_a = set()
    interface_b = set()

    for res_a in structure[0][chain_a].get_residues():
        for res_b in structure[0][chain_b].get_residues():
            for atom_a in res_a.get_atoms():
                for atom_b in res_b.get_atoms():
                    if atom_a - atom_b < distance:
                        interface_a.add(res_a.id[1])
                        interface_b.add(res_b.id[1])

    return interface_a, interface_b

Common Tasks for Binder Design

Target Preparation Checklist
  1. Download structure: curl -o target.pdb "https://files.rcsb.org/download/XXXX.pdb"
  2. Identify target chain
  3. Remove waters and ligands (if needed)
  4. Trim to binding region + buffer
  5. Identify potential hotspots
  6. Renumber if needed

Troubleshooting

Structure not found: Check PDB ID format (4 characters) Multiple models: Select first model for design Missing residues: Check for gaps in structure


Next: Use structure with boltzgen (recommended) or rfdiffusion for design.

© adaptyvbio, 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/pdb of adaptyvbio/protein-design-skills.

Open the folder on GitHubat commit 59dd633

Used in 4 other repositories

We found 5 copies of this SKILL.md (exact, near-identical or edited) in other folders, from 4 other GitHub owners. This page covers the copy in adaptyvbio/protein-design-skills, which our catalogue first saw on October 7, 2026.

Compare with similar skills

Pdb 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.

Pdb compared with similar skills
SkillStarsUsed inTokensAuto-checkLicenceRepo updated
Pdb this skilladaptyvbio/protein-design-skills1634 repos~1.4kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
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Tooluniverseynulihao/AgentSkillOS6173 repos~2.5kAutomated safety check: PassNone
Bio DB ToolsDrugClaw/DrugClaw125—~1.4kAutomated safety check: PassApache-2.0
Ggetdavila7/claude-code-templates32k11 repos~6.3kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Alphafold Databasedavila7/claude-code-templates32k10 repos~4kAutomated safety check: PassMIT

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Works with

Questions about Pdb

What does Pdb do?

Fetch and analyze protein structures from RCSB PDB. An agent skill from adaptyvbio/protein-design-skills. Pdb is an agent skill from adaptyvbio/protein-design-skills. Fetch and analyze protein structures from RCSB PDB.

When should I use Pdb?

Pdb fits situations like: need to download a structure by PDB ID; search for similar structures; prepare target for binder design; extract specific chains.

How do I install Pdb in Claude Code?

Run `npx skills add adaptyvbio/protein-design-skills --skill pdb -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/pdb in adaptyvbio/protein-design-skills) into .claude/skills/pdb in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.

How do I install Pdb in Codex?

Run `npx skills add adaptyvbio/protein-design-skills --skill pdb -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/pdb in adaptyvbio/protein-design-skills) into .agents/skills/pdb in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.

Can I use Pdb 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 adaptyvbio/protein-design-skills --skill pdb -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/pdb, .gemini/skills/pdb, .github/skills/pdb and .opencode/skills/pdb in your project.

What does Pdb need to run?

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

Does Pdb access the network?

SKILL.md names 3 domains. In commands or code: files.rcsb.org, rcsb.org and search.rcsb.org; the agent is likely to contact these when it follows the instructions. This is read from the text; nothing was executed.

Is Pdb 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 Pdb use?

Pdb is published under the MIT licence (declared in SKILL.md). It allows redistribution, so the full SKILL.md is shown on this page.

How many tokens does Pdb use?

About 1.4k tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 5.5k 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 Pdb?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with Pdb: Alphafold Database Fetch And Analyze (google-deepmind/science-skills, 3.2k stars), Tooluniverse (ynulihao/AgentSkillOS, 617 stars), Bio DB Tools (DrugClaw/DrugClaw, 125 stars) and Gget (davila7/claude-code-templates, 32k stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains Pdb?

adaptyvbio (a GitHub organization) maintains it in adaptyvbio/protein-design-skills, which has 163 GitHub stars. The repository holds 24 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on June 11, 2026.

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