Agent skill

Trackplot

by ygidtu in ygidtu/trackplot

Generate sashimi-style genome visualization plots (coverage, line, heatmap, IGV read-by-read, HiC, circRNA, motif) from BAM/bigWig/depth/HiC inputs.

BSD-3-ClauseAuto-check passedResearch & Science

Install Trackplot

skills CLI
$ npx skills add ygidtu/trackplot --skill trackplot -a claude-code

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

GitHub CLI
$ gh skill install ygidtu/trackplot trackplot --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/ygidtu/trackplot.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/trackplot .claude/skills/trackplot && 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
trackplot
GitHub stars
109
Token cost
~1.9k tokens
SKILL.md length
620 words
Files
3 (incl. references)
Skills in repo
1
Repo updated
First seen
Licence
BSD-3-Clause

At a glance

Generate sashimi-style genome visualization plots (coverage, line, heatmap, IGV read-by-read, HiC, circRNA, motif) from BAM/bigWig/depth/HiC inputs.

  • The user wants to plot NGS data over a genomic region
  • SKILL.md covers When to choose which track, Installation, Region format (required) and Common CLI workflow (density /…, plus 5 more sections
  • Calls pip, docker and conda
  • Intron-shrinkage plots

What it does

Trackplot is an agent skill from ygidtu/trackplot. Generate sashimi-style genome visualization plots (coverage, line, heatmap, IGV read-by-read, HiC, circRNA, motif) from BAM/bigWig/depth/HiC inputs. Use when the user wants to plot NGS data over a genomic region, make sashimi or intron-shrinkage plots, strand density, single-cell barcode-split density, protein domain tracks, or publish-ready PDF/PNG/SVG figures for a locus. Covers CLI usage, config TSV file formats, Docker, and the Python Plot chain API. Use when the user says trackplot, sashimi plot, coverage…

Its SKILL.md is about 1.9k tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. The skill folder holds 3 other files, including reference files (for example `references/config_files.md` and `references/python_api.md`).

It sits in Research & Science, covering Bioinformatics. It works with Python and Docker. The repository describes itself as: trackplot is a tool for visualizing various next-generation sequencing (NGS) data, including DNA-seq, RNA-seq, single-cell RNA-seq and full-length sequencing datasets. The licence is BSD-3-Clause.

When your agent uses it

  • The user wants to plot NGS data over a genomic region
  • Intron-shrinkage plots
  • Single-cell barcode-split density
  • Protein domain tracks

Example prompts

  • “/trackplot”

Requirements

  • Python 3
  • Docker

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit 56b69b1. 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
    • docker
    • conda
    • uv

    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):

    • trackplot.readthedocs.io

    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

Trackplot loads about 1.9k tokens when it runs, and up to ~4.2k if it reads all its reference files. Until then it costs about 149 tokens; SKILL.md has 620 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it
~149
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches
~1.9k
With references · SKILL.md plus every file in references/, read only if the agent opens them
~4.2k

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 ygidtu/trackplot at commit 56b69b1, republished under its BSD-3-Clause licence (© ygidtu). 620 words, ~1,947 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/trackplot/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder). This skill also uses 2 other files; get the full folder from GitHub.
name
trackplot
description
Generate sashimi-style genome visualization plots (coverage, line, heatmap, IGV read-by-read, HiC, circRNA, motif) from BAM/bigWig/depth/HiC inputs. Use when the user wants to plot NGS data over a genomic region, make sashimi or intron-shrinkage plots, strand density, single-cell barcode-split density, protein domain tracks, or publish-ready PDF/PNG/SVG figures for a locus. Covers CLI usage, config TSV file formats, Docker, and the Python Plot chain API. Use when the user says trackplot, sashimi plot, coverage plot for a locus, or chr:start-end:strand plotting with bigWig or BAM.
license
BSD-3-Clause. LICENSE.txt has full terms.

trackplot

trackplot is a pure-Python (>=3.8) sashimi-plot / locus-visualization framework. It draws coverage, line, heatmap, individual-read (IGV), HiC, circRNA and motif tracks for a single genomic region, and emits journal-ready PDF/PNG/SVG. Input is given as tab-separated config files; output is one figure where each track maps to one config file.

Repo: https://github.com/ygidtu/trackplot · Docs: https://trackplot.readthedocs.io · DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1011477

When to choose which track

User wantsUse
Coverage/sashimi of BAM or bigWig over a locus (junctions shown)--density
Multi-sample coverage as lines (time course, conditions)--line
Several samples side-by-side coverage blocks--heatmap
Individual aligned reads, incl. long-read m6A/polyA marks--igv
2D contact matrix / HiC--hic
Gene model, exon/intron, protein domains, custom beds-r annotation + --domain / --interval
Circular RNA / back-splice highlight--density + --stroke + --link

For config-file formats (exact columns) and the Python chain API, see references/config_files.md and references/python_api.md.

Installation

Fastest (Linux/macOS x86 with glibc):

bash
pip install trackplot                 # bigWig/bigBed/HiC support is optional, see below

Optional extras (enable formats that otherwise error out):

bash
pip install pybigwig hicmatrix        # bigWig, bigBed, and .hic / .h5

Other supported installs: bioconda (conda install -c bioconda -c conda-forge trackplot), source (pip install -e .), uv (uv sync), AppImage (Linux/WSL x86_64 only), Docker.

Platform caveats (from upstream docs):

  • Windows, Apple-Silicon macOS and other ARM hosts often cannot install via PyPI/conda because of pysam/pybigwig/hicmatrix wheels. Use the Docker image there.
  • If multi-processing causes segment fault, rerun with -p 1 or use Docker.
  • If you see Please install pyBigWig and hicmatrix, install the optional extras above.
bash
# Docker (recommended on macOS/ARM/Windows)
docker pull ygidtu/trackplot
docker run --rm -v $PWD:$PWD -w $PWD ygidtu/trackplot --help

Region format (required)

Every plot targets one region with -e:

chromosome_id:start:end:strand      e.g.  chr1:1270656-1284730:+

Strand is + or -. For strand-aware density use --density-by-strand.

Common CLI workflow (density / sashimi plot)

bash
trackplot \
  -e chr1:1270656-1284730:+ \
  -r example/example.sorted.gtf.gz \
  --density example/density_list.tsv \
  --show-junction-num \
  -o figure.pdf \
  --dpi 300 --width 10 --height 1 \
  -p 4
  • -r/--annotation: GTF/GFF (both transcript and exon tags must be present). Sorted + bgzipped+tabix is fine but not required.
  • --density / --line / --heatmap / --igv / --hic: each takes a config TSV path. Add as many different track types as needed in one invocation.
  • -o/--output: pdf, png, svg, jpg all supported. Journal PDF: use vector; for large heatmaps/sites pass --raster to shrink file size / speed up rendering.
Frequently used options
  • --show-junction-num / --show-mean-junction-num: annotate intron junction read counts.
  • -t/--threshold: drop low-abundance junctions (min count).
  • --show-site: draw read-start position (site) marks on the density.
  • --focus 100-200:300-400: highlight a region; --stroke a-b:c-d@color-label: bottom stroke line; --link a-b:c-d@color: bottom link between two sites; --sites 12,34,56: comma-separated indicator lines.
  • --intron-scale 0.5 / --exon-scale 1: shrink/expand introns (fixed introns: scale > 1).
  • --domain: add protein domain track from UniProt/Ensembl (needs network) or --local-domain <folder> (UCSC bigBed).
  • --interval <bed.tsv>: add custom feature track to the annotation.
  • --log [0|2|10|zscore]: log-transform the y axis. --normalize-format [count|cpm|rpkm]: normalize BAM.
  • --color-factor N: color by a categorical column of the config file (LUAD|red → label LUAD, color red).
  • --width/--height/--dpi/--backend/--font-size/--title/--font: output/figure styling.
Show full SKILL.md (230 more words)Show less
Single-cell BAM (barcode-split density/line)

Requires a barcode list and tags (10x default: --barcode-tag CB --umi-tag UB):

bash
trackplot \
  -e chr1:1270656-1284730:+ \
  -r example/example.sorted.gtf.gz \
  --density example/density_list.tsv \
  --barcode example/barcode_list.tsv \
  --group-by-cell \
  -o sc.pdf

Barcode list columns: bam barcode cell_type(optional) color(optional).

Config-file formats (tab-separated)

Header line starts with #; comment/blank lines ignored. Columns:

# density     # filepath  category   label(optional)  color(optional)
# line        # filepath  category   group(optional)  color(optional)
# heatmap     # filepath  category   group(optional)  color(optional)
# igv         # filepath  category   label(optional)  color(optional)
# hic         # filepath  category   label(optional)  color(optional)  transform(optional)  depth(optional)  domain(optional)
# interval    # file_location  label
# custom-junction  junctions  <bam-or-aliases...>   then   <junction-id>  <count-per-column...>
  • category is one of bam, bw, bed, depth, hic, igv, bed3/6/12, etc.
  • For bam in density/line/heatmap you may append library / total-read columns; see references/config_files.md for the full column table.

Docker usage notes

  • Absolute paths required inside the container. Convert relative config paths:
    bash
    grep -v '^#' example/density_list.tsv | while read l; do echo "$PWD/${l}"; done > abspath.tsv
    docker run -v $PWD:$PWD -w $PWD --rm ygidtu/trackplot -e chr1:...:... --density abspath.tsv -o out.pdf
  • Mount your data dir with -v and set -w to it so paths match.

Web UI (optional)

Start a local server for a browser-based plot builder:

bash
trackplot --start-server --host 127.0.0.1 --port 5000 --plots ./plots     # --plots required for AppImage
# docker: docker run -v $PWD/example:/data -v $PWD/plots:/plots -p 5000:5000 ygidtu/trackplot --start-server --data /data --plots /plots

Region must match chromosome_id:start_site-end_site:strand.

Troubleshooting

  • #REF!-like import errors / pysam build issues → use Docker (see platform caveats).
  • Missing bigWig/HiC support → pip install pybigwig hicmatrix.
  • Protein domains missing in output → avoid Cairo backend for --domain; use Agg/PDF.
  • Slow PDF/SVG with heatmaps/sites → add --raster.
  • Want reproducibility / no shell escaping → prefer the Python chain API; see references/python_api.md.

Do not

  • Do not pass a region without strand; do not omit -r when junctions/annotation is expected.
  • Do not hardcode coverage values in Python then plot them — let trackplot read BAM/bigWig directly.
  • Do not expect vite build-style type checks here; this is a plotting tool, not a web framework.

© ygidtu, 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

SKILL.md and 2 other files (references) in skills/trackplot of ygidtu/trackplot.

  • SKILL.md
  • references/config_files.md
  • references/python_api.md

Open the folder on GitHubat commit 56b69b1

Compare with similar skills

Trackplot 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.

Trackplot compared with similar skills
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Singlecell Qcxuzhougeng/wisp-science1k—~1.6kAutomated safety check: PassAGPL-3.0
DiffDock Molecular DockingK-Dense-AI/scientific-agent-skills48k1 repos~3kAutomated safety check: NotesMIT
UniProt Database Accessdavila7/claude-code-templates32k15 repos~1.7kAutomated safety check: PassMIT

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Works with

Questions about Trackplot

What does Trackplot do?

Generate sashimi-style genome visualization plots (coverage, line, heatmap, IGV read-by-read, HiC, circRNA, motif) from BAM/bigWig/depth/HiC inputs. Trackplot is an agent skill from ygidtu/trackplot. Generate sashimi-style genome visualization plots (coverage, line, heatmap, IGV read-by-read, HiC, circRNA, motif) from BAM/bigWig/depth/HiC inputs.

When should I use Trackplot?

Trackplot fits situations like: the user wants to plot NGS data over a genomic region; intron-shrinkage plots; single-cell barcode-split density; protein domain tracks.

How do I install Trackplot in Claude Code?

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

How do I install Trackplot in Codex?

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

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

What does Trackplot need to run?

Going by SKILL.md and its folder, Trackplot needs the command-line tools its instructions call (pip, docker, conda and uv). Our summary lists: Python 3; Docker.

Does Trackplot access the network?

SKILL.md names 1 domain. As links in the text: trackplot.readthedocs.io. This is read from the text; nothing was executed.

Is Trackplot 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 Trackplot use?

Trackplot 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 Trackplot use?

About 1.9k tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 7.8k characters). Agents keep only the skill's name and description in context until a task matches; then they load SKILL.md in full. Its references folder adds about 2.2k tokens, read only when the agent opens those files.

What are the alternatives to Trackplot?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with Trackplot: Alphagenome Single Variant Analysis (google-deepmind/science-skills, 3.2k stars), 13C Metabolic Flux Analysis (K-Dense-AI/scientific-agent-skills, 48k stars), Singlecell Qc (xuzhougeng/wisp-science, 1k stars) and DiffDock Molecular Docking (K-Dense-AI/scientific-agent-skills, 48k stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains Trackplot?

ygidtu (a GitHub user) maintains it in ygidtu/trackplot, which has 109 GitHub stars. The repository was last updated on September 26, 2026.

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