ena-database

Access European Nucleotide Archive via API/FTP. Retrieve DNA/RNA sequences, raw reads (FASTQ), genome assemblies by accession, for genomics and bioinformatics pipelines. Supports multiple formats.

Quality

69%

Does it follow best practices?

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Securityby

Low

Low-risk findings worth noting

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tessl review fix ./backend/cli/skills/databases/ena-database/SKILL.md

Quality

Content

68%Weight 40%Scale 1-5

Reviews the quality of instructions and guidance provided to agents. Good implementation is clear, handles edge cases, and produces reliable results.

The body is well-structured and actionable with executable examples and a properly signaled reference file, but its batch-download workflow lacks validation checkpoints and the overview could be leaner.

Suggestions

Add explicit validation/verification checkpoints to the Bulk Download Pattern — e.g. verify HTTP status, confirm file checksums, and re-fetch on partial downloads — so the batch workflow can score above 3.

Tighten the Overview and Data Types sections to assume Claude's familiarity with ENA, keeping only what is needed for query construction.

Complete the use-case code examples beyond URL construction (e.g. show the request call and response parsing) to push actionability toward fully copy-paste-ready.

Dimension	Reasoning	Score
Conciseness	Mostly efficient with executable code and concrete endpoints; only minor instances of over-explanation (e.g. the overview paragraph and object-type restatements) that could be trimmed, sitting just below the lean 5 anchor.	4 / 5
Actionability	Provides mostly executable guidance — real Portal/Browser API URLs, params, and Python examples covering common cases — with only minor gaps such as examples that stop at URL construction.	4 / 5
Workflow Clarity	The Bulk Download Pattern lists a sequence but is a batch operation with no validation/verification checkpoints (e.g. checksum or HTTP-status verification of downloaded files), which caps workflow clarity at 3 per the batch-operation guideline.	3 / 5
Progressive Disclosure	Good structure with a clearly signaled one-level-deep reference to the existing 'references/api_reference.md'; the body itself is somewhat long for a pure overview, a minor organization gap below the 5 anchor.	4 / 5
	Total	15 / 20 Passed

Description

70%Weight 40%Scale 1-5

Based on the skill's description, can an agent find and select it at the right time? Clear, specific descriptions lead to better discovery.

The description is specific and distinct with strong natural trigger terms, but it lacks an explicit 'Use when...' clause, leaving the activation guidance only weakly implied and capping completeness.

Suggestions

Add an explicit 'Use when...' trigger clause, e.g. 'Use when retrieving sequences, raw reads, or assemblies from the European Nucleotide Archive by accession or metadata criteria.'

Include common synonyms or extensions users might mention (e.g. '.fastq', 'EMBL', 'SRA/cross-references') to strengthen trigger-term coverage.

Clarify the 'when' context concretely rather than relying on the generic 'for genomics and bioinformatics pipelines' phrasing.

Dimension	Reasoning	Score
Specificity	Lists several concrete actions — 'Retrieve DNA/RNA sequences', 'raw reads (FASTQ)', 'genome assemblies by accession' — within a named domain, with only minor coverage gaps relative to the comprehensive 5 anchor.	4 / 5
Completeness	The 'what' is clear, but there is no explicit 'Use when...' trigger clause — only a weakly implied 'for genomics and bioinformatics pipelines', which caps completeness at 3 per the rubric guideline.	3 / 5
Trigger Term Quality	Contains natural keywords a user would say ('DNA/RNA sequences', 'raw reads (FASTQ)', 'genome assemblies', 'genomics and bioinformatics pipelines'), with a few synonyms or extension variants missing.	4 / 5
Distinctiveness Conflict Risk	A clear niche (European Nucleotide Archive, specific sequence/read/assembly data types) with distinct triggers and minimal conflict risk with other skills.	5 / 5
	Total	16 / 20 Passed

Validation

87%

Warnings & errors only

Checks the skill against the spec for correct structure and formatting. All validation checks must pass before discovery and implementation can be scored.

Validation — 14 / 16 Passed

Validation for skill structure

Criteria	Description	Result
metadata_version	'metadata.version' is missing	Warning
frontmatter_unknown_keys	Unknown frontmatter key(s) found; consider removing or moving to metadata	Warning

	Total	14 / 16 Passed

Repository: synthetic-sciences/openscience
Path: backend/cli/skills/databases/ena-database/SKILL.md
Commit: 3a6c3a9

Reviewed: 1 day ago

Table of Contents

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