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rnacentral-skill

Query the RNAcentral REST API for RNA entry lookups and cross-reference retrieval.

5.3k|765|Updated Mar 4, 2026
Search Tags:#bioinformatics#cross-references#rna#rnacentral#REST api#life science#sequence lookup
One-click install
npx skills add https://github.com/openai/plugins --skill rnacentral-skill
Or copy as Structured Prompt for Agent▼
Please help me install this Agent Skill.
Skill: rnacentral-skill
Source: https://github.com/openai/plugins/tree/main/plugins/life-science-research/skills/rnacentral-skill
Command: npx skills add https://github.com/openai/plugins --skill rnacentral-skill

SYSTEM DOCUMENTATION & REQUIREMENTS

💡 This Skill requires requests, and includes scripts (resource) components.

What problem does it solve?

Researchers need quick, compact access to RNA sequence data from the RNAcentral database without writing custom API client code or parsing verbose JSON responses manually.

Core Features & Use Cases

  • Single-Entry Lookup: Fetch a specific RNA entry by URS identifier and optional taxonomy ID, such as rna/URS000075C808/9606.
  • Cross-Reference Retrieval: Pull external database cross-references for an RNA entry via the xrefs endpoint.
  • Targeted Search: Run keyword queries against the rna/ collection with small page sizes to avoid slow broad browsing.
  • Use Case: A bioinformatician investigating a non-coding RNA asks for the RNAcentral record and cross-references for URS0000000001 and receives a concise markdown summary instead of raw paginated JSON.

Quick Start

Ask the assistant to look up the RNAcentral entry for URS000075C808 in human (taxid 9606) and summarize the result.

Frequently Asked Questions about rnacentral-skill

High-intent search queries and answers about installing and using this skill.

FAQPage Schema
How do I look up an RNA entry in RNAcentral by URS identifier?▼

Send a JSON request with the path rna/<URS>/<taxid> or rna/<URS>/ to the RNAcentral API, for example rna/URS000075C808/9606 for a human entry. The script returns a compact summary of the record by default.

How do I search RNAcentral for RNA sequences by keyword?▼

Use the rna/ collection path with a q parameter and a small page_size, such as params {q: TP53, page_size: 10} with record_path set to results. Targeted searches are preferred because broad browsing can be slow or time out.

How do I get cross-references for an RNAcentral entry?▼

Request the xrefs endpoint with the path rna/<URS>/xrefs/ and set record_path to results with a max_items limit. The response returns a compact list of external database cross-references for that RNA entry.

Why do broad RNAcentral API requests time out?▼

Browsing the full rna/ collection without filters can be slow because of the large dataset size. Start with targeted lookups like rna/<URS>/<taxid> or add a q query parameter with a small page_size to keep responses fast.

Can I get raw JSON instead of a summary from the RNAcentral API?▼

Yes, set save_raw to true and optionally provide raw_output_path to write the full JSON response to a file. By default the script returns compact records or summaries, and raw JSON is only returned when explicitly requested.

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