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Opentargets Database

  • 1.3k installs
  • 2.6k repo stars
  • Updated July 7, 2026
  • google-deepmind/science-skills

opentargets-database is a data science skill that lets developers query the Open Targets Platform GraphQL API for genetics, disease associations, druggability, and clinical evidence from agents or Python scripts.

About

opentargets-database is a Google DeepMind science-skills module for querying the Open Targets Platform GraphQL API, which aggregates multi-modal evidence from GWAS and eQTL genetics, pathways, animal models, and clinical trials to rank target-disease associations and surface known drugs. Developers run scripts/query_opentargets.py for API communication, response formatting, and automatic truncation of large payloads to save agent context tokens. Built-in subcommands include get-gwas-studies with an EFO disease identifier for federated genetic evidence linking variants to diseases and druggable targets. Reach for opentargets-database when bioinformatics or computational biology workflows need druggability scores, target rankings, or disease association evidence inside Claude or terminal sessions—not for general SQL database administration. The Python script pattern keeps repeated GraphQL queries reproducible and context-safe for long API responses during drug-discovery research pipelines in agent, notebook, or script sessions.

  • 8 built-in subcommands for GWAS studies, credible sets, L2G predictions, druggability, target-disease associations and m
  • Automatically truncates large API responses to save context window tokens
  • Supports --limit and --page-size global options for precise result control
  • Returns multi-modal evidence from genetics, pathways, animal models and clinical trials
  • Python script with ready-to-use CLI commands for agentic research workflows

Opentargets Database by the numbers

  • 1,268 all-time installs (skills.sh)
  • +168 installs in the week ending Aug 5, 2026 (Skillselion tracking)
  • Ranked #258 of 2,064 Data Science & ML skills by installs in the Skillselion catalog
  • Security screen: MEDIUM risk (skills.sh audit)
  • Data as of Aug 5, 2026 (Skillselion catalog sync)
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Installs1.3k
repo stars2.6k
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Last updatedJuly 7, 2026
Repositorygoogle-deepmind/science-skills

How do you query Open Targets genetics data programmatically?

Query the Open Targets Platform for genetics, disease associations, druggability, and clinical evidence directly from agents or scripts.

Who is it for?

Computational biologists and data engineers who need Open Targets genetics and druggability evidence inside agent or Python workflows.

Skip if: Developers managing unrelated SQL databases or teams without biomedical target-discovery use cases.

When should I use this skill?

The user asks to query Open Targets, fetch GWAS studies by EFO ID, rank target-disease associations, or check druggability from agents.

What you get

Formatted Open Targets API responses with target-disease rankings, GWAS study data, and druggability evidence truncated for agent context.

  • Formatted Open Targets query results
  • GWAS study extracts
  • Target-disease association rankings

By the numbers

  • Bundled Python script scripts/query_opentargets.py with specialized subcommands
  • GraphQL API aggregates GWAS/eQTL, pathways, animal models, and clinical trials

Files

SKILL.mdMarkdownGitHub ↗

Open Targets Database Skill

Overview

This skill provides access to the Open Targets Platform GraphQL API. It aggregates multi-modal evidence from genetics (GWAS/eQTL), pathways, animal models, and clinical trials to rank target-disease associations and identify druggable genes.

Prerequisites

1. `uv`: Read the uv skill and follow its Setup instructions to ensure uv is installed and on PATH. 2. User Notification: If LICENSE_NOTIFICATION.txt does not already exist in this skill directory then (1) prominently notify the user to check the terms at https://platform-docs.opentargets.org/licence, then (2) create the file recording the notification text and timestamp.

Core Rules

  • Use the Wrapper: ALWAYS execute the provided helper scripts to query the

database rather than accessing the database directly. The scripts automatically enforce fair use and implement retry logic.

  • Output Flag: The --output flag is always required as output can be

very large. Use jq or write your own code to process this JSON file.

  • Notification: If this skill is used, ensure this is mentioned in the

output.

Quick Reference

Always use the provided Python script scripts/query_opentargets.py to quickly query the database. It handles API communication, retries, formatting, and automatically truncates overly large responses. NEVER write your own curl or similar requests.

Usage:

uv run scripts/query_opentargets.py --output /tmp/opentargets_results.json [OPTIONS] COMMAND [ARGS]...

Common Options:

  • --output PATH: Required. Path to write the JSON output file.
  • --limit N: Limit the number of items returned in arrays (default is 50).

Use a smaller number like 10 when doing preliminary exploration.

  • --page-size N: Set the API pagination size (default is 200). Increase if

you need more results (e.g., a study with many credible sets).

Available Commands:

  • `get-gwas-studies` `efo_id`: Fetches all GWAS studies associated with

a specific disease ontology EFO ID (e.g. EFO_0000685).

  • `get-study-credible-sets` `study_id`: Fetches all credible sets for a

given study ID (e.g. FINNGEN_R12_RX_CROHN_2NDLINE). Returns confidence, finemapping method, variant, and p-value info.

  • `get-qtl-credible-sets` `variant_id`: Retrieves QTL credible sets for

a specific variant ID (e.g. 19_44908822_C_T).

  • `get-l2g` `variant_id [--study-id ID]`: Returns Locus-to-Gene (L2G)

predictions/scores for a locus to identify the most likely causal gene. Only variant_id is required; use --study-id to filter to a specific study. Accepts chr prefix (e.g. chr1_113834946_A_G).

  • `get-target-druggability` `ensembl_id`: Provides tractability data

(small molecule, antibody, etc.) and clinical trial safety info for a gene/target.

  • `get-associated-targets` `efo_id`: Find all target genes associated

with a specific disease EFO ID.

  • `get-associated-diseases` `ensembl_id`: Find all diseases associated

with a specific target Ensembl ID.

  • `search-disease` `query_string`: Search for a disease by name to find

its EFO ID and other metadata.

  • `get-credible-sets-near-target` `ensembl_id [--window N]`: Fetches

credible sets for a target and filters them to those within a genomic window around the target. Useful for finding variants "nearby" a gene.

  • `custom-query` `query [--variables '{}']`: Run a raw GraphQL query for

any other Open Targets data.

L2G Query Usage

The get-l2g command has two modes:

  • Variant only (get-l2g <variant_id>): Returns L2G predictions from

all credible sets across all studies where that variant is the lead variant. This can return a large number of results (e.g., hundreds). Use this when the user wants a broad view of which gene is most likely causal at a locus, or when no specific study is mentioned.

  • Variant + study (get-l2g <variant_id> --study-id <study_id>): Returns

L2G predictions only for credible sets from that specific study. Use this when the user asks about a specific GWAS study or when you need to narrow down the results.

Incomplete results warning: The variant-only mode can return hundreds of
credible sets. The default --page-size is 200, so if the API reports a
count higher than the number of rows returned, **you are seeing incomplete
results**. Always compare count to the actual number of rows. If they
differ, either increase --page-size or inform the user that only a subset
was retrieved.

Querying by Region

To find studies with variants "nearby" a gene, use get-credible-sets-near-target, which improves upon the base API by performing a flexible search based on genomic position: uv run scripts/query_opentargets.py --output /tmp/results.json get-credible-sets-near-target ENSG00000156515 --window 500000

Note that the Open Targets GraphQL schema includes a regions parameter for credibleSets, however it performs an exact match against pre-computed region strings (e.g., chr10:68769984-69903496) and there is some missing data. Use get-credible-sets-near-target as it allows a genomic range overlap search.

This fetches credible sets associated with the target and filters them in Python based on the variant's genomic position.

Advanced GraphQL Queries

If you need to query endpoints or fields not exposed by the built-in subcommands, use the custom-query subcommand.

Before writing a custom query: Read the reference documentation to understand the API schema, types, and see example queries. See references/OpenTargets_GraphQL_Guide.md for full schema details, endpoints, and examples.

Example: Finding drugs for a disease

uv run scripts/query_opentargets.py custom-query \
  query drugsForDisease($id: String!) {
    disease(efoId: $id) {
      name
      drugAndClinicalCandidates {
        count
        rows {
          maxClinicalStage
          drug {
            id
            name
          }
        }
      }
    }
  }' \
--variables '{"id": "EFO_1001006"}'
--output '/tmp/opentargets_result.json'

Confidence Star Ratings

The Open Targets Platform assigns a confidence level to each credible set based on the fine-mapping method and quality checks. These correspond to star ratings displayed in the platform UI:

StarsConfidence String (API value)
★★★★ (4 stars)SuSiE fine-mapped credible set with in-sample LD
★★★ (3 stars)SuSiE fine-mapped credible set with out-of-sample LD
★★ (2 stars)`PICS fine-mapped credible set extracted from summary

: : statistics : | ★ (1 star) | PICS fine-mapped credible set based on reported top hit | | None | Unknown confidence` |

When users ask about "N-star confidence", match their request to the corresponding string in the confidence field of the API response.

Tips and Common Mistakes

  • ID Formats:
  • Disease IDs must be in EFO format (e.g. EFO_0000685).
  • Target IDs must be Ensembl IDs (e.g. ENSG00000169083), not HGNC

symbols. If you only have a gene symbol, you may need to map it first using a custom GraphQL search query.

  • Variant IDs are formatted as chromosome_position_ref_alt (e.g.,

1_154426264_C_T). A chr prefix (e.g. chr1_154426264_C_T) is automatically stripped by the tool.

  • Study IDs can be GWAS Catalog IDs (e.g. GCST90204201) or

project-specific IDs (e.g. FINNGEN_R12_RX_CROHN_2NDLINE).

  • Truncation: The tool truncates arrays longer than --limit to protect

the context window. If you see "_truncated", you can run the query again with a higher limit if you specifically need more data, but be cautious with large limit values. Always use the --output flag to save the result to a file and avoid terminal output truncation.

  • Pagination and incomplete results: The --page-size option (default:

200) controls how many items are fetched from the API. Always check the `count` field in the response and compare it to the number of `rows` actually returned. If count > number of rows, you have incomplete data — either increase --page-size to fetch more, or inform the user that only a partial result set was returned. This is especially important for get-l2g without --study-id, which can return hundreds of credible sets.

Related skills

How it compares

Pick opentargets-database over generic GraphQL skills when queries target drug-discovery genetics and druggability rankings on Open Targets Platform.

FAQ

How does opentargets-database query the API?

opentargets-database uses scripts/query_opentargets.py to call the Open Targets GraphQL API, format results, and truncate large responses to preserve agent context window tokens.

What evidence does Open Targets aggregate?

The Open Targets Platform GraphQL API combines GWAS and eQTL genetics, pathways, animal models, and clinical trial data to rank target-disease associations and identify druggable genes.

What is the get-gwas-studies command for?

The query_opentargets.py get-gwas-studies subcommand fetches federated genetic evidence for a disease when passed an EFO identifier such as an efo_id.

Is Opentargets Database safe to install?

skills.sh reports 2 of 3 security scanners passed. Review the Security Audits panel on this page before installing in production.

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