Sdrf:contribute

SDRF Contribution Workflow

You are helping the user contribute an annotated SDRF file back to the community repository (bigbio/sdrf-annotated-datasets). This is the final step after annotation, validation, and review — closing the loop from "I annotated a dataset" to "the community can reuse it."

Step 1: Check Prerequisites

1.1 Verify the PXD accession

• A ProteomeXchange accession (PXD######) must be provided
• If not provided, ask the user for it

1.2 Verify the SDRF content

• The SDRF must be available as a file on disk or from a previous annotation step
• If the user just finished /sdrf:annotate, the content is in the conversation
• Ask the user to confirm the file path or provide the content

1.3 Check if this is a new annotation or an update

Check if the PXD already exists in the community repository (bigbio/sdrf-annotated-datasets):

Look for: datasets/{PXD}/{PXD}.sdrf.tsv

You can check via the GitHub API without cloning:

gh api repos/bigbio/sdrf-annotated-datasets/contents/datasets/{PXD} \
  --silent && echo "exists" || echo "new"

• New annotation: The PXD folder does not exist → this is a new contribution
• Update: The PXD folder already exists → this updates an existing annotation
• Report which case it is to the user

Step 2: Validate Before Contributing

Before contributing, the SDRF must pass validation:

1. Suggest programmatic validation:

``bash pip install sdrf-pipelines parse_sdrf validate-sdrf --sdrf_file {PXD}.sdrf.tsv ``

1. Optionally run /sdrf:validate for a thorough check including ontology verification

1. Check file structure:

• All rows have the same number of columns (no ragged rows)
• No trailing whitespace in column names or values
• File is valid TSV (tab-delimited)
• File extension is .sdrf.tsv

Do NOT proceed to contribution if there are validation errors. Warnings are acceptable — mention them but allow the user to proceed.

Step 3: Prepare the File

3.1 File naming convention

The community repository (bigbio/sdrf-annotated-datasets) uses this structure:

datasets/
└── {PXD}/
    └── {PXD}.sdrf.tsv

For datasets with multiple sub-experiments:

datasets/
└── {PXD}/
    ├── {PXD}-celllines.sdrf.tsv
    └── {PXD}-tissues.sdrf.tsv

3.2 Save the file

Save the SDRF content to the correct path:

{PXD}/{PXD}.sdrf.tsv

Ensure the file:

• Uses tab delimiters (not spaces or commas)
• Has a single trailing newline at the end
• Has no BOM (byte order mark)
• Uses Unix line endings (LF, not CRLF)

Step 4: Contribute

Ask the user which mode they prefer:

Mode A — Automated (recommended if gh CLI is available)

Execute the full contribution flow:

# 1. Fork the repository (if not already forked)
gh repo fork bigbio/sdrf-annotated-datasets --clone=false

# 2. Clone the user's fork
gh repo clone {username}/sdrf-annotated-datasets /tmp/sdrf-annotated-datasets
cd /tmp/sdrf-annotated-datasets

# 3. Create a branch
git checkout -b annotation/{PXD}

# 4. Create the directory and copy the file
mkdir -p datasets/{PXD}
cp {source_path}/{PXD}.sdrf.tsv datasets/{PXD}/

# 5. Commit
git add datasets/{PXD}/
git commit -m "Add SDRF annotation for {PXD}"

# 6. Push
git push -u origin annotation/{PXD}

# 7. Create the PR
gh pr create \
  --repo bigbio/sdrf-annotated-datasets \
  --title "Add SDRF annotation for {PXD}" \
  --body "$(cat <<'EOF'
## Add SDRF annotation for {PXD}

**Dataset**: [{PXD}](https://www.ebi.ac.uk/pride/archive/projects/{PXD})
**Organism**: {organism}
**Templates**: {template_list}
**Rows**: {row_count} | **Columns**: {col_count}
**Factor values**: {factor_description}

### Validation
- [x] Validated with `sdrf-pipelines validate-sdrf`
- [x] Ontology terms verified via OLS

### Annotation source
Annotated using [sdrf-skills](https://github.com/bigbio/sdrf-skills).
EOF
)"

Before executing, present the full plan to the user and ask for confirmation. Fill in the template variables from the SDRF content:

• {organism}: from characteristics[organism] unique values
• {template_list}: from comment[sdrf template] columns
• {row_count}: number of data rows (excluding header)
• {col_count}: number of columns
• {factor_description}: from factor value[...] column names and unique values

Mode B — Guided (show commands for the user to run)

Present the same sequence of commands as Mode A, but as a copyable code block with all variables already filled in. The user copies and executes them.

Preface with:

Here are the commands to contribute your SDRF annotation to the community repository.
Copy and run them in your terminal:

For updates to existing annotations

If the PXD already exists, adjust:

• PR title: Update SDRF annotation for {PXD}
• Commit message: Update SDRF annotation for {PXD}
• PR body: add a "Changes" section explaining what was updated
• Branch name: annotation/{PXD}-update

Step 5: Post-Contribution

After the PR is created:

1. Show the PR URL so the user can track it
2. Explain the review process:

• Community reviewers will check the annotation for correctness
• Automated CI will run sdrf-pipelines validate-sdrf on the PR
• Reviewers may request changes (more specific ontology terms, missing columns, etc.)
• Once approved, the annotation is merged and available to the community

1. Thank the user for contributing to the community annotation effort
2. Mention impact: The annotation will be available in PRIDE's SDRF Explorer and

usable by analysis pipelines (quantms, sdrf-pipelines) for automated reprocessing

Important Rules

• NEVER create a PR without user confirmation
• NEVER skip validation before contributing
• NEVER modify the SDRF content during the contribution step (that's what /sdrf:fix and /sdrf:improve are for)
• If the user doesn't have gh CLI installed, always fall back to Mode B (guided commands)
• If the user doesn't have a GitHub account, explain that one is needed and point to https://github.com/signup
• For non-PXD accessions (MSV, PMID), the same workflow applies — just use the accession as the folder name

Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: bigbio
• Source: bigbio/sdrf-skills
• License: MIT
• Homepage: https://sdrf.quantms.org

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.