drchronx/ai-agent-research-starter-kit/checking-chembl
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Checking that the SKILL.md file is still in the repository.
Check if medicinal chemistry papers are in ChEMBL database to access curated bioactivity data
Install
npx vskill@latest install drchronx/ai-agent-research-starter-kit/checking-chemblSKILL.md
The same SKILL.md was published earlier as kthorn/research-superpower/checking-chembl.
Checking ChEMBL for Structured SAR Data
Overview
ChEMBL is a manually curated database of ~99,000 medicinal chemistry papers with extracted, standardized bioactivity data. If a paper is in ChEMBL, you can access structured data without parsing PDFs.
Core principle: Check ChEMBL first for medicinal chemistry papers. Curated data is more reliable than table parsing.
When to Use
Use this skill when:
- Paper describes medicinal chemistry / drug discovery
- Abstract mentions compound series, SAR, or activity data
- Paper has IC50, MIC, Ki, EC50, or other bioactivity measurements
- Before attempting to extract data from tables/figures
- Paper scored ≥ 7 in relevance evaluation
When NOT to use:
- Non-medicinal chemistry papers (cell biology, genomics, etc.)
- Papers without activity measurements
- Reviews without primary data
- Very recent papers (< 6 months, likely not curated yet)
ChEMBL API Basics
Base URL: https://www.ebi.ac.uk/chembl/api/data/
No authentication required
CRITICAL: ChEMBL can ONLY be queried by DOI, NOT by PMID
- The API returns PMID in results, but does not accept it as a query parameter
- Always use DOI for lookups:
?doi=10.1234/example - PMID queries will return 0 results even if paper exists in ChEMBL
Two-step process:
- Check if paper (by DOI) is in ChEMBL
- If yes, retrieve bioactivity data
Step 1: Check if Paper in ChEMBL
Query by DOI (ONLY method that works):
⚠️ IMPORTANT: Must use DOI, not PMID
If you only have PMID: Fetch DOI from PubMed first, then query ChEMBL with the DOI.
Response structure:
Key fields:
document_chembl_id- Use this to retrieve activity datadoc_type- "PUBLICATION" (from literature) or "DATASET" (deposited)pubmed_id- PMID is in the response, but cannot be used to query ChEMBL- If
total_count= 0, paper not in ChEMBL
Parse response:
Step 2: Get Activity Data Count
Query activity endpoint:
Extract total count:
Step 3: Report to User and Update Summary
Report immediately:
Add to SUMMARY.md:
Always include ChEMBL status:
- If found: Add ChEMBL ID with link and data point count
- If not found: Note "Not in ChEMBL" (still valuable information)
Step 4: Update Tracking Files
Add to papers-reviewed.json:
Optional: Extract Structured Data
For papers with rich ChEMBL data (>20 activities), consider extracting:
Report to user:
Integration with Other Skills
During evaluating-paper-relevance workflow:
- After abstract screening (score ≥7)
- Before deep dive into full text
- Check ChEMBL using this skill
- If found:
- Note ChEMBL ID in SUMMARY.md
- Extract activity data (faster than PDF parsing)
- Still fetch full text for methods, discussion, context
- If not found:
- Proceed with normal PDF evaluation
- Parse tables manually if needed
Workflow integration point:
Common Activity Types in ChEMBL
| Type | Description | Units | |
|---|---|---|---|
| IC50 | Half-maximal inhibitory concentration | nM, µM | |
| MIC | Minimum inhibitory concentration | µg/mL, nM | |
| Ki | Inhibition constant | nM, µM | |
| EC50 | Half-maximal effective concentration | nM, µM | |
| Kd | Dissociation constant | nM, µM | |
| Potency | General potency measurement | Various |
Filter by activity type:
ChEMBL Coverage
~99,000 documents (as of 2025)
Well represented:
- Medicinal chemistry papers
- SAR studies with compound series
- Lead optimization campaigns
- Papers in major journals (J Med Chem, Bioorg Med Chem, Eur J Med Chem, etc.)
Poorly represented:
- Very recent papers (6-12 month curation lag)
- Papers without extractable structures/activities
- Non-drug-discovery research
- Purely mechanistic studies
Typical hit rate:
- ~30-40% of medicinal chemistry papers
- Higher for SAR-focused journals
Advantages of ChEMBL Data
vs. PDF table parsing:
- ✓ Structures already extracted (SMILES format)
- ✓ Units standardized (all IC50s in nM)
- ✓ Values validated and curated
- ✓ Machine-readable JSON
- ✓ No OCR errors
- ✓ Linked to assay protocols
- ✓ Queryable (filter by activity range, target, etc.)
When to still use PDF:
- Full experimental procedures
- Synthesis routes
- Papers not in ChEMBL
- Very recent papers
- Context and interpretation
Progress Reporting
CRITICAL: Report ChEMBL check for every relevant paper
Example workflow report:
For papers not in ChEMBL:
Helper Script Pattern
For research sessions with many medicinal chemistry papers:
Create `check_chembl.py`:
Usage:
Common Mistakes
Querying by PMID: Using PMID instead of DOI → Always returns 0 results, ChEMBL only accepts DOI queries Skipping ChEMBL check: Not checking medicinal chemistry papers → Missing structured data that's already extracted Checking non-medchem papers: Checking genomics/cell biology papers → Wasting time, won't be in ChEMBL Not reporting status: Silent ChEMBL checks → User can't see what's happening Not adding to SUMMARY.md: Forgetting to include ChEMBL ID → Harder for user to access data later Only using ChEMBL: Not fetching full text when paper in ChEMBL → Missing context, methods, discussion Parsing PDFs when in ChEMBL: Manually extracting tables when structured data available → Wasting time and introducing errors
Quick Reference
| Task | Command | |
|---|---|---|
| Check if DOI in ChEMBL | curl "https://www.ebi.ac.uk/chembl/api/data/document.json?doi=DOI" | |
| Get activity count | curl "https://www.ebi.ac.uk/chembl/api/data/activity.json?document_chembl_id=ID&limit=1" | |
| Get all activities | curl "https://www.ebi.ac.uk/chembl/api/data/activity.json?document_chembl_id=ID&limit=1000" | |
| Filter by activity type | curl "...activity.json?document_chembl_id=ID&standard_type=MIC" | |
| ChEMBL paper page | https://www.ebi.ac.uk/chembl/document_report_card/CHEMBL_ID/ |
Permissions
Add to .claude/settings.local.json.template:
Success Criteria
ChEMBL check successful when:
- Every medicinal chemistry paper (score ≥7) checked
- ChEMBL status reported to user immediately
- ChEMBL ID added to SUMMARY.md (if found)
- Activity count noted in summary
- papers-reviewed.json updated with ChEMBL status
Next Steps
This is the start of the file. Read the full SKILL.md on GitHub.
Security
- Security scanPassed, 100 of 100Pattern checks on the skill's files.
- Model reviewNot runA model review is scheduled for the next rescan.
Quality evaluation
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Source
- SKILL.md in the repositoryChecking综合学术部署包/02_文献检索综述引用Skills/research-superpower/research/checking-chembl/SKILL.md
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