Install in seconds
Install this skill
Copy the command and run it in your terminal. You can review the source before installing.
terminal
git clone https://github.com/anthropics/knowledge-work-plugins

Works with Git. The repository opens in your current directory.

🔬
AI EngineeringPython

Bio-Research Start

by anthropics

Set up your bio-research environment and explore available tools. Use when first getting oriented, checking which MCP servers are connected, or surveying available analysis skills before starting a new project.

23.1K stars2.8K forksAdded 2026/07/19

Documentation

README

Bio-Research Start

If you see unfamiliar placeholders or need to check which tools are connected, see CONNECTORS.md.

You are helping a biological researcher get oriented with the bio-research plugin. Walk through the following steps in order.

Step 1: Welcome

Display this welcome message:

Bio-Research Plugin

Your AI-powered research assistant for the life sciences. This plugin brings
together literature search, data analysis pipelines,
and scientific strategy — all in one place.

Step 2: Check Available MCP Servers

Test which MCP servers are connected by listing available tools. Group the results:

Literature & Data Sources:

  • ~~literature database — biomedical literature search
  • ~~literature database — preprint access (biology and medicine)
  • ~~journal access — academic publications
  • ~~data repository — collaborative research data (Sage Bionetworks)

Drug Discovery & Clinical:

  • ~~chemical database — bioactive compound database
  • ~~drug target database — drug target discovery platform
  • ClinicalTrials.gov — clinical trial registry
  • ~~clinical data platform — clinical trial site ranking and platform help

Visualization & AI:

  • ~~scientific illustration — create scientific figures and diagrams
  • ~~AI research platform — AI for biology (histopathology, drug discovery)

Report which servers are connected and which are not yet set up.

Step 3: Survey Available Skills

List the analysis skills available in this plugin:

Skill What It Does
Single-Cell RNA QC Quality control for scRNA-seq data with MAD-based filtering
scvi-tools Deep learning for single-cell omics (scVI, scANVI, totalVI, PeakVI, etc.)
Nextflow Pipelines Run nf-core pipelines (RNA-seq, WGS/WES, ATAC-seq)
Instrument Data Converter Convert lab instrument output to Allotrope ASM format
Scientific Problem Selection Systematic framework for choosing research problems

Step 4: Optional Setup — Binary MCP Servers

Mention that two additional MCP servers are available as separate installations:

These require downloading binary files and are optional.

Step 5: Ask How to Help

Ask the researcher what they're working on today. Suggest starting points based on common workflows:

  1. Literature review — "Search ~~literature database for recent papers on [topic]"
  2. Analyze sequencing data — "Run QC on my single-cell data" or "Set up an RNA-seq pipeline"
  3. Drug discovery — "Search ~~chemical database for compounds targeting [protein]" or "Find drug targets for [disease]"
  4. Data standardization — "Convert my instrument data to Allotrope format"
  5. Research strategy — "Help me evaluate a new project idea"

Wait for the user's response and guide them to the appropriate tools and skills.

More from anthropics

Other Claude Code skills by this author in the directory.

🧬
1w ago

Single-Cell RNA-seq QC

Performs quality control on single-cell RNA-seq data using scverse best practices with MAD-based filtering and comprehensive visualizations. Use for QC analysis, filtering low-quality cells, or following scanpy best practices.
Data
+0%23.1K2.8K
🛠️
1w ago

Cowork Plugin Customizer

Adapt a Claude Code plugin to fit your organization's tools and workflows by replacing placeholders or modifying configurations. Use when setting up or tweaking a plugin for your team.
AI Engineering
+0%23.1K2.8K
🧩
1w ago

Create Cowork Plugin

A guided workflow for creating Claude Cowork plugins from discovery to packaging. Helps users plan components, implement skills and agents, and deliver a ready-to-install .plugin file.
AI Engineering
+0%23.1K2.8K
🚨
1w ago

Customer Escalation

Packages support issues into structured escalation briefs, gathering context and assessing business impact. Use when issues require engineering or leadership attention beyond normal support.
Automation
+0%23.1K2.8K
🔍
1w ago

Customer Research

Conducts multi-source research on customer questions or topics, synthesizing findings with clear source attribution and confidence scoring. Use when investigating issues, checking account history, or gathering background before drafting a response.
Automation
+0%23.1K2.8K
📝
1w ago

Draft Response

Draft a professional customer-facing response tailored to the situation and relationship. Use when answering a product question, responding to an escalation or outage, delivering bad news like a delay or won't-fix, declining a feature request, or replying to a billing issue.
Writing
+0%23.1K2.8K