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Run sequence similarity searches via the NCBI BLAST REST API
Passed 18 of 18 test cases with the skill, and 11 of 18 without it.
and 8 more in the full report
8 fixed14 passed either way0 still failing0 broke
Tokens, turns and time describe resource use, not a dollar price.
One of 4 test cases the skill fixed. Same model, same prompt, with and without the skill.
What parameter name sets the initial seed match word size for NCBI BLAST API searches, and what are the standard default values for blastn and blastp searches?
| Checked | Without skill | With skill |
|---|---|---|
| identifies WORD_SIZE as the parameter name | Passed | Passed |
| states 11 as the default word size for blastn | Passed | Passed |
| states 6 as the default word size for blastp | Missed | Passed |
The instructions your model reads when the skill loads.
BLAST (Basic Local Alignment Search Tool) is the most widely used bioinformatics tool, comparing nucleotide or protein sequences against databases to find regions of similarity. The NCBI BLAST REST API enables programmatic submission of searches, status polling, and result retrieval. Free, no authentication required (but rate-limited).
BLAST searches are asynchronous: submit → poll → retrieve.
# Nucleotide BLAST (blastn)
curl -X POST "https://blast.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/blast/Blast.cgi" \
-d "CMD=Put&PROGRAM=blastn&DATABASE=nt&QUERY=ATGCGATCGATCG..."
# Protein BLAST (blastp)
curl -X POST "https://blast.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/blast/Blast.cgi" \
-d "CMD=Put&PROGRAM=blastp&DATABASE=nr&QUERY=MKTLLLTLVVVTIVCL..."
# BLAST with specific parameters
curl -X POST "https://blast.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/blast/Blast.cgi" \
-d "CMD=Put&PROGRAM=blastn&DATABASE=nt&QUERY=SEQUENCE&\
EXPECT=0.001&WORD_SIZE=11&HITLIST_SIZE=50"
# Poll for completion (returns XML with Status field)
curl "https://blast.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/blast/Blast.cgi?CMD=Get&FORMAT_OBJECT=SearchInfo&RID=YOUR_RID"
# Get results in XML
curl "https://blast.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/blast/Blast.cgi?CMD=Get&FORMAT_TYPE=XML&RID=YOUR_RID"
test cases passed, vs 11 / 18 without
More skills from the same source and nearby in the registry, with their headline benchmark lift.