Remove sequencing adapters from FASTQ files using Cutadapt and Trimmomatic. Supports single-end and paired-end reads, Illumina TruSeq, Nextera, and custom adapter sequences. Use when FastQC shows adapter contamination or before alignment of short reads.
npx skills add https://github.com/BioTender-max/awesome-bio-agent-skills --skill bio-read-qc-adapter-trimming
Reference examples tested with: FastQC 0.12+, Trimmomatic 0.39+, cutadapt 4.4+, fastp 0.23+
Before using code patterns, verify installed versions match. If versions differ:
<tool> --version then <tool> --help to confirm flagsIf code throws ImportError, AttributeError, or TypeError, introspect the installed
package and adapt the example to match the actual API rather than retrying.
Remove sequencing adapters from reads using Cutadapt (precise, flexible) or Trimmomatic (paired-end optimized).
"Trim adapters from reads" → Remove sequencing adapter sequences from FASTQ reads to prevent adapter contamination in downstream alignment.
cutadapt -a ADAPTER -o out.fq in.fq or trimmomatic PE with ILLUMINACLIPfastp -i in.fq -o out.fq (auto-detects adapters)| Platform/Kit | Adapter | Sequence |
|--------------|---------|----------|
| Illumina TruSeq | Read 1 3' | AGATCGGAAGAGCACACGTCTGAACTCCAGTCA |
| Illumina TruSeq | Read 2 3' | AGATCGGAAGAGCGTCGTGTAGGGAAAGAGTGT |
| Nextera | Transposase | CTGTCTCTTATACACATCT |
| Small RNA | 3' adapter | TGGAATTCTCGGGTGCCAAGG |
| Poly-A | Poly-A tail | AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA |
# 3' adapter (most common)
cutadapt -a AGATCGGAAGAGC -o trimmed.fastq.gz sample.fastq.gz
# 5' adapter
cutadapt -g ACGTACGT -o trimmed.fastq.gz sample.fastq.gz
# Both ends
cutadapt -a ADAPTER1 -g ADAPTER2 -o trimmed.fastq.gz sample.fastq.gz
# Multiple adapters (tries each)
cutadapt -a ADAPTER1 -a ADAPTER2 -a ADAPTER3 -o trimmed.fastq.gz sample.fastq.gz
# Basic paired-end
cutadapt -a AGATCGGAAGAGCACACGTCTGAACTCCAGTCA \
-A AGATCGGAAGAGCGTCGTGTAGGGAAAGAGTGT \
-o trimmed_R1.fastq.gz -p trimmed_R2.fastq.gz \
sample_R1.fastq.gz sample_R2.fastq.gz
# Short form for Illumina TruSeq (auto-detect)
cutadapt -a AGATCGGAAGAGC -A AGATCGGAAGAGC \
-o trimmed_R1.fastq.gz -p trimmed_R2.fastq.gz \
sample_R1.fastq.gz sample_R2.fastq.gz
# Error rate (default 0.1 = 10% mismatches allowed)
cutadapt -a ADAPTER -e 0.15 -o out.fq in.fq
# Minimum overlap (default 3)
cutadapt -a ADAPTER -O 5 -o out.fq in.fq
# No indels in adapter alignment
cutadapt -a ADAPTER --no-indels -o out.fq in.fq
# Trim Ns from ends
cutadapt --trim-n -o out.fq in.fq
# Anchored adapters (must be at end)
cutadapt -a ADAPTER$ -o out.fq in.fq
# 5' adapter followed by 3' adapter (same read)
cutadapt -a ADAPTER1...ADAPTER2 -o out.fq in.fq
# Anchored 5' linked to 3'
cutadapt -a ^ADAPTER1...ADAPTER2 -o out.fq in.fq
# Minimum length (discard shorter)
cutadapt -a ADAPTER -m 20 -o out.fq in.fq
# Maximum length
cutadapt -a ADAPTER -M 150 -o out.fq in.fq
# Maximum N content
cutadapt -a ADAPTER --max-n 0.1 -o out.fq in.fq
# Discard trimmed reads
cutadapt -a ADAPTER --discard-trimmed -o out.fq in.fq
# Discard untrimmed reads
cutadapt -a ADAPTER --discard-untrimmed -o out.fq in.fq
# Both reads must pass minimum length
cutadapt -a ADAPT1 -A ADAPT2 -m 20 \
-o R1.fq -p R2.fq in_R1.fq in_R2.fq
# Output too-short reads separately
cutadapt -a ADAPT1 -A ADAPT2 -m 20 \
--too-short-output short_R1.fq --too-short-paired-output short_R2.fq \
-o R1.fq -p R2.fq in_R1.fq in_R2.fq
# Mask adapter instead of trim (replace with N)
cutadapt -a ADAPTER --action=mask -o out.fq in.fq
# Retain adapter but lowercase
cutadapt -a ADAPTER --action=lowercase -o out.fq in.fq
# Just find adapters, don't modify
cutadapt -a ADAPTER --action=none -o out.fq in.fq
trimmomatic SE -phred33 \
input.fastq.gz output.fastq.gz \
ILLUMINACLIP:adapters.fa:2:30:10
trimmomatic PE -phred33 -threads 4 \
input_R1.fastq.gz input_R2.fastq.gz \
output_R1_paired.fastq.gz output_R1_unpaired.fastq.gz \
output_R2_paired.fastq.gz output_R2_unpaired.fastq.gz \
ILLUMINACLIP:TruSeq3-PE-2.fa:2:30:10
ILLUMINACLIP:<fastaWithAdapters>:<seed>:<palindrome>:<simple>
# Parameters:
# seed - max mismatches in 16bp seed (usually 2)
# palindrome - threshold for palindrome match (usually 30)
# simple - threshold for simple match (usually 10)
# Example with all options
ILLUMINACLIP:adapters.fa:2:30:10:2:keepBothReads
Trimmomatic includes adapter files:
TruSeq2-SE.fa - TruSeq v2 single-endTruSeq2-PE.fa - TruSeq v2 paired-endTruSeq3-SE.fa - TruSeq v3 single-endTruSeq3-PE.fa - TruSeq v3 paired-endTruSeq3-PE-2.fa - TruSeq v3 PE (palindrome mode)NexteraPE-PE.fa - Nextera paired-end# Find adapter directory
TRIMMOMATIC_JAR=$(which trimmomatic | xargs dirname)/../share/trimmomatic-*/adapters/
# Or with conda
ls $CONDA_PREFIX/share/trimmomatic-*/adapters/
# Cutadapt with multiple cores
cutadapt -j 8 -a ADAPTER -o out.fq in.fq
# Trimmomatic threads
trimmomatic PE -threads 8 ...
# Check adapter removal with FastQC
fastqc trimmed.fastq.gz
# Count reads before/after
zcat input.fastq.gz | wc -l
zcat trimmed.fastq.gz | wc -l
Use when you have a written implementation plan to execute in a separate session with review checkpoints
Integration with protocols.io API for managing scientific protocols. This skill should be used when working with protocols.io to search, create, update, or publish protocols; manage protocol steps and materials; handle discussions and comments; organize workspaces; upload and manage files; or integrate protocols.io functionality into workflows. Applicable for protocol discovery, collaborative protocol development, experiment tracking, lab protocol management, and scientific documentation.
Analyzes job descriptions and generates tailored resumes that highlight relevant experience, skills, and achievements to maximize interview chances
Generate Excalidraw diagrams from natural language descriptions. Use when asked to "create a diagram", "make a flowchart", "visualize a process", "draw a system architecture", "create a mind map", or "generate an Excalidraw file". Supports flowcharts, relationship diagrams, mind maps, and system architecture diagrams. Outputs .excalidraw JSON files that can be opened directly in Excalidraw.
Build and distribute Expo development clients locally or via TestFlight
Data structure for annotated matrices in single-cell analysis. Use when working with .h5ad files or integrating with the scverse ecosystem. This is the data format skill—for analysis workflows use scanpy; for probabilistic models use scvi-tools; for population-scale queries use cellxgene-census.
Benchling R&D platform integration. Access registry (DNA, proteins), inventory, ELN entries, workflows via API, build Benchling Apps, query Data Warehouse, for lab data management automation.
Comprehensive molecular biology toolkit. Use for sequence manipulation, file parsing (FASTA/GenBank/PDB), phylogenetics, and programmatic NCBI/PubMed access (Bio.Entrez). Best for batch processing, custom bioinformatics pipelines, BLAST automation. For quick lookups use gget; for multi-service integration use bioservices.
Take biotender-max/bio-read-qc-adapter-trimming from the repository into ~/.claude/skills for personal
use, or into .claude/skills inside a project.
The agent identifies a skill by the name field in its header. Two skills with the
same name cannot sit side by side — one of them will be ignored.