chebi-skill — Codex skill: ChEBI lookup and installation
Query ChEBI 2.0 for chemical searches, compound records, ontology links, and structure metadata. Use it when an agent needs a concise ChEBI summary.
npx skills add openai/plugins --skill chebi-skill -a codexWhat chebi-skill does
The skill searches ChEBI by text, fetches a compound record by its identifier, and follows parent or child links in the ontology. It uses es_search/ for text lookup and compound/<CHEBI:id>/ for a targeted record. Structure metadata is also within scope. By default, the script’s JSON response is turned into a short Markdown summary.
Every ChEBI request goes through scripts/rest_request.py. The script reads a JSON object from stdin; base_url and path are required, and the service address is https://www.ebi.ac.uk. Ask for raw JSON when you need machine-readable output. The input format also supports saving a raw response with save_raw and raw_output_path.
The skill supports Codex and ChatGPT; the installation command below targets Codex. Requests run through the included script, so the skill relies on scripts/rest_request.py to contact ChEBI.
What it helps with
- find a chemical by a text query
- fetch a compound record by ChEBI identifier
- inspect child terms in the ontology
- trace parent terms for a compound
- retrieve chemical structure metadata
Example prompts for the agent
- Look up caffeine in ChEBI and summarize the result.
- Fetch the ChEBI record for
CHEBI:27732and give me its key details. - Show the ontology children of
CHEBI:27732.
How to install chebi-skill
1Skills CLI (Vercel)
npx skills add openai/plugins --skill chebi-skill -a codex2Manually: put the files in place
.agents/skills/chebi-skill/SKILL.mdFor all projects use ~/.agents/skills/
1Skills CLI (Vercel)
npx skills add openai/plugins --skill chebi-skill -a claude-code2Manually: put the files in place
~/.claude/skills/chebi-skill/SKILL.mdCopy the whole skill folder; for one project use .claude/skills/chebi-skill/
Manually: put the files in place
.cursor/skills/chebi-skill/SKILL.mdCursor also reads .agents/skills/ and .claude/skills/
1GitHub CLI
gh skill install openai/plugins chebi-skill2Manually: put the files in place
.github/skills/chebi-skill/SKILL.mdPlatform CLI
gemini skills install https://github.com/openai/plugins --path plugins/life-science-research/skills/chebi-skillManually: put the files in place
.devin/skills/chebi-skill/SKILL.mdThe legacy .windsurf/skills/ path still works
Claude.ai
Zip the folder and upload it in Settings → Capabilities → Skills
Step by step, with commands for each platform: Codex skills: how to install, where they live, how to call them
Questions about chebi-skill
How do I install chebi-skill in Codex?
Run npx skills add openai/plugins --skill chebi-skill -a codex.
What does chebi-skill do?
It queries ChEBI 2.0 for chemical searches, compound records, ontology relationships, and structure metadata. The default output is a concise Markdown summary.
How does chebi-skill send ChEBI requests?
It uses scripts/rest_request.py, which reads a JSON object from stdin. The object needs base_url and path, and requests use https://www.ebi.ac.uk.
