Pipeline schema

nf-core pipelines have a nextflow_schema.json file in their root which describes the different parameters used by the workflow. These files allow automated validation of inputs when running the pipeline, are used to generate command line help and can be used to build interfaces to launch pipelines. Pipeline schema files are built according to the JSONSchema specification (Draft 7).

To help developers working with pipeline schema, nf-core tools has three schema sub-commands:

• nf-core schema validate
• nf-core schema build
• nf-core schema docs
• nf-core schema lint

Validate pipeline parameters

Nextflow can take input parameters in a JSON or YAML file when running a pipeline using the -params-file option. This command validates such a file against the pipeline schema.

Usage is nf-core schema validate <pipeline> <parameter file>. eg with the pipeline downloaded above, you can run:

The pipeline option can be a directory containing a pipeline, a path to a schema file or the name of an nf-core pipeline (which will be downloaded using nextflow pull).

Build a pipeline schema

Manually building JSONSchema documents is not trivial and can be very error prone. Instead, the nf-core schema build command collects your pipeline parameters and gives interactive prompts about any missing or unexpected params. If no existing schema is found it will create one for you.

Once built, the tool can send the schema to the nf-core website so that you can use a graphical interface to organise and fill in the schema. The tool checks the status of your schema on the website and once complete, saves your changes locally.

Usage is nf-core schema build -d <pipeline_directory>, eg:

There are four flags that you can use with this command:

• --dir <pipeline_dir>: Specify a pipeline directory other than the current working directory
• --no-prompts: Make changes without prompting for confirmation each time. Does not launch web tool.
• --web-only: Skips comparison of the schema against the pipeline parameters and only launches the web tool.
• --url <web_address>: Supply a custom URL for the online tool. Useful when testing locally.

Display the documentation for a pipeline schema

To get an impression about the current pipeline schema you can display the content of the nextflow_schema.json with nf-core schema docs <pipeline-schema>. This will print the content of your schema in Markdown format to the standard output.

There are four flags that you can use with this command:

• --output <filename>: Output filename. Defaults to standard out.
• --format [markdown|html]: Format to output docs in.
• --force: Overwrite existing files
• --columns <columns_list>: CSV list of columns to include in the parameter tables

Add new parameters to the pipeline schema

If you want to add a parameter to the schema, you first have to add the parameter and its default value to the nextflow.config file with the params scope. Afterwards, you run the command nf-core schema build to add the parameters to your schema and open the graphical interface to easily modify the schema.

The graphical interface is oganzised in groups and within the groups the single parameters are stored. For a better overview you can collapse all groups with the Collapse groups button, then your new parameters will be the only remaining one at the bottom of the page. Now you can either create a new group with the Add group button or drag and drop the paramters in an existing group. Therefor the group has to be expanded. The group title will be displayed, if you run your pipeline with the --help flag and its description apears on the parameter page of your pipeline.

Now you can start to change the parameter itself. The ID of a new parameter should be defined in small letters without whitespaces. The description is a short free text explanation about the parameter, that appears if you run your pipeline with the --help flag. By clicking on the dictionary icon you can add a longer explanation for the parameter page of your pipeline. Usually, they contain a small paragraph about the parameter settings or a used datasource, like databases or references. If you want to specify some conditions for your parameter, like the file extension, you can use the nut icon to open the settings. This menu depends on the type you assigned to your parameter. For integers you can define a min and max value, and for strings the file extension can be specified.

The type field is one of the most important points in your pipeline schema, since it defines the datatype of your input and how it will be interpreted. This allows extensive testing prior to starting the pipeline.

The basic datatypes for a pipeline schema are:

• string
• number
• integer
• boolean

For the string type you have three different options in the settings (nut icon): enumerated values, pattern and format. The first option, enumerated values, allows you to specify a list of specific input values. The list has to be separated with a pipe. The pattern and format settings can depend on each other. The format has to be either a directory or a file path. Depending on the format setting selected, specifying the pattern setting can be the most efficient and time saving option, especially for file paths. The number and integer types share the same settings. Similarly to string, there is an enumerated values option with the possibility of specifying a min and max value. For the boolean there is no further settings and the default value is usually false. The boolean value can be switched to true by adding the flag to the command. This parameter type is often used to skip specific sections of a pipeline.

After filling the schema, click on the Finished button in the top right corner, this will automatically update your nextflow_schema.json. If this is not working, the schema can be copied from the graphical interface and pasted in your nextflow_schema.json file.

Update existing pipeline schema

It’s important to change the default value of a parameter in the nextflow.config file first and then in the pipeline schema, because the value in the config file overwrites the value in the pipeline schema. To change any other parameter use nf-core schema build --web-only to open the graphical interface without rebuilding the pipeline schema. Now, the parameters can be changed as mentioned above but keep in mind that changing the parameter datatype depends on the default value specified in the nextflow.config file.

Linting a pipeline schema

The pipeline schema is linted as part of the main pipeline nf-core lint command, however sometimes it can be useful to quickly check the syntax of the JSONSchema without running a full lint run.

Usage is nf-core schema lint <schema> (defaulting to nextflow_schema.json), eg: