Claude-skill-registry hic-normalization

Automatically detect and normalize Hi-C data. Only .cool or .mcool file is supported. All .mcool files are then checked for existing normalization (supports bins/weight only) and balanced if none of the normalizations exist.

install
source · Clone the upstream repo
git clone https://github.com/majiayu000/claude-skill-registry
Claude Code · Install into ~/.claude/skills/
T=$(mktemp -d) && git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/majiayu000/claude-skill-registry "$T" && mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills && cp -r "$T/skills/data/16-toolbased-hic-normalization" ~/.claude/skills/majiayu000-claude-skill-registry-hic-normalization && rm -rf "$T"
manifest: skills/data/16-toolbased-hic-normalization/SKILL.md
source content

Overview

This skill performs Hi-C data normalization on .mcool files.
Main steps include:

  • Refer to the Inputs & Outputs section to verify required files and output structure.
  • Check normalization status per resolution (supports bins/weight columns only).
  • If a resolution is not normalized, perform normalization with cooler balance (ICE) to create bins/weight.
  • Verify normalization and emit a concise report on the file, resolution, and normalization status.

When to use this skill

Use the hic-normalization pipeline when:

  • You need to ensure that Hi-C data is normalized for downstream analysis.
  • Your data comes in .cool or .mcool formats, and you want to check or refresh normalization status (ICE normalization).

This tool assumes the file already has correct genome assembly and chromosome names.


Inputs & Outputs

Inputs

  • Accepted file format: .mcool

Outputs

${sample}_hic_norm/
    ${sample}_norm.mcool
    normalization_report.txt  # A brief log/report indicating which resolutions were detected, normalized, or skipped.

Decision Tree

Step 0 — Gather Required Information from the User

Before calling any tool, ask the user:

  1. Sample name (
    sample
    ): used as prefix and for the output directory
    ${sample}_hic_norm
    .
  2. Genome assembly (
    genome
    ): e.g.
    hg38
    ,
    mm10
    ,
    danRer11
    .
    • Never guess or auto-detect.
  3. Hi-C matrix path (
    mcool_path
    ): e.g.
    .mcool
    file path or
    .hic
    file path.
    • path/to/sample.mcool
      (.mcool file without resolution specified)
    • or
      .hic
      file path

Step 1: Initialize Project

  1. Make director for this project:

Call:

  • mcp__project-init-tools__project_init

with:

  • sample
    : the user-provided sample name
  • task
    : hic_norm

The tool will:

  • Create
    ${sample}_hic_norm
    directory.
  • Get the full path of the
    ${sample}_hic_norm
    directory, which will be used as
    ${proj_dir}
    .

  1. If the user provides a
    .hic
    file, convert it to
    .mcool
    file first using
    mcp__HiCExplorer-tools__hic_to_mcool
    tool:

Call:

  • mcp__HiCExplorer-tools__hic_to_mcool

with:

  • input_hic
    : the user-provided path (e.g.
    input.hic
    )
  • sample
    : the user-provided sample name
  • proj_dir
    : directory to save the view file. In this skill, it is the full path of the
    ${sample}_hic_norm
    directory returned by
    mcp__project-init-tools__project_init
    .
  • resolutions
    : the user-provided resolutions (e.g.
    [50000]
    )

The tool will:

  • Convert the
    .hic
    file to
    .mcool
    file.
  • Return the path of the
    .mcool
    file.

If the conversion is successful, update

${mcool_uri}
to the path of the
.mcool
file. The
${mcool_path}
should be updated to the path of the
.mcool
file without resolution specified.


  1. Inspect the
    .mcool
    file to list available resolutions and confirm the analysis resolution with the user.

Call:

  • mcp__cooler-tools__list_mcool_resolutions

with:

  • mcool_path
    : the user-provided path (e.g.
    input.mcool
    ) or the path of the
    .mcool
    file returned by
    mcp__HiCExplorer-tools__hic_to_mcool

The tool will:

  • List all resolutions in the .mcool file.
  • Return the resolutions as a list.

Step 2: Check Normalization Status (per resolution) on .mcool and normlize if missing

Call:

  • mcp__cooler-tools__check_and_balance_mcool

with:

  • sample
    : the user-provided sample name
  • proj_dir
    : the full path to the project directory
  • mcool_path
    : the path to the .mcool file (e.g. input.mcool) without resolution specified.
  • balance_missing
    : if true, run
    cooler.balance_cooler
    on resolutions missing /bins/weight
  • store_name
    : the name of the weight column to write into bins (default: 'weight')
  • ignore_diags
    : the number of diagonals to ignore (
    ignore_diags
    in cooler.balance_cooler)
  • mad_max
    : the
    mad_max
    parameter for cooler.balance_cooler (default: cooler's own)
  • converge
    : the convergence tolerance, maps to
    tol
    in cooler.balance_cooler
  • max_iters
    : the
    max_iters
    parameter for cooler.balance_cooler
  • cis_only
    : if true, balance cis contacts only (
    cis_only=True
    )

The tool will:

  • Check the normalization status (per resolution) on the .mcool file.
  • If the normalization is missing, balance the .mcool file.
  • Return the path of the balanced .mcool file under
    ${proj_dir}/
    directory.

Notes & Troubleshooting

  • Normalization fails to converge: Increase iterations or adjust the convergence criteria (--max-iters, --converge)