Agentic Tools
Tools and infrastructure for reliable AI-assisted ontology, schema, and knowledge-base curation workflows. These components form the building blocks of an agent harness — the control plane that makes AI-assisted curation reproducible and reviewable.
For a guide on how these tools fit together, see Build your agentic harness.
Validators
linkml-reference-validator
Validates whether supporting text in structured records is actually present in cited references, helping enforce evidence-backed curation.
- When to use: After an agent generates structured annotations with literature citations — catch hallucinated or misattributed evidence before review.
- Install:
pip install linkml-reference-validator - GitHub | Docs | PyPI
linkml-term-validator
Checks LinkML schemas and datasets for correct use of external ontologies and controlled terms, improving consistency for agent-generated outputs.
- When to use: When agents generate data that references ontology terms — ensures terms exist and are used correctly.
- Install:
pip install linkml-term-validator - GitHub | Docs | PyPI
Provenance
ai-blame
Extracts provenance and audit trails from agent execution traces, enabling line-level attribution and post-hoc review for AI-assisted edits.
- When to use: After AI-assisted editing sessions — understand which changes an agent made, when, and in what context.
- Install:
pip install ai-blame - GitHub | Docs | PyPI
Agent Skills
curation-skills
Reusable skill packs for ontology and biocuration tasks, designed to make agent behavior more consistent, transparent, and domain-aware.
- When to use: When configuring agents for curation work — provide structured, domain-specific instructions instead of ad-hoc prompts.
- GitHub | Skills Article
MCP Servers
noctua-mcp
MCP server wrapping GO-CAM editing capabilities, enabling agentic interaction with Noctua/Barista workflows through a standardized interface.
- When to use: When agents need to create or edit GO-CAM models — provides structured access to the Noctua API.
- Install:
pip install noctua-mcp - GitHub | PyPI | noctua-py
oak-mcp
MCP server for ontology operations via the Ontology Access Kit (OAK), enabling agents to search, query, and traverse ontologies programmatically.
- When to use: When agents need to look up ontology terms, traverse hierarchies, or perform ontology operations during curation tasks.
- GitHub
System Instructions
CLAUDE.md / .goosehints
Configuration files checked into the root of your repository that provide system-level instructions to AI agents. These serve as prompt preset management — different repositories can have different instructions tailored to their domain and workflows.
- When to use: Always. Every repository that uses AI agents should have system instructions.
- See Instruct the GitHub agent
- Examples: CLAUDE.md in Mondo, CLAUDE.md in Uberon
Further Reading
- Build your agentic harness — how these tools compose into a harness
- Browse agentic tooling on GitHub
- ai4curation GitHub org