ROBOT OBO Tool
Command reference for ROBOT, the standard OBO-ontology CLI: reasoning, TSV-to-OWL templates, QC, format conversion.
Test report
- Verdict
- Tested · Works
- Score
- Tested
- Jul 15, 2026
- Environment
- Claude Code 2.x (agent harness)
- Upstream re-checked
- Aug 10, 2026 · 421042d
Installed real Java + downloaded the actual ROBOT jar from ontodev/robot and ran it live: a naive template TSV (no skill guidance) failed immediately with UNKNOWN TEMPLATE ERROR, while the skill's documented 3-row template format (headers / template-strings like 'SC %' and 'A rdfs:comment' / data) produced valid OWL that then converted cleanly to OBO with the exact documented command.
Scored on four weighted criteria — install, triggering, output vs. baseline, docs. How scoring works
- Installs cleanly 5/5
- Triggers reliably 5/5
- Output vs. baseline 9/10
- Docs & honesty 5/5
What ROBOT OBO Tool does
A reference guide (SKILL.md + 8 docs/ deep-dive files) for ROBOT, the Java CLI used by nearly every OBO Foundry ontology build pipeline, covering reasoning (ELK/HermiT), template-based term generation from TSV/CSV, quality-control reports, format conversion, module extraction, SPARQL queries, and command chaining. Triggers when the user is working with OWL/OBO ontology files and needs an automated build/QC/conversion step.
How to install ROBOT OBO Tool
git clone https://github.com/ai4curation/curation-skills
cd curation-skills
mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills
cp -r robot-obo-tool ~/.claude/skills/robot-obo-tool
Skills live in ~/.claude/skills/ (global) or .claude/skills/
(per-project). Restart Claude Code after installing.
Commands — how to trigger ROBOT OBO Tool
-
/robot-obo-toolCommand reference for ROBOT, the standard OBO-ontology CLI: reasoning, TSV-to-OWL templates, QC, format conversion.
It also activates on plain-language prompts like these:
-
Generate OWL term classes from this TSV using robot template -
Convert my OWL ontology file to OBO format with robot convert -
Run a QC report on this OBO ontology and check for reasoning errors
Frequently asked questions
- Is the ROBOT OBO Tool skill free?
- Yes. The skill itself is free from ai4curation/curation-skills. SkillProof publishes the install command and an independent test verdict at no cost.
- Does ROBOT OBO Tool work with Claude Code?
- We tested it with Claude Code 2.x (agent harness) on Jul 15, 2026. Verdict: Tested · Works. Installed real Java + downloaded the actual ROBOT jar from ontodev/robot and ran it live: a naive template TSV (no skill guidance) failed immediately with UNKNOWN TEMPLATE ERROR, while the skill's documented 3-row template format (headers / template-strings like 'SC %' and 'A rdfs:comment' / data) produced valid OWL that then converted cleanly to OBO with the exact documented command.
- What is the ROBOT OBO Tool SkillProof Score?
- 9.6/10 — installs cleanly 5/5, triggers reliably 5/5, output vs. baseline 9/10, docs & honesty 5/5.
- How do I install ROBOT OBO Tool?
- Copy the install command from this page, run it in your terminal, and restart Claude Code. Skills live in ~/.claude/skills/ (global) or .claude/skills/ inside a project.
- Can I use ROBOT OBO Tool with Cursor, Copilot, Gemini CLI, Codex or other AI tools?
- The SKILL.md format is native to Claude (Claude Code, Desktop, claude.ai). The instructions inside adapt to other assistants: Cursor rules, GitHub Copilot instructions, Windsurf rules, Custom GPTs, AGENTS.md for OpenAI Codex, and GEMINI.md for Google Gemini CLI — our conversion guides cover each, and the free converter on the tools page does the wrapping for you.