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Proteomics & immunologylatest-release

airrflow

nf-core/airrflow

B and T cell repertoire analysis pipeline with the Immcantation framework.

version5.1.2601bbe64a4Oct 10, 2026 Upstream Usage docs

Key tools

FastQCFastppRESTOSHazaM, Change-OIgBLASTAlakazamSCOPerDowserIgPhyMLRAxMLMultiQC

Run it

nfclaw
nfclaw run airrflow --input samplesheet.tsv --outdir results -profile docker
raw nextflow
nextflow run pipelines/airrflow/upstream -profile docker --input samplesheet.tsv --outdir results
demo · bundled test profile
nfclaw run airrflow --demo --outdir results # adds the upstream test profile (-profile test,docker)

Inputs

columntyperequiredallowed valuesconstraints
sample_idstring or numberyesmatches ^\S+$
subject_idstring or numberyesmatches ^\S+$
speciesstringyesmouse, human
pcr_target_locusstringyesTR, IG, ig, tr, Ig, Tr
tissuestringyes
sexstringyes
agestring or numberyes
biomaterial_providerstringyes
single_cellbooleanyesmatches ^\S+$
filename_R1stringnomatches ^\S+$
filename_R2stringnomatches ^\S+$
filename_I1stringnomatches ^\S+$
filenamestringnomatches ^\S+$

--input must match ^\S+\.tsv$.

The samplesheet is a TSV with this header (the columns the schema requires); fill each value per the table above and reference.md (no example value is invented here):

tsv
sample_id	subject_id	species	pcr_target_locus	tissue	sex	age	biomaterial_provider	single_cell

Any of the optional columns above may be appended to the header when your data needs them: filename_R1, filename_R2, filename_I1, filename.

From data files. nfclaw cannot generate this samplesheet: the samplesheet declares no file type nfclaw could match files against (no column's pattern names a file extension).

Resources

Resource requests follow the pipeline's configs and selected profiles. nf-core's resource labels often assume a server — a single step can request far more memory than a workstation has, and retry rules can increase requests. If a run fails with Process requirement exceeds available memory (or CPUs), cap every request, and every retry, at what this machine actually has:

bash
nfclaw run airrflow --input samplesheet.tsv --outdir results -profile docker \
--limit-cpus 4 --limit-memory 15.GB

nfclaw turns those into Nextflow's process.resourceLimits and passes them as a -c config — the mechanism nf-core prescribes for exactly this (docs). Set them to the machine's real capacity. --limit-time DURATION also caps how long any one task may run: a task that needs longer is stopped, and so is every retry, so set it only as a deliberate ceiling, never as a guess at how long the analysis takes. The generated config is kept in <outdir>/provenance/, so commands.sh replays the run under the same ceiling.

Nextflow engine

This release declares nextflowVersion = '!>=26.04.1'.

To pin this release's declared minimum engine — useful when a newer Nextflow has incompatible config parsing:

bash
nfclaw run airrflow ... --nxf-ver 26.04.1

--nxf-ver is recorded in <outdir>/provenance/, so the replay uses the same engine. See known-issues.

Demo

bash
nfclaw run airrflow --demo --outdir results # adds the upstream test profile (-profile test,docker)
<!-- Generated from nf-core/airrflow@601bbe64a4a035b531b70626eeacca9770100e6e. Do not edit by hand. -->

Samplesheet

A TSV with this header (the columns the schema requires). Fill each value per the constraints below; optional columns from the table may be appended.

samplesheet.tsv header
sample_id subject_id species pcr_target_locus tissue sex age biomaterial_provider single_cell
ColumnTypeRequiredAllowed / constraints
sample_idstring or numberrequiredmatches ^\S+$
subject_idstring or numberrequiredmatches ^\S+$
speciesstringrequiredmousehuman
pcr_target_locusstringrequiredTRIGigtrIgTr
tissuestringrequired—
sexstringrequired—
agestring or numberrequired—
biomaterial_providerstringrequired—
single_cellbooleanrequiredmatches ^\S+$
filename_R1stringoptionalmatches ^\S+$
filename_R2stringoptionalmatches ^\S+$
filename_I1stringoptionalmatches ^\S+$
filenamestringoptionalmatches ^\S+$

Required parameters

--inputstring (file path)

Path to comma-separated file containing information about the samples in the experiment.

Constraint · matches ^\S+\.tsv$

--outdirstring (directory path)

The output directory where the results will be saved. You have to use absolute paths to storage on Cloud infrastructure.

Parameter explorer

110 parameters · 17 groups

Every parameter from the pinned nextflow_schema.json. nfclaw checks explicit values before launch; complex rules use the pinned pipeline's runtime validation. Search, filter by group, and expand any parameter for its default, allowed values and constraints.

89 parameters · 21 hidden

Adapter Trimming8

Fasta file with adapter sequences to be trimmed.

Number of bases to clip 5' in R1 reads.

Number of bases to clip 5' in R2 reads.

Option to save trimmed reads.

Number of bases to clip 3' in R1 reads.

Number of bases to clip 3' in R2 reads.

Whether to trim adapters in fastq reads with fastp.

Trim adapters specific for Nextseq sequencing

Bulk Filtering options3

Name of the field used to collapse duplicated sequences.

Whether to run the process to detect contamination.

Whether to apply the chimera removal filter.

Clonal Analysis options10

Set the clustering threshold Hamming distance value. Default: 'auto'

Name of the field used to group data files to identify clones.

Name of the field used to identify external groups used to identify a clonal threshold.

Lineage tree software to use to build trees within Dowser. If you change the default, also set the lineage_tree_exec parameter.

Path to lineage tree building executable.

Perform clonal lineage tree analysis.

Name of the field used to determine if a sample is single cell sequencing or not.

Skip report of EnchantR DefineClones for all samples together.

Skip all clonal anlaysis processes

Skip report of EnchantR FindThreshold for all samples together.

Generic options3

Display the help message.

Display the full detailed help message.

Display hidden parameters in the help message (only works when --help or --help_full are provided).

Genotyping And Novel Alleles options5

Name of the field used to group data files to infer genotype.

Perform TIgGER novel allele and genotype inference.

Threshold for determining if two sequences come from the same clone or not.

Perform TIgGER novel allele inference.

Keep only one representative sequence per clone to perform genotype inference.

Input Output options5

Email address for completion summary.

Path to comma-separated file containing information about the samples in the experiment.

Path to MiAIRR-BioSample mapping

Specify the processing mode for the pipeline. Available options are "fastq" and "assembled".

The output directory where the results will be saved. You have to use absolute paths to storage on Cloud infrastructure.

Primer Input And Positions6

Indicate if C region primers are in the R1 or R2 reads.

Start position of C region primers (without counting the UMI barcode).

Path to a fasta file containing the C-region primer sequences.

Specify to match the tail-end of the sequence against the reverse complement of the primers. This also reverses the behavior of the --start argument, such that start position is relative to the tail-end of the sequence. (default: False)Maximum scoring error for the Presto MaxPrimer process for the C and/or V region primers identification.

Start position of V region primers (without counting the UMI barcode).

Path to a fasta file containinc the V-region primer sequences.

Protocol2

Protocol used for the V(D)J amplicon sequencing library generation.

Path to fasta file containing the linker sequence, if no V-region primers were used but a linker sequence is present (e.g. 5' RACE SMARTer TAKARA protocol).

Report options6

Custom report style file in css format.

Custom logo for the report.

Custom logo for the EnchantR reports.

Custom report Rmarkdown file.

Skip multiqc report.

Skip repertoire analysis and report generation.

Rnaseq Based Analysis options4

path to the barcode whitelist.

Specifies which read holds the barcodes

Specifies where in the read the barcodes and UMIs can be found.

Indicate if UMI indices are recorded in the R1 (default) or R2 fastq file.

Sequence Assembly options22

Align internal C-region for a more precise isotype characterization.

Use AssemblePairs sequential instead of AssemblePairs align when assembling read pairs.

Maximum error for building the sequence consensus in the pRESTO BuildConsensus step.

Maximum gap for building the sequence consensus in the pRESTO BuildConsensus step.

Cluster sequences by similarity regardless of any annotation with pRESTO ClusterSets and annotate the cluster ID additionally to the UMI barcode.

Mask mode for C-region alignment.

Maximum allowed error when aligning the internal C-region.

Maximum allowed length when aligning the internal C-region.

Quality threshold for pRESTO FilterSeq sequence filtering.

Provide internal C-region sequences for a more precise C-region characterization. Then also set the align_cregion flag.

Align primers instead of scoring them. Used for protocols without primer fixed positions.

Use MaskPrimers align for a 5' RACE protocol.

Use when primer sequences are unknown but when their approximate positions are known.

Maximum error for building the primer consensus in the pRESTO Buildconsensus step.

Maximum allowed primer length when aligning the primers.

R1 primer extract length when using --maskprimers_extract.

Masking mode for R1 primers.

Maximum allowed error for R1 primer alignment.

R2 primer extract length when using --maskprimers_extract.

Masking mode for R2 primers.

Maximum allowed error for R2 primer alignment.

Skip filter step after alignment that ensures that locus should match the v_call chain, the sequence alignment should have at least 200 informative positions (excluding N or gaps), and maximum 10% N nucleotides in the alignment.

Single Cell Analysis options1

Path to the reference directory required by cellranger. Can either be directory or tar.gz.

Translation And Embedding options4

BCR or TCR chains to include for embedding.

Generate sequence embeddings with amulety.

Generate a sequence amino acid translation with IgBlast.

Use GPU to generate embeddings.

Umi Barcode Handling4

Indicate if UMI indices are recorded in a separate index file.

UMI barcode length in nucleotides. Set to 0 if no UMIs present.

Indicate if UMI indices are recorded in the R1 (default) or R1 fastq file.

UMI barcode start position in the index read.

Vdj Annotation options6

Fetch the selected germline reference bundle at runtime instead of using cached reference inputs.

Subset to productive sequences.

Whether to reassign genes if the input file is an AIRR formatted tabulated file.

Path to the germline reference fasta.

Path to the cached igblast database.

Save germline database to reuse the cache in future runs.

Outputs

Results land in --outdir; the files and directory layout depend on the selected workflow, parameters and publication settings. Run metadata is normally placed in <outdir>/pipeline_info/ (execution report, software versions), when those outputs are enabled. The pinned tree includes MultiQC support; a report is produced only when its workflow step runs. --skip-multiqc true disables that report. nfclaw run also writes <outdir>/provenance/ with the exact params file and the run log, <outdir>/provenance/logs/run.log — the whole launch, whose last line states the outcome (Nextflow's own log is <outdir>/.nextflow.log); unless --no-provenance it adds a run manifest (pinned version, commit and exact command), input/output SHA-256 checksums, and a replayable commands.sh. The exact output files and directory layout for this release are documented upstream: github.com/nf-core/airrflow/blob/5.1.2/docs/output.md Check a run — in the foreground or the background — with nfclaw status <outdir>: success, still running, how it ended (with the error), or stopped without an outcome; exit 0 success, 3 running, 1 otherwise.