# Download Sequence

> Use when downloading NCBI ASN.1 biological sequence archive divisions such as BCT, PLN, or VRL into the current directory.

- Skill: `vimalinx/download-sequence` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 2 files)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds add vimalinx/download-sequence`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/vimalinx/download-sequence/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Coding & Dev Tools
- Author: vimalinx (https://skillmd.com/u/vimalinx)
- Updated: 2026-09-09
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/vimalinx/download-sequence

---


# download-sequence

## Quick Start
- **Command:** `download-sequence division...`
- **Local executable:** `/home/vimalinx/miniforge3/envs/bio/bin/download-sequence`
- **Full reference:** See `references/help.md`

## When To Use This Tool

- Mirror one or more NCBI biological sequence archive divisions into the current directory.
- Build a local batch archive of ASN.1 sequence files for offline processing.
- Use when you want division-wide dumps, not individual accession lookups.

## Common Patterns

```bash
# 1) Download bacterial and plant ASN.1 sequence batches
download-sequence BCT PLN
```

```bash
# 2) Download viral and mammalian divisions into the current working directory
download-sequence VRL MAM
```

## Recommended Workflow

1. Choose the archive division abbreviations you actually need.
2. Run the command from a dedicated download directory because files are written into the current working directory.
3. Re-run safely if needed; the script skips files that already exist.
4. Feed the downloaded ASN.1 archives into downstream EDirect or conversion utilities as needed.

## Guardrails

- Despite the name, this command does not fetch a single accession; it downloads division-wide `.aso.gz` archive batches.
- The local script lists files under NCBI's `ncbi-asn1` area and then downloads matching names, so network access is mandatory even for help-like exploration.
- Output lands in the current directory, so run it inside a clean target folder.
- Division filters are applied case-insensitively, but you still need valid archive abbreviations.