grz-cli
A command-line tool for validating, encrypting, and uploading submissions to a genomDE Model Project GDC (Genome Data Center).
Table of Contents
Installation
Requirements
The current version of the tool requires the working directory to have at least as much free disk space as the total size of the data being submitted.
Beside of the disk space requirements for the submission data, this tool also requires a Linux environment. For example:
- Linux server
- Virtual machine running Linux
- Docker container
- Windows Subsystem for Linux
Using Conda (recommended)
If Conda is not yet available on your system, we recommend to install it through the Miniforge Conda installer by running the following commands:
curl -L -O "https://github.com/conda-forge/miniforge/releases/latest/download/Miniforge3-$(uname)-$(uname -m).sh"
bash Miniforge3-$(uname)-$(uname -m).sh
Next, install the grz-cli tool:
conda create -n grz-tools -c conda-forge -c bioconda grz-cli
conda activate grz-tools
grz-cli --help
Updating
Use the following command to update the tool:
conda update -n grz-tools -c conda-forge -c bioconda grz-cli
Using pip (not recommended)
While installation via pip is possible, it is not recommended because users should create/manage a Python virtual environment and must ensure that the correct Python version is being used.
pip install grz-cli
Updating
Use the following command to update the tool:
pip upgrade grz-cli
Using Docker
Docker images are available via biocontainers at https://biocontainers.pro/tools/grz-cli.
The build process can take at least a few days after the Bioconda release, so double-check that the latest version in Bioconda is also the latest Docker image version.
Usage
Configuration
The configuration file will be provided by your associated GRZ. Do not create this file as an LE.
The tool requires a configuration file in YAML format to specify the S3 API parameters and other validation options.
This file may be placed at ~/.config/grz-cli/config.yaml or provided each time to grz-cli using the --config-file option on the command line.
The S3 secrets can either be directly within the config file or as defined with the usual AWS environment variables: AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID and AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY.
Submission Layout
It is recommended to have the following folder structure for a single submission:
EXAMPLE_SUBMISSION
├── files
│ ├── aaaaaaaa00000000aaaaaaaa00000000_blood_normal.read1.fastq.gz
│ ├── aaaaaaaa00000000aaaaaaaa00000000_blood_normal.read2.fastq.gz
│ ├── aaaaaaaa00000000aaaaaaaa00000000_blood_normal.vcf
│ ├── aaaaaaaa00000000aaaaaaaa00000000_blood_tumor.read1.fastq.gz
│ ├── aaaaaaaa00000000aaaaaaaa00000000_blood_tumor.read2.fastq.gz
│ ├── aaaaaaaa00000000aaaaaaaa00000000_blood_tumor.vcf
│ └─── target_regions.bed
└── metadata
└── metadata.json
The only requirements are that metadata/metadata.json exists and the files/ directory contains all of the other files.
Data files may be nested under subfolders inside files/ for better organization.
For example, each donor could have their own folder for files.
Example submission procedure
After preparing your submission as outlined above, you can use the following command to validate, encrypt and upload the submission:
grz-cli submit --submission-dir EXAMPLE_SUBMISSION
Troubleshooting
In case of issues, please re-run your commands with grz-cli --log-level DEBUG --log-file path/to/write/file.log [...] and submit the log file to the GDC data steward.
Command-Line Interface
grz-cli provides a command-line interface with the following subcommands:
submit
The submit command is the recommended command for submitting data to genome data centers.
It combines the validate, encrypt, and upload commands (see below).
-s, --submission-dir: Path to the submission directory containing both 'metadata/' and 'files/' directories [Required]-c, --config-file: Path to config file [optional]
grz-cli submit --submission-dir foo
validate
It is recommended to run this command before continuing with encryption and upload.
--submission-dir: Path to the submission directory containing both 'metadata/' and 'files/' directories [Required]
Example usage:
grz_cli validate --submission-dir foo
encrypt
If a working directory is not provided, then the current directory is used automatically.
Files are stored in a folder named encrypted_files as a sub-folder of the working directory.
-s, --submission-dir: Path to the submission directory containing both 'metadata/' and 'files/' directories [Required]-c, --config-file: Path to config file [optional]
grz-cli encrypt --submission-dir foo
upload
Upload the submission into a S3 structure of a GRZ.
-s, --submission-dir: Path to the submission directory containing bothmetadata/andencrypted_files/directories [Required]-c, --config-file: Path to config file [optional]
Example usage:
grz-cli upload --submission-dir foo
get-id
Available in grz-cli v1.2.0 or higher.
Compute and print the submission ID from a submission's JSON metadata.
This is useful in case you forget to store the ID printed during upload.
Example usage:
grz-cli get-id path/to/metadata.json
Contributing
Running unreleased/development versions
First, install uv.
We recommend using Conda or Pixi.
After cloning the desired branch of the grz-tools repo locally, you can run grz-cli directly from the repo using:
uv run --project path/to/cloned/grz-tools grz-cli --help
Testing
Please note that binary files used for testing are managed with Git LFS, which will be needed to clone them locally with the git repository.
To run the tests, navigate to the root directory of your project and invoke pytest.
Alternatively, install uv and tox and run uv run tox.
License
This project is licensed under the MIT License — see the LICENSE file for details.
Acknowledgements
Parts of Crypt4GH are used in modified form.
Metadata
Release files for grz-cli 3.0.0
For a detailed explanation of source distributions (sdists) and built distributions (wheels), please see the package formats documentation.
Source distribution (sdist)
| File | Size | Uploaded | |
|---|---|---|---|
| grz_cli-3.0.0.tar.gz | 19.0 kB | Details |
Built distribution (wheel)
| File | Interpreter | ABI | Platform | Reset |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| grz_cli-3.0.0-py3-none-any.whl | Python 3 | none | any | Details |
Total release size: 31.9 kB
Release files / grz_cli-3.0.0.tar.gz
| Download URL | grz_cli-3.0.0.tar.gz |
|---|---|
| Size | 19.0 kB |
| Tags | Source |
|
SHA-256 checksum How to use checksums |
97c9f065ea29c06bc838c41682646691cd3c81614a731e4ce89738cc0f8e10f1
|
|
BLAKE2b-256 checksum How to use checksums |
04a941c135a581e2fa8b0e023663f84a3d7a7b1af0553e6665eddeb35077300c
|
| Upload date | |
|
Uploaded using Trusted Publishing? What is trusted publishing? |
Yes |
| Uploaded via |
twine/7.0.0 CPython/3.13.14
|
Provenance
Provenance describes where a file came from. On PyPI, provenance is shared via attestations, which provide a verifiable record of the build or publishing details. View details, limitations and caveats.
PyPI Publish Attestation
PyPI verified that this artifact, at this checksum, originated from the publisher listed below.
Signed by GitHub Actions, verified by PyPI on Sep 30, 2026.
Transparency logRelease files / grz_cli-3.0.0-py3-none-any.whl
| Download URL | grz_cli-3.0.0-py3-none-any.whl |
|---|---|
| Size | 12.9 kB |
| Tags | Python 3 |
|
SHA-256 checksum How to use checksums |
c58e3b10a7f88f51414d1a9a7708079f2a93721dbb4e1a7838616929a9d9f4d3
|
|
BLAKE2b-256 checksum How to use checksums |
cfa071d8d47bf0e95b04ee8294f0afb3d44d07e82615f40730f4aa02656ae366
|
| Upload date | |
|
Uploaded using Trusted Publishing? What is trusted publishing? |
Yes |
| Uploaded via |
twine/7.0.0 CPython/3.13.14
|
Provenance
Provenance describes where a file came from. On PyPI, provenance is shared via attestations, which provide a verifiable record of the build or publishing details. View details, limitations and caveats.
PyPI Publish Attestation
PyPI verified that this artifact, at this checksum, originated from the publisher listed below.
Signed by GitHub Actions, verified by PyPI on Sep 30, 2026.
Transparency log