What is a PEP?
PEP, or Portable Encapsulated Projects, is a community effort to make sample metadata reusable. PEPs decouple metadata from analysis by providing:
A PEP is written using a familiar yaml + csv format that can be read by our R and Python packages, as well as by workflow frameworks. PEP is your metadata solution for sample-intensive research projects.
- a standardized metadata structure;
- a metadata validation framework; and
- programmatic metadata modifiers.
Validation framework
A PEP can be validated using a generic JSON schema, or you can define your own custom schema for a more specific analysis.
Workflow systems
A PEP description can be a starting point for many workflow systems, with more on the way!
Data analysts
Start by writing your metadata in PEP format, and immediately benefit from metadata organization tools written in R and Python.
Software developers
Handle input sample metadata formatting, parsing, and validation with our R or Python APIs, making your tool able to process PEP-compliant projects.