Sequencing Technology API

SeqDesk maintains a curated registry of supported sequencing technologies: platforms, devices, flow cells, kits, barcode metadata, and software.

There are two related but different use cases:

Query your local SeqDesk instance for data that has already been synced and filtered for users
Provide a custom remote registry endpoint that SeqDesk can consume from the admin UI

Base URL

Public: https://seqdesk.com/api
Self-hosted: https://<your-host>/api

Endpoints

Method	Path	Purpose
GET	`/registry/sequencing-tech`	Full registry dataset suitable as a sync source
GET	`/sequencing-tech`	Local available-data view used by the order form

Local Available Data

On a SeqDesk instance, GET /api/sequencing-tech returns the currently stored configuration after local filtering:

technologies and devices with available: true
technologies and devices not marked comingSoon
available flow cells, kits, and software
barcode schemes and barcode sets as stored locally


curl -s https://<your-host>/api/sequencing-tech

Response shape:


{
  "technologies": [
    {
      "id": "ont-minion",
      "name": "MinION",
      "manufacturer": "Oxford Nanopore",
      "shortDescription": "Portable nanopore sequencing platform",
      "specs": [{ "label": "Read length", "value": "real-time" }],
      "pros": [{ "text": "Portable" }],
      "cons": [{ "text": "Lower per-run throughput than PromethION" }],
      "bestFor": ["Rapid turnaround"],
      "available": true,
      "order": 10
    }
  ],
  "devices": [
    {
      "id": "ont-minion-mk1d",
      "platformId": "ont-minion",
      "name": "MinION Mk1D",
      "manufacturer": "Oxford Nanopore",
      "productOverview": "Portable nanopore sequencer",
      "shortDescription": "Portable nanopore sequencing device",
      "specs": [],
      "compatibleFlowCells": ["flo-min114"],
      "compatibleKits": ["sqk-lsk114"],
      "compatibleSoftware": ["minknow"],
      "available": true,
      "order": 10
    }
  ],
  "flowCells": [],
  "kits": [],
  "software": [],
  "barcodeSchemes": [],
  "barcodeSets": []
}

Field Reference

Field	Type	Description
`technologies`	array	Available platform definitions
`devices`	array	Available devices linked by `platformId`
`flowCells`	array	Available flow cells
`kits`	array	Available kits
`software`	array	Available software
`barcodeSchemes`	array	Optional barcode scheme metadata
`barcodeSets`	array	Optional barcode-set metadata

Full Registry / Sync Source


curl -s https://seqdesk.com/api/registry/sequencing-tech

This endpoint returns the full registry dataset and is the same contract that SeqDesk accepts when you configure a custom sync URL in Admin → Sequencing Technology.

SeqDesk accepts either:


{
  "config": {
    "version": 6,
    "technologies": []
  }
}

or the raw config object directly.

Response shape:


{
  "version": 6,
  "technologies": [],
  "devices": [],
  "flowCells": [],
  "kits": [],
  "software": [],
  "barcodeSchemes": [],
  "barcodeSets": []
}

Required Fields

Field	Type	Description
`version`	integer	Registry version used for update detection
`technologies`	array	Platform definitions; this is the only required collection

Common Collections

Field	Type	Notes
`devices`	array	Device entries linked to a platform with `platformId`
`flowCells`	array	Flow cells linked from `devices[].compatibleFlowCells`
`kits`	array	Kits linked from `devices[].compatibleKits`
`software`	array	Software linked from `devices[].compatibleSoftware`
`barcodeSchemes`	array	Optional barcode scheme metadata
`barcodeSets`	array	Optional barcode set metadata

Important Object Fields

Each platform in technologies[] should include:

Field	Type	Description
`id`	string	Stable unique identifier
`name`	string	Display name
`manufacturer`	string	Vendor or platform owner
`shortDescription`	string	Short summary used in UI
`specs`	array	Technical specs as `{ label, value, unit? }`
`pros`	array	Benefit bullets as `{ text, tooltip? }`
`cons`	array	Limitation bullets as `{ text, tooltip? }`
`bestFor`	array	Use-case labels
`available`	boolean	Local instances can still override this
`order`	integer	Display order

Each device in devices[] should include:

Field	Type	Description
`id`	string	Stable unique identifier
`platformId`	string	Must match a `technologies[].id`
`name`	string	Display name
`manufacturer`	string	Vendor
`productOverview`	string	Longer description
`shortDescription`	string	Short summary
`specs`	array	Technical specs
`compatibleFlowCells`	array	Flow-cell IDs
`compatibleKits`	array	Kit IDs
`compatibleSoftware`	array	Software IDs
`available`	boolean	Whether the item should be selectable by default
`order`	integer	Display order

Caching and CORS

The public seqdesk.com endpoints use CDN caching: s-maxage=300, stale-while-revalidate=600.
Custom registry sync in the app is a simple server-side GET with Accept: application/json.
SeqDesk does not send authentication headers to a custom registry URL.

Update Detection and Merging

When SeqDesk checks a custom registry for updates:

It compares the remote version against the local version.
It also treats newly introduced IDs as updates, even if the version was not bumped.
Existing items are merged by id.
Items with localOverrides: true keep their local values.
For items without local overrides, SeqDesk still preserves the local available flag.

Error Responses

If a local instance cannot load or fetch sequencing technology data, the API returns 500:


{ "error": "Failed to fetch technologies" }