agtools is a Python framework for manipulating assembly graphs for downstream metagenomic applications, with a focus on the Graphical Fragment Assembly (GFA) format. It offers a command-line interface for tasks such as graph format conversion, segment filtering, and component extraction. Supported formats include GFA, FASTG, ASQG and GraphViz DOT. Additionally, it provides a Python package interface that exposes assembler-specific functionality for advanced analysis and integration based on the GFA format.

For detailed instructions on installation and usage, please refer to the documentation hosted at Read the Docs.

You can install agtools from PyPI using pip.

pip install agtools

You can install agtools from Bioconda using conda or mamba.

mamba install -c bioconda agtools

Please follow the steps below to install agtools using flit for development.

# clone repository
git clone https://github.com/Vini2/agtools.git

# move to gbintk directory
cd agtools

# create and activate conda env
conda env create -f environment.yml
conda activate agtools

# install using flit
flit install -s --python `which python`

# test installation
agtools --help

Run agtools --help or agtools -h to list the help message for agtools.

Usage: agtools [OPTIONS] COMMAND [ARGS]...

  agtools: A Software Framework to Manipulate Assembly Graphs

Options:
  -v, --version  Show the version and exit.
  -h, --help     Show this message and exit.

Commands:
  stats      Compute statistics about the graph
  rename     Rename segments, paths and walks in a GFA file
  concat     Concatenate two or more GFA files
  filter     Filter segments from GFA file
  clean      Clean a GFA file based on segments in a FASTA file
  component  Extract a component containing a given segment
  fastg2gfa  Convert FASTG file to GFA format
  asqg2gfa   Convert ASQG file to GFA format
  gfa2dot    Convert GFA file to DOT format (GraphViz)
  gfa2fasta  Get segments in FASTA format
  gfa2adj    Get adjacency matrix of the assembly graph

Please refer to the complete documentation available at Read the docs.

If you want to test (or break) agtools give it a try and report any issues and suggestions under agtools Issues.

If you come across any questions, please have a look at the agtools FAQ page. If your question is not here, feel free to post it under agtools Issues.

If you want to request a feature, please post it under agtools Issues as a feature request.

agtools is currently under review. In the meantime, if you use agtools in your work, please cite the preprint as follows.

Vijini Mallawaarachchi, George Bouras, Ryan R. Wick, Susanna R. Grigson, Bhavya Papudeshi, Robert A. Edwards; agtools: a software framework to manipulate assembly graphs; bioRxiv 2025.09.14.676178; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.09.14.676178