Usage info - glarue/intronIC GitHub Wiki
This page contains the complete CLI reference for intronIC. For practical examples, see Example usage.
To get full usage information for intronIC, run intronIC --help:
usage: intronIC [-h] [--version] [--quiet] [--debug] [--config CONFIG_PATH]
[--generate-config] [-n SPECIES_NAME] [-o OUTPUT_DIR]
[-g GENOME] [-a ANNOTATION] [-b BED] [-q SEQUENCE_FILE]
[--model MODEL] [--pretrained-model PRETRAINED_MODEL]
[--normalizer-mode {human,adaptive,auto}]
[--species-prior PRIOR] [--load-normalizer PATH]
[--save-normalizer]
[-f {cds,exon,both}] [--min-intron-len MIN_INTRON_LEN] [-i]
[-v] [-d] [--flank-len FLANK_LEN] [--no-nc-ss-adjustment]
[-t THRESHOLD] [--no-nc] [--pseudocount PSEUDOCOUNT]
[--no-ignore-nc-dnts] [--five-score-coords START END]
[--bp-region-coords START END]
[--three-score-coords START END]
[-p PROCESSES] [--cv-processes CV_PROCESSES] [--streaming]
[--clean-names] [--no-clean-names] [-u] [--no-abbreviate]
[--abbreviate-filenames] [--no-headers] [--seed SEED]
{train,classify,extract,test} ...
intronIC: Intron classification and extraction tool
positional arguments:
{train,classify,extract,test}
Command to run (default: classify if not specified)
train Train a classifier on reference data only (no
genome/annotation needed)
classify Extract and classify introns from genome/annotation
extract Extract intron sequences without classification
test Run a quick installation test with bundled test data
options:
-h, --help show this help message and exit
--version show program's version number and exit
--quiet Suppress non-essential output
--debug Enable debug logging
--config CONFIG_PATH Path to configuration file (auto-loads from standard
paths if not specified)
--generate-config Generate configuration file template and exit
-n SPECIES_NAME, --species-name SPECIES_NAME, --species_name SPECIES_NAME
Species name for output files (e.g., homo_sapiens)
-o OUTPUT_DIR, --output-dir OUTPUT_DIR, --output_dir OUTPUT_DIR
Output directory (default: current directory)
--normalizer-mode {human,adaptive,auto}, --normalizer_mode {human,adaptive,auto}
Normalizer mode for pretrained model classification
(default: auto): human: Use scaler from training
species (recommended for U12-absent genomes) adaptive:
Refit scaler on experimental data (experimental, may
cause FPs in U12-free species) auto: Use human if
available in model, otherwise adaptive
--species-prior PRIOR
Expected U12 prior for target species (0 to 1).
Adjusts classification probabilities via Bayes rule to
account for different U12 base rates. By default
(None), no adjustment is applied - classifier uses raw
probabilities from the model trained on human data
without making assumptions about target species.
Recommended values when adjustment is desired: -
0.005: Human-like species (similar to training data) -
1e-6: U12-absent species (C. elegans, many fungi) -
1e-4: U12-poor species Lower values reduce false
positives in U12-free lineages.
--load-normalizer PATH
Load a saved normalizer (from a previous run, or any
compatible scaler pickle) and use it instead of
fitting one. Honored in both streaming and in-memory
modes. When passed, this overrides whatever scaler
the model bundle ships with and skips the per-input
adaptive fit. Typical use: pass --save-normalizer on
a first full-genome run, then --load-normalizer
<path>.normalizer.pkl on subsequent runs over subsets
of the same genome to keep z-scores consistent.
--save-normalizer Save the fitted normalizer for future runs (adaptive
mode only). Use this on your first full-genome run for
a species to establish a reference normalization.
Future runs can use --load-normalizer to reuse this
normalization. Saved to <output_prefix>.normalizer.pkl
input selection:
Choose one mode: (1) -g + -a for annotation, (2) -g + -b for BED, or (3) -q for sequences
-g GENOME, --genome GENOME
Path to genome FASTA file (required with -a or -b)
-a ANNOTATION, --annotation ANNOTATION
Path to GFF3/GTF annotation file (requires -g)
-b BED, --bed BED Path to BED file with intron coordinates (requires -g)
-q SEQUENCE_FILE, --sequence-file SEQUENCE_FILE, --sequence_file SEQUENCE_FILE
Path to pre-extracted intron sequences (.iic format)
model options:
--model MODEL Path to pretrained model (.model.pkl)
--pretrained-model PRETRAINED_MODEL, --pretrained_model PRETRAINED_MODEL
(Deprecated: use --model) Path to pretrained model
extraction parameters:
-f {cds,exon,both}, --feature {cds,exon,both}
Feature type to extract from (default: both)
--min-intron-len MIN_INTRON_LEN, --min_intron_len MIN_INTRON_LEN
Minimum intron length (default: 30)
-i, --allow-multiple-isoforms, --allow_multiple_isoforms
Include non-longest isoforms
-v, --no-intron-overlap, --no_intron_overlap
Exclude overlapping introns
-d, --include-duplicates, --include_duplicates
Include duplicate coordinate introns
--flank-len FLANK_LEN, --flank_len FLANK_LEN
Exonic flank length (default: 100)
--no-nc-ss-adjustment, --no_nc_ss_adjustment
Disable U12 boundary correction
scoring parameters:
-t THRESHOLD, --threshold THRESHOLD
U12 probability threshold 0-100 (default: 90)
--no-nc, --no_nc Exclude non-canonical introns from scoring
--pseudocount PSEUDOCOUNT
PWM pseudocount (default: 0.0001)
--no-ignore-nc-dnts, --no_ignore_nc_dnts
Include terminal dinucleotides in non-canonical
scoring
--five-score-coords START END, --five_score_coords START END
5' splice site region (default: -3 9)
--bp-region-coords START END, --bp_region_coords START END
Branch point region (default: -55 -5)
--three-score-coords START END, --three_score_coords START END
3' splice site region (default: -6 4)
performance options:
-p PROCESSES, --processes PROCESSES
Parallel processes for scoring (default: 1)
--cv-processes CV_PROCESSES, --cv_processes CV_PROCESSES
Processes for cross-validation (training only, default: same as -p)
--in-memory, --no-streaming
Use in-memory mode: load full genome into memory. Higher memory
usage but may be slightly faster for very small genomes.
--streaming Use streaming mode (default): stores sequences in temp on-disk
storage, keeps only scoring motifs in memory. Roughly halves
peak RSS vs --in-memory (e.g., ~5 GB vs ~10 GB for full human at
-p 6). Bit-identical to in-memory.
output options:
--clean-names, --clean_names
Remove "transcript:" and "gene:" prefixes (default:
True)
--no-clean-names, --no_clean_names
Keep ID prefixes
-u, --uninformative-naming, --uninformative_naming
Use simple naming scheme
--no-abbreviate, --no_abbreviate, --na
Use full species name in outputs
--abbreviate-filenames, --abbreviate_filenames, --afn
Abbreviate species name in filenames
--no-headers, --no_headers
Omit column headers from output files (default:
include headers)
advanced options:
--seed SEED Random seed (default: 42)
Examples:
# Test installation with bundled data
intronIC test -p 4
# Train a model on reference data (no genome or annotation required)
intronIC train -n homo_sapiens
# Classify introns with pretrained model (uses streaming mode by default)
intronIC classify -g genome.fa -a annotation.gff -n species --model species.model.pkl
# Extract intron sequences without classification
intronIC extract -g genome.fa -a annotation.gff -n species
# Parallel processing for faster analysis (streaming mode scales efficiently)
intronIC classify -g genome.fa -a annotation.gff -n species -p 8
# Use in-memory mode for very small genomes
intronIC classify -g genome.fa -a annotation.gff -n species --no-streaming
# Backward compatible (no subcommand = classify)
intronIC -g genome.fa -a annotation.gff -n species --model species.model.pkl
intronIC v3 scores the background-corrected raw motif log-odds directly and moves all per-species adaptation into the output-level species adjudicator. Several flags from the v2.5–v2.7 z-normalization / mode-separation / continuous-discount stack are therefore accepted but ignored (no-ops); they are retained only so existing command lines keep running:
-
--normalizer-mode,--load-normalizer,--save-normalizer: there is no per-species normalizer to fit, load, or save (the help text above still describes the old behavior, but these have no effect in v3). -
--no-continuous-discountand the--discount-*family (--discount-k-overcall,--discount-tau-overcall,--discount-k-weakmot,--discount-tau-motif): the continuous per-intron discount was removed. -
--no-mode-sep,--mode-sep-*: the mode-separation second pass was removed.
Flags that remain live in v3 include --species-prior (optional Bayesian prior adjustment), --adjudicator-min-u2 (lets a small -q set or genome self-adjudicate against its own U2 tail), and, for intronIC train, --scoring-mode {pmotif_adjudicated, raw_gated} (default pmotif_adjudicated).