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Galaxy API Documentation

In addition to being accessible through a web interface, Galaxy can also be accessed programmatically, through shell scripts and other programs. The web interface is appropriate for things like exploratory analysis, visualization, construction of workflows, and rerunning workflows on new datasets.

The web interface is less suitable for things like
  • Connecting a Galaxy instance directly to your sequencer and running workflows whenever data is ready.
  • Running a workflow against multiple datasets (which can be done with the web interface, but is tedious).
  • When the analysis involves complex control, such as looping and branching.

The Galaxy API addresses these and other situations by exposing Galaxy internals through an additional interface, known as an Application Programming Interface, or API.

Various language specific bindings for interfacing with the Galaxy API have been developed by the Galaxy community including Python, PHP, Java, and JavaScript.

Overview of available API resources is available at https://galaxyproject.org/develop/api/ .