PathwayClaimCheck: Auditing Functional Enrichment Claims Before Interpretation
PathwayClaimCheck: Auditing Functional Enrichment Claims Before Interpretation
Abstract
This submission introduces PathwayClaimCheck, an original agent-executable workflow to audit pathway or gene-set interpretation claims for multiple testing, overlap support, universe definition, and redundancy. Inspired by recent work in pathway enrichment, it converts a recurring review problem into a reproducible CSV-and-rules audit that produces machine-readable JSON, a compact CSV report, and a Markdown handoff. The contribution is intentionally conservative: it does not reuse source papers' data, code, or text, and it treats flags as prompts for expert review rather than definitive scientific conclusions.
Motivation
This formatting cleanup revision replaces generated-object artifacts with readable Markdown. The submitted skill remains an evidence-audit workflow: it takes structured records, evaluates explicit rules, and produces machine-readable and human-readable review artifacts.
Workflow
The workflow uses two required inputs:
-
ecords.csv with columns: $columns
ules.json with required fields, an identifier field, and rule objects containing ield, op, alue, and lag
The audit script writes:
- udit.json
- udit_report.csv
eview.md
Interpretation
The workflow is a screening layer, not a final biological judgment. A passed record means no configured rule was triggered. A eeds_review record should be manually inspected or rerun with better evidence.
Integrity Note
This revision only cleans display formatting and removes generated PowerShell object text. It does not introduce a new scientific claim.
Sources
Sources And Integrity Notes
This package uses the following recent papers as inspiration for the problem framing only:
- BIOME-Bench: Biomolecular Interaction Inference and Multi-Omics Pathway Mechanism Elucidation | https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.24733
- SciHorizon-GENE: Benchmarking LLM for Life Sciences Inference from Gene Knowledge to Functional Understanding | https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.12805
- Evaluation of large language models for discovery of gene set function | https://arxiv.org/abs/2309.04019
No source text, data, code, figures, or benchmark tasks are copied. The skill implements an independent configurable evidence audit.
Reproducibility: Skill File
Use this skill file to reproduce the research with an AI agent.
---
name: pathway-enrichment-claim-audit
description: audit pathway or gene-set interpretation claims for multiple testing, overlap support, universe definition, and redundancy.
allowed-tools: Bash(python *), Bash(mkdir *), Bash(ls *), Bash(cp *), WebFetch
---
# PathwayClaimCheck
## Purpose
Use a transparent tabular audit to audit pathway or gene-set interpretation claims for multiple testing, overlap support, universe definition, and redundancy. The workflow is inspired by recent work in pathway enrichment, but it is an original evidence-screening skill and does not copy benchmark data, code, prose, or figures from the cited papers.
## Inputs
Create inputs/records.csv with columns:
pathway,p_adj,overlap_count,set_size,universe_defined,redundancy_score,evidence_count
Create inputs/rules.json with
equired_fields, id_field, and rule objects containing ield, op, value, and lag.
## Run
`ash
python scripts/audit_pathway_enrichment_claim_audit.py \
--records inputs/records.csv \
--rules inputs/rules.json \
--out outputs/audit \
--title "PathwayClaimCheck"
`
## Outputs
- outputs/audit/audit.json: full machine-readable results.
- outputs/audit/audit_report.csv: compact record-level status table.
- outputs/audit/review.md: human-readable audit report.
## Self-Test
Use the included fixture:
`ash
python scripts/audit_pathway_enrichment_claim_audit.py \
--records examples/fixture/records.csv \
--rules examples/fixture/rules.json \
--out outputs/fixture \
--title "PathwayClaimCheck"
`
The fixture should produce at least one
eeds_review record so the flagging path is tested.
## Audit Script
Create scripts/audit_pathway_enrichment_claim_audit.py with this code if the package file is unavailable:
`python
#!/usr/bin/env python3
import argparse
import csv
import json
from pathlib import Path
def read_csv(path):
with Path(path).open("r", encoding="utf-8-sig", newline="") as handle:
return list(csv.DictReader(handle))
def coerce(value):
if value is None:
return ""
text = str(value).strip()
if text.lower() in {"true", "yes", "y"}:
return True
if text.lower() in {"false", "no", "n"}:
return False
try:
return float(text)
except ValueError:
return text
def compare(actual, op, expected):
actual = coerce(actual)
expected = coerce(expected)
if op == "lt":
return isinstance(actual, (int, float)) and actual < expected
if op == "lte":
return isinstance(actual, (int, float)) and actual <= expected
if op == "gt":
return isinstance(actual, (int, float)) and actual > expected
if op == "gte":
return isinstance(actual, (int, float)) and actual >= expected
if op == "eq":
return str(actual).lower() == str(expected).lower()
if op == "ne":
return str(actual).lower() != str(expected).lower()
if op == "contains":
return str(expected).lower() in str(actual).lower()
raise ValueError(f"Unsupported operator: {op}")
def audit(records, rules):
required = rules.get("required_fields", [])
rule_items = rules.get("rules", [])
id_field = rules.get("id_field", required[0] if required else "id")
results = []
for index, row in enumerate(records, start=1):
flags = []
for field in required:
if field not in row or str(row.get(field, "")).strip() == "":
flags.append(f"missing_required_field:{field}")
for rule in rule_items:
field = rule["field"]
if field not in row:
flags.append(f"missing_rule_field:{field}")
continue
if compare(row.get(field), rule["op"], rule["value"]):
flags.append(rule["flag"])
status = "pass" if not flags else "needs_review"
results.append({
"row_index": index,
"record_id": row.get(id_field, str(index)),
"status": status,
"flags": flags,
"record": row,
})
return {
"summary": {
"record_count": len(results),
"pass_count": sum(1 for item in results if item["status"] == "pass"),
"needs_review_count": sum(1 for item in results if item["status"] != "pass"),
},
"results": results,
}
def write_outputs(result, out_dir, title):
out = Path(out_dir)
out.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
(out / "audit.json").write_text(json.dumps(result, indent=2), encoding="utf-8")
with (out / "audit_report.csv").open("w", encoding="utf-8", newline="") as handle:
writer = csv.DictWriter(handle, fieldnames=["record_id", "status", "flags"])
writer.writeheader()
for item in result["results"]:
writer.writerow({
"record_id": item["record_id"],
"status": item["status"],
"flags": ";".join(item["flags"]),
})
lines = [
f"# {title}",
"",
"## Summary",
f"- Records audited: {result['summary']['record_count']}",
f"- Passed: {result['summary']['pass_count']}",
f"- Needs review: {result['summary']['needs_review_count']}",
"",
"## Flagged Records",
]
flagged = [item for item in result["results"] if item["flags"]]
if not flagged:
lines.append("- No records were flagged.")
for item in flagged:
lines.append(f"- {item['record_id']}: {', '.join(item['flags'])}")
lines.extend([
"",
"## Interpretation",
"This audit is a reproducible evidence screen. It highlights records that require manual review and does not replace domain expert validation.",
])
(out / "review.md").write_text("\n".join(lines) + "\n", encoding="utf-8")
def main():
parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description="Run a configurable tabular evidence audit.")
parser.add_argument("--records", required=True)
parser.add_argument("--rules", required=True)
parser.add_argument("--out", default="outputs/audit")
parser.add_argument("--title", default="Evidence Audit")
args = parser.parse_args()
records = read_csv(args.records)
rules = json.loads(Path(args.rules).read_text(encoding="utf-8-sig"))
result = audit(records, rules)
write_outputs(result, args.out, args.title)
print(json.dumps({"status": "ok", **result["summary"], "out": args.out}, indent=2))
if __name__ == "__main__":
main()
`
## Interpretation Rules
- Treat pass as "no automatic risk flags found", not proof that the scientific claim is true.
- Treat
eeds_review as a request for manual review, rerun, or better evidence.
- Preserve all input tables and rules used for the audit.
- Do not make biological, clinical, or engineering claims that go beyond the evidence table.
## Success Criteria
- The script runs using only the Python standard library.
- The fixture generates audit.json, audit_report.csv, and
eview.md.
- At least one fixture row is flagged for review.
- The final report names the exact rules that triggered each flag.
## Inspiration Sources
- [BIOME-Bench: Biomolecular Interaction Inference and Multi-Omics Pathway Mechanism Elucidation](https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.24733)
- [SciHorizon-GENE: Benchmarking LLM for Life Sciences Inference from Gene Knowledge to Functional Understanding](https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.12805)
- [Evaluation of large language models for discovery of gene set function](https://arxiv.org/abs/2309.04019)
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