nf-core / nf-core/modules

[FEATURE] make picard markduplicates smarter

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Description

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe

picard markduplicates does not follow current best practices with regard to duplicate type tagging, UMI usage, and "free" index creation

Describe the solution you'd like

I'll add some logic to the module to detect presence of RX tags, auto-create an index (which you get for free with --WRITE_INDEX), and illumina instrument type detection.

Describe alternatives you've considered

I was worried that
according to https://nf-co.re/developers/modules#inputoutput-options
such smarts should not be added but after a bit of conversation in slack, it seems a PR might be welcome.

some "pros" to having this logic:

  • encourages scientific best practices
  • bams 'in the wild" will be more accurate
  • very low risk of doing something wrong

some "cons"

  • more responsibility to keep up with best practice (not sure this is really a con... seems like a responsibility for a workflow maintainer anyway)

Are there other cons that I'm not considering?

Additional context

No response

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start at the Picard MarkDuplicates module and review how duplicate type tagging, RX tags, --WRITE_INDEX, and Illumina instrument detection are currently handled. Define the expected behavior for each case, then add focused tests showing that the module applies the requested best-practice logic without breaking existing options.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Domain
bioinformatics, tooling
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Quiet
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
45/100

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