Guidance for choosing the right protein binder design tool. Use this skill when: (1) Deciding between BoltzGen, BindCraft, or RFdiffusion, (2) Planning a binder design campaign, (3) Understanding trade-offs between different approaches, (4) Selecting tools for specific target types. For specific tool parameters, use the individual tool skills (boltzgen, bindcraft, rfdiffusion, etc.).

Guidance for cell-free protein synthesis (CFPS) optimization. Use when: (1) Planning CFPS experiments, (2) Troubleshooting low yield or aggregation, (3) Optimizing DNA template design for CFPS, (4) Expressing difficult proteins (disulfide-rich, toxic, membrane).

Ligand-aware protein sequence design using LigandMPNN. Use this skill when: (1) Designing sequences around small molecules, (2) Enzyme active site design, (3) Ligand binding pocket optimization, (4) Metal coordination site design, (5) Cofactor binding proteins. For standard protein design, use proteinmpnn. For solubility optimization, use solublempnn.

End-to-end guidance for protein design pipelines. Use this skill when: (1) Starting a new protein design project, (2) Need step-by-step workflow guidance, (3) Understanding the full design pipeline, (4) Planning compute resources and timelines, (5) Integrating multiple design tools. For tool selection, use binder-design. For QC thresholds, use protein-qc.

Quality control metrics and filtering thresholds for protein design. Use this skill when: (1) Evaluating design quality for binding, expression, or structure, (2) Setting filtering thresholds for pLDDT, ipTM, PAE, (3) Checking sequence liabilities (cysteines, deamidation, polybasic clusters), (4) Creating multi-stage filtering pipelines, (5) Computing PyRosetta interface metrics (dG, SC, dSASA), (6) Checking biophysical properties (instability, GRAVY, pI), (7) Ranking designs with composite scoring. This skill provides research-backed thresholds from binder design competitions and published benchmarks.

Design protein sequences using ProteinMPNN inverse folding. Use this skill when: (1) Designing sequences for RFdiffusion backbones, (2) Redesigning existing protein sequences, (3) Fixing specific residues while designing others, (4) Optimizing sequences for expression or stability, (5) Multi-state or negative design. For backbone generation, use rfdiffusion or bindcraft. For ligand-aware design, use ligandmpnn. For solubility optimization, use solublempnn.

Generate protein backbones using RFdiffusion, a diffusion-based generative model for de novo protein structure generation. Use this skill when: (1) Designing binder scaffolds for a target protein, (2) Generating novel protein backbones from scratch, (3) Scaffolding functional motifs into new proteins, (4) Specifying hotspot residues for interface design, (5) Creating symmetric oligomers. For sequence design after backbone generation, use proteinmpnn. For structure validation, use alphafold or chai. For QC thresholds, use protein-qc.

Solubility-optimized protein sequence design using SolubleMPNN. Use this skill when: (1) Designing for E. coli expression, (2) Optimizing solubility of designed proteins, (3) Reducing aggregation propensity, (4) Need high-yield expression, (5) Avoiding inclusion body formation. For standard design, use proteinmpnn. For ligand-aware design, use ligandmpnn.