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Attribute mapping reference

During metadata curation, the transformation automatically maps commonly used attribute names found in source HDF5 files to the canonical ODM API names.

Mapping is applied separately to cell metadata and feature metadata. When an attribute in the source file matches one of the known alternative names listed below, it is renamed to the corresponding ODM API display name. Attributes that do not match any known name are converted to camelCase.

Cell metadata attributes

ODM API display name Alternative names
cellID
barcode
batch sample_id, sample, run_id
cellType cell_type, celltype, ident, labels
cluster cluster_louvain, cluster_leiden, seurat_clusters
nCounts n_counts, umi_count, nCount_RNA, total_umi, n_umi, n_reads, nUMI, UMI_count
percentMito percent_mito, percent_mt, percent.mt, pct_mt, pct_mito, pct_counts_mito, percent.mito, percent.mito.raw, mito_ratio, pct_counts_mt
umap X_umap, UMAP
pca X_pca, PCA
tsne X_tsne, tSNE
pcaHarmony pca_harmony, X_harmony, harmony_embedding, X_pca_harmony
nGenes n_genes, n_genes_by_counts, nGene, n_features, nFeature_RNA, genes_detected, detected_genes, gene_count, Total_Genes_Detected
mitoCounts mito_counts, total_counts_mt, total_counts_mito, subsets_mt_sum, mt_sum, MT_sum
riboCounts ribo_counts, total_counts_ribo, total_counts_rb, subsets_ribo_sum, rb_counts, rb_sum
percentRibo percent_ribo, percent_rb, percent.rb, pct_counts_ribo, ribo_ratio, pct_ribo, pct_counts_rb, pct_counts_rrna
percentHemoglobin percent_hb, pct_hb, hemoglobin_fraction, prop_hb, percent_hemoglobin
doubletStatus doublet_status, is_doublet, predicted_doublet, multiplet_status
doubletScore doublet_score, scrublet_score, doublet_probability, multiplet_score, doublet_stat
sScore S_score, s.score, S.Score, s_phase_score, S_phase_probability
g2mScore G2M_score, g2m.score, G2M.Score, g2m_phase_score, G2M_phase_probability
cellCycle phase, cell_cycle_phase, cc_phase, cycle_stage
ambientFraction ambient_fraction, decontX_score, rho, contamination_fraction, ambient_rna_percent, soup_fraction, soup_frac

Feature metadata attributes

ODM API display name Alternative names
geneId gene_id (index), gene_ids, ensembl_id, feature_id, stable_id, ENSEMBL
gene symbol, symbols, gene_symbol, gene_symbols, feature_name, display_name, name, gene_name
totalCounts total_counts, gene_total, sum_counts, count_sum, total_umis
nCellsByCounts n_cells_by_counts, n_cells, num_cells, n_obs, num_cells_expressed
meanCounts mean_counts, avg_exp, obs_mean, means
pctDropoutByCounts pct_dropout_by_counts, pct_dropout, percent_dropout, dropout_rate

Gene ID to name mapping

When feature metadata contains a geneId column but no gene name column, the transformation can automatically resolve gene names from a built-in reference. This is controlled by the map_gene_ids_to_names parameter in the feature_metadata configuration block, which is enabled by default. Set it to false for proteomics or other non-gene-ID data where this behaviour is not appropriate.

The mapping uses Ensembl and NCBI reference data. Both Ensembl gene IDs (for example, ENSG...) and NCBI gene IDs are supported. The following organisms are supported in hdf5-cells:

Organism Genome version Ensembl release NCBI release
Homo sapiens GRCh38.p14 115 GCF_000001405.40-RS_2025_08
Mus musculus GRCm39 115 GCF_000001635.27-RS_2024_02
Rattus norvegicus GRCr8 115 GCF_036323735.1-RS_2024_02
Sus scrofa Sscrofa11.1 115 106

The gene ID column must be named geneId for mapping to be performed. If the column has a different name in the source file, ensure it is covered by the feature metadata attribute mapping above so that it is renamed to geneId before this step runs.