BASS — Bioinformatics Analysis Software System

BASS is a modular, open-source platform for managing bioinformatics metadata, orchestrating analysis workflows, and integrating research data across sources. Each component can be used independently or composed into a complete system.

Components

Component	Role	Description
Hippo	Metadata Tracking	Queryable registry of entities, fields, and relationships — tracks where data lives and what it describes
Cappella	Workflow Engine	Harmonization engine that ingests data from multiple sources into a consistent, provenance-rich picture
Canon	Data Standards	Artifact resolver — determines whether a computational result exists and how to produce it
Aperture	Interface Layer	CLI tools, web UI, and API client libraries for interacting with the platform
Bridge	Integration Middleware	Unified API, authentication, cross-component sync, and monitoring for multi-component deployments

Architecture

BASS follows an SDK-first architecture: all business logic lives in Python SDKs, with REST/GraphQL APIs serving as thin transport wrappers. This means you can embed any component directly in your Python code without running a server.

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                  Aperture                    │
│          CLI · Web UI · API Clients         │
├─────────────┬───────────────┬───────────────┤
│   Hippo     │   Cappella    │    Canon      │
│  Metadata   │  Harmonize    │  Artifacts    │
├─────────────┴───────────────┴───────────────┤
│                  Bridge                      │
│     Auth · Sync · Monitoring · Unified API  │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Getting Started

New to BASS? Start with the Platform Overview for a high-level introduction, then follow the Getting Started guide to set up your first deployment.

For individual components, see each component's introduction page linked in the table above.