---
title: "Find orthologs/paralogs for gene symbols across species"
method: POST
path: "/ortholog_map"
tags: ["Analysis"]
---

# Find orthologs/paralogs for gene symbols across species

`POST /ortholog_map`

## Request

- Base URL: `https://seqbench.com/api/v1`
- URL: `https://seqbench.com/api/v1/ortholog_map`
- Auth: none required

Look up the orthologous (or paralogous) gene for up to 50 gene symbols in a target species, via Ensembl's homology-by-symbol REST endpoint. Symbols with no homology record are reported in `unmapped`, never silently dropped.

## Request body

- object
  - `symbols` string[], required: Gene symbols to look up, up to 50 (e.g. ["TP53", "BRCA1"]).
  - `sourceSpecies` string: Species the symbols belong to: a common name (human, mouse, rat, zebrafish, fruit_fly, worm, yeast, cow, pig, dog, frog, macaque, chimp) or a scientific name such as "rattus_norvegicus". Defaults to "human".
  - `targetSpecies` string, required: Species to find homologs in: a common name (mouse, rat, zebrafish, fruit_fly, worm, yeast, …) or a scientific name such as "danio_rerio".
  - `type` 'orthologues' | 'paralogues' | 'all': Homology type to return. Defaults to orthologues.

## Response `200`

Tool ran successfully.

- SuccessResponse: Standard success envelope returned by every single-tool call.
  - `ok` unknown, required
  - `tool` string, required: The tool slug that ran.
  - `result` object, required: Tool-specific output object. Its shape depends on the tool — call `GET /{tool}` or see the docs for each tool's fields.
  - `gate` GateResult
    - `pass` boolean, required: True if and only if every hard check passed.
    - `checks` GateCheck[], required
      - `id` string, required
      - `label` string, required
      - `severity` 'hard' | 'soft', required
      - `pass` boolean, required
      - `message` string, required
      - `value` number
      - `threshold` string
    - `notChecked` string[], required: Honest list of what this gate does NOT verify.
  - `provenance` Provenance, required
    - `apiVersion` string, required
    - `tool` union, required: Tool slug, or an array of slugs (one per step) for a workflow.
      - string
      - string[]
    - `generatedAt` string, date-time, required: ISO 8601 timestamp of when the result was generated.

## Other responses

- `400`: Invalid argument or the tool could not run.
- `404`: Unknown tool.
- `429`: Rate limited (metered tools only). Body carries code `rate_limited` and retryable `true`; honor the Retry-After header.
- `503`: A metered tool is momentarily at capacity. The identical request should succeed after Retry-After; body carries code `upstream_unavailable`.

---

[API](https://skmtc.dev/seqbench/apis/seqbench-api.md) · [All operations](https://skmtc.dev/seqbench/apis/seqbench-api/llms.txt) · [OpenAPI document](https://skmtc.dev/seqbench/apis/seqbench-api/revisions/132575216865?raw)