Expert-curated database of biochemical reactions. Rhea is the reaction reference used by UniProt and KEGG: balanced, expert-curated enzyme/metabolic reactions cross-referenced to ChEBI compounds, EC numbers, UniProt enzymes and PubMed.
Two well-named, read-only tools with complete input schemas and solid descriptions. search_reactions and get_reaction both follow verb_noun naming and have clear, actionable descriptions (180 - 220 chars). Input schemas are properly typed with required fields. However, output schemas are not documented, LLMs cannot predict the structure of returned objects. Error handling is minimal (generic catch-all). No parameter constraints (e.g., limit bounds are enforced in code but not declared in schema). Missing descriptions for response fields forces LLMs to infer structure.
Fetch a single Rhea reaction by its Rhea id (e.g. "RHEA:14293" or "14293"). Returns the balanced plain-text equation plus EC number, ChEBI compound, UniProt enzyme and PubMed cross-references. Rhea is the expert-curated biochemical reaction reference used by UniProt and KEGG. Keyless.
Search Rhea, the expert-curated database of biochemical reactions (the reaction reference used by UniProt and KEGG). Find enzyme/metabolic reactions by compound name, ChEBI id, EC number, or keyword and get the balanced plain-text reaction equation plus EC and ChEBI cross-references. Keyless.
Output schemas not documented. LLMs cannot predict response structure (e.g., fields in reactions array, data types). Forces LLMs to guess or hallucinate field names for downstream processing.
Parameter constraints (limit: 1 - 100) enforced in code but not declared in JSON Schema. LLMs cannot see bounds and may pass invalid values. Schema should include 'minimum', 'maximum', and 'default'.
Error handling is generic. Catch-all returns {error: message} with no guidance on recovery. Should distinguish retryable errors (network) from user-fixable (invalid ID format) and suggest next steps.
No pagination support in search_reactions. If query returns >100 results, only first 100 are available. Should support offset/limit or cursor-based pagination and return total count.
| Scored | Grade | Overall | Spec posture | Rubric |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-09-23 | C | 61 | 2026-07-28+ | v2 |
Tool descriptions mention 'Keyless' but do not explain what that means to the LLM. Clarify: 'No API key required, this tool is free and public.'