Aliases

An alias is a unique identifier for a digital entity that can be used as an alternative ID to the one generated by Dockstore. A digital entity refers to a tool, workflow, organization or collection on Dockstore. Aliases are only unique within entity types, so you could use the alias foobar for both a tool and an organization. Tools and workflows are treated as a single entity type.

Currently the only way to add an alias to an entity is through our API. You can use our Swagger UI to add an alias.

Some things to note:

  • You can create multiple aliases per digital entity, however they must all be unique

  • Aliases are restricted to alphanumerical strings that are case-insensitive and can contain internal hyphens

  • An alias cannot be removed

Tools and Workflows

If you would like to setup aliases for your tool or workflow, you can now do so through our API. Aliases are useful for when you would like to publish your work on Dockstore and other Dockstore-like sites. You can use an alias to give this tool a unique name that could potentially be valid across all sites, independent of site specific naming conventions.

You can link to a tool that has the alias MyTool using the link https://dockstore.org/aliases/tools/MyTool. Similarly, you can link to a workflow that has the alias MyWorkflow using the link https://dockstore.org/aliases/workflows/MyWorkflow. This is the recommended way to link to tools and workflows, as names can be changed, making linking by names quite fragile.

Use the /entries/{id}/aliases endpoint to add new aliases. You can specify the aliases as a comma-delimited list.

Organizations and Collections

The main use of an alias is as a permanent identifier for an entity that is used to create a stable URL. Aliases can neither be changed nor removed. For example, an institution that must change its name would also like to modify its organization name in Dockstore. Similarly, a collection might change its name over time to highlight the current workflows in use. By providing an alias, a stable URL is created for a collection or organization regardless of its name.

You can link to an organization that has the alias MyOrganization using the link https://dockstore.org/aliases/organizations/MyOrganization. Similarly, you can link to a collection that has the alias MyCollection using the link https://dockstore.org/aliases/collections/MyCollection. This is the recommended way to link to organizations and collections, as names can be changed, making linking by names quite fragile.

If you would like to setup aliases for your organization or collection, you must first ensure that the corresponding organization has been approved. Then you can use one of the corresponding endpoints to create the alias.

Use the /organizations/{id}/aliases endpoint to add an alias for an organization.

Use the /organizations/collections/{id}/aliases endpoint to add an alias for a collection.