---

omim-cli — client for OMIM (Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man)

Installation

pip install -U omim-cli

Requires Python ≥ 3.8.

First-time setup — the package ships no data. OMIM data is copyrighted by Johns Hopkins University, so each user downloads their own copy with their own free API key (register at https://omim.org/downloads):

omim-cli api config --set-key YOUR_KEY   # save your key once
omim-cli download                        # fetch the 4 official text files
omim-cli update                          # build the local SQLite database
omim-cli stats                           # verify (~29k entries)

Append --with-api to update to also fetch text sections, clinical synopsis and allelic variants via the API. Set the database location with --dbfile or the OMIM_DB env var. See Basic Usage below.

---

Basic Usage

main

omim-cli -h

Usage: omim-cli [OPTIONS] COMMAND [ARGS]...

  omim-cli - client for OMIM (Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man)

Options:
  -d, --dbfile TEXT  the path of database file  [default: ~/omim_data/omim.sqlite3]
  -u, --url TEXT     the base url of omim  [default: https://omim.org]
  --version          Show the version and exit.
  -?, -h, --help     Show this message and exit.

Commands:
  download  download official OMIM text files
  update    update the database from official OMIM data
  query     query something from the database
  stats     statistics of the database
  faq       explains of some faq
  api       live queries against the OMIM REST API

v2.0 — legal data sources. The HTML scraper has been removed. Data is obtained exclusively from the official OMIM API and the official text-file downloads (mim2gene.txt, mimTitles.txt, genemap2.txt, morbidmap.txt). The same free OMIM API key doubles as the download token (register at https://omim.org/downloads); see Installation for setup.

1. stats

OMIM Entry Statistics

omim-cli stats

***** updated time: 2026-07-17 *****
+--------------------------+-------+
| MIM_TYPE                 | COUNT |
+--------------------------+-------+
| gene                     | 17859 |
| phenotype                | 8645  |
| predominantly phenotypes | 1737  |
| moved/removed            | 1383  |
| TOTAL COUNT              | 29624 |
+--------------------------+-------+

2. download

download the four official OMIM text files (mim2gene.txt, mimTitles.txt, genemap2.txt, morbidmap.txt) into a local directory. Re-running only re-downloads files whose # Generated: date changed.

omim-cli download                    # all 4 files, into the current directory
omim-cli download -o ./data          # into ./data
omim-cli download genemap2 morbidmap # only specific files
omim-cli download --force            # re-download even if up to date

3. update

build / refresh the local SQLite database from the downloaded text files.

omim-cli update                      # import text files only (fast, no API calls)
omim-cli update --with-api           # also fetch text sections, clinical synopsis
                                 # and allelic variants via the API (slower)
omim-cli update --with-api --refresh # probe entry dates via API and re-fetch only
                                 # entries OMIM has updated (lightweight detection)
omim-cli update --force              # re-import everything
omim-cli update -d ./data            # use text files in ./data
omim-cli update -t gene -t phenotype # restrict to given mim types

Default mode imports only structured data (prefix, title, geneMap, phenotypeMap, gene identifiers, phenotypic_series). The deep fields (text_sections, clinical_synopsis, allelic variants, references) are populated only with --with-api, because the text files do not carry them.

Incremental — no wasted work. Re-running omim-cli update is a no-op when nothing changed: it compares the text files' # Generated: date and the parser version against the database, and skips the import entirely if current (use --force to re-import). --with-api only queries entries that have not been enriched yet (tracked via the external_links marker), so a second run on an already-enriched database skips all API calls. To catch OMIM-side updates to already-enriched entries without re-fetching everything, use --refresh: it probes each entry's dateUpdated in lightweight batches of 20 (include=dates) and re-fetches full data only for the entries that changed.

Default database path. Set the OMIM_DB (or OMIM_DBFILE) environment variable to change the default database location once for all commands, instead of passing --dbfile every time.

4. faq

explains of some FAQ

omim-cli faq

***** Explains of MIM PREFIX *****
+--------+---------------------------------------------------------+
| PREFIX | EXPLAIN                                                 |
+--------+---------------------------------------------------------+
|   *    | Gene description                                        |
|   +    | Gene and phenotype, combined                            |
|   #    | Phenotype description, molecular basis known            |
|   %    | Phenotype description or locus, molecular basis unknown |
|        | Other, mainly phenotypes with suspected mendelian basis |
|   ^    | Moved/Removed                                           |
+--------+---------------------------------------------------------+
***** Explains of PHENOTYPE SYMBOL *****
+--------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| SYMBOL | EXPLAIN                                                                                                                      |
+--------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|  [ ]   | indicate "nondiseases," mainly genetic variations that lead to apparently abnormal laboratory test values                    |
|  { }   | indicate mutations that contribute to susceptibility to multifactorial disorders                                             |
|        | (e.g., diabetes, asthma) or to susceptibility to infection                                                                   |
|   ?    | before the phenotype name indicates that the relationship between the phenotype and gene is provisional.                     |
|        | More details about this relationship are provided in the comment field of the map and in the gene and phenotype OMIM entries |
|  (1)   | the disorder was positioned by mapping of the wildtype gene                                                                  |
|  (2)   | the disease phenotype itself was mapped                                                                                      |
|  (3)   | the molecular basis of the disorder is known                                                                                 |
|  (4)   | the disorder is a chromosome deletion or duplication syndrome                                                                |
+--------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

5. query

omim-cli query -h

Usage: omim-cli query [OPTIONS]

  query something from database

Options:
  -K, --keys               list the available keys
  -s, --search TEXT...     the search string
  -l, --limit INTEGER      limit for output
  -F, --format [json|tsv]  the format for output
  -o, --outfile TEXT       the output filename [stdout]
  -C, --color              colorful print for json
  -f, --fuzzy              fuzzy search
  --count                  count the number of results
  -h, -?, --help           Show this message and exit.

• show all available keys

omim-cli query -K

+----------------------+------------------------------------------+--------------+
| Key                  | Comment                                  | Type         |
+----------------------+------------------------------------------+--------------+
| mim_number           | MIM Number                               | VARCHAR(10)  |
| prefix               | The prefix symbol                        | VARCHAR(1)   |
| title                | The title                                | VARCHAR(300) |
| references           | The references                           | TEXT         |
| geneMap              | The geneMap data (JSON)                  | TEXT         |
| phenotypeMap         | The phenotypeMap data (JSON)             | TEXT         |
| mim_type             | The mim_type                             | VARCHAR(20)  |
| entrez_gene_id       | The entrez_gene_id                       | VARCHAR(20)  |
| ensembl_gene_id      | The ensembl_gene_id                      | VARCHAR(20)  |
| hgnc_gene_symbol     | The hgnc_gene_symbol                     | VARCHAR(20)  |
| generated            | The generated time                       | DATETIME     |
| text_sections        | Full text subsections (JSON)             | TEXT         |
| clinical_synopsis    | Clinical synopsis with ontology IDs      | TEXT         |
| phenotypic_series    | Phenotypic series MIM numbers            | TEXT         |
| parser_version       | Parser version                           | VARCHAR(10)  |
| status               | Entry status (live/moved/removed)        | VARCHAR(20)  |
| moved_to             | Target MIM if moved                      | VARCHAR(20)  |
| external_links       | External DB cross-references (JSON)      | TEXT         |
| gene_record          | Full gene-map record (JSON)              | TEXT         |
| see_also             | See-also references (JSON)               | TEXT         |
| contributors         | Contributors                             | TEXT         |
| edit_history         | Edit history                             | TEXT         |
| date_created         | Entry creation date                      | DATETIME     |
| date_updated         | Entry last update date                   | DATETIME     |
+----------------------+------------------------------------------+--------------+

Run omim-cli query -K to see the columns of your local database (the omim_allelic_variants table holds allelic variants, queried via manager.get_variants(mim)).

• search with a key

omim-cli query -s hgnc_gene_symbol BMPR2

Details

phenotypeMap	references	prefix	mim_number	generated	ensembl_gene_id	mim_type	geneMap	title	hgnc_gene_symbol	entrez_gene_id
None	16429403, 10051328, 17425602, 18548003, 10903931, 21920918, 12571257, 3291115, 12358323, 10973254, 16429395, 11115378, 14583445, 18626305, 18321866, 11484688, 18496036, 18792970, 7644468, 12045205, 12446270, 15965979, 24446489, 11015450, 19620182	*	600799	2021-04-14	ENSG00000204217	gene	[{"Location": "2q33.1-q33.2", "Phenotype": "Pulmonary hypertension, familial primary, 1, with or without HHT", "Phenotype MIM number": "178600", "Inheritance": "AD", "Phenotype mapping key": "3"}, {"Location": "2q33.1-q33.2", "Phenotype": "Pulmonary hypertension, primary, fenfluramine or dexfenfluramine-associated", "Phenotype MIM number": "178600", "Inheritance": "AD", "Phenotype mapping key": "3"}, {"Location": "2q33.1-q33.2", "Phenotype": "Pulmonary venoocclusive disease 1", "Phenotype MIM number": "265450", "Inheritance": "AD", "Phenotype mapping key": "3"}]	BONE MORPHOGENETIC PROTEIN RECEPTOR, TYPE II; BMPR2	BMPR2	659

• search with a key and output as json

omim-cli query -s hgnc_gene_symbol BMPR2 -F json -C

Details

[
  {
    "phenotypeMap": null,
    "references": "16429403, 10051328, 17425602, 18548003, 10903931, 21920918, 12571257, 3291115, 12358323, 10973254, 16429395, 11115378, 14583445, 18626305, 18321866, 11484688, 18496036, 18792970, 7644468, 12045205, 12446270, 15965979, 24446489, 11015450, 19620182",
    "prefix": "*",
    "mim_number": "600799",
    "generated": "2021-04-14",
    "ensembl_gene_id": "ENSG00000204217",
    "mim_type": "gene",
    "geneMap": [
      {
        "Location": "2q33.1-q33.2",
        "Phenotype": "Pulmonary hypertension, familial primary, 1, with or without HHT",
        "Phenotype MIM number": "178600",
        "Inheritance": "AD",
        "Phenotype mapping key": "3"
      },
      {
        "Location": "2q33.1-q33.2",
        "Phenotype": "Pulmonary hypertension, primary, fenfluramine or dexfenfluramine-associated",
        "Phenotype MIM number": "178600",
        "Inheritance": "AD",
        "Phenotype mapping key": "3"
      },
      {
        "Location": "2q33.1-q33.2",
        "Phenotype": "Pulmonary venoocclusive disease 1",
        "Phenotype MIM number": "265450",
        "Inheritance": "AD",
        "Phenotype mapping key": "3"
      }
    ],
    "title": "BONE MORPHOGENETIC PROTEIN RECEPTOR, TYPE II; BMPR2",
    "hgnc_gene_symbol": "BMPR2",
    "entrez_gene_id": "659"
  }
]

• fuzzy search

omim-cli query -s geneMap '%Pulmonary hypertension%' --fuzzy -F json -C

Details

[
  {
    "phenotypeMap": null,
    "references": "16429403, 10051328, 17425602, 18548003, 10903931, 21920918, 12571257, 3291115, 12358323, 10973254, 16429395, 11115378, 14583445, 18626305, 18321866, 11484688, 18496036, 18792970, 7644468, 12045205, 12446270, 15965979, 24446489, 11015450, 19620182",
    "prefix": "*",
    "mim_number": "600799",
    "generated": "2021-04-14",
    "ensembl_gene_id": "ENSG00000204217",
    "mim_type": "gene",
    "geneMap": [
      {
        "Location": "2q33.1-q33.2",
        "Phenotype": "Pulmonary hypertension, familial primary, 1, with or without HHT",
        "Phenotype MIM number": "178600",
        "Inheritance": "AD",
        "Phenotype mapping key": "3"
      },
      {
        "Location": "2q33.1-q33.2",
        "Phenotype": "Pulmonary hypertension, primary, fenfluramine or dexfenfluramine-associated",
        "Phenotype MIM number": "178600",
        "Inheritance": "AD",
        "Phenotype mapping key": "3"
      },
      {
        "Location": "2q33.1-q33.2",
        "Phenotype": "Pulmonary venoocclusive disease 1",
        "Phenotype MIM number": "265450",
        "Inheritance": "AD",
        "Phenotype mapping key": "3"
      }
    ],
    "title": "BONE MORPHOGENETIC PROTEIN RECEPTOR, TYPE II; BMPR2",
    "hgnc_gene_symbol": "BMPR2",
    "entrez_gene_id": "659"
  },
  {
    "phenotypeMap": null,
    "references": "22474227, 18237401, 11498544, 9837809, 9662443, 9801158, 16973879, 10079111, 25898808, 29562231, 2541345, 1360410, 15539149, 18211975, 16051704, 1512286, 22328087, 10988071, 15353589, 16001074, 11739396, 11457855, 8552590, 7608210, 26176221, 21610094, 11358800, 21654750, 17178917, 9741627, 16890161, 9717814, 16670769, 12177436, 19487814",
    "prefix": "*",
    "mim_number": "601047",
    "generated": "2021-04-14",
    "ensembl_gene_id": "ENSG00000105974",
    "mim_type": "gene",
    "geneMap": [
      {
        "Location": "7q31.2",
        "Phenotype": "?Lipodystrophy, congenital generalized, type 3",
        "Phenotype MIM number": "612526",
        "Inheritance": "AR",
        "Phenotype mapping key": "3"
      },
      {
        "Location": "7q31.2",
        "Phenotype": "Lipodystrophy, familial partial, type 7",
        "Phenotype MIM number": "606721",
        "Inheritance": "AD",
        "Phenotype mapping key": "3"
      },
      {
        "Location": "7q31.2",
        "Phenotype": "Pulmonary hypertension, primary, 3",
        "Phenotype MIM number": "615343",
        "Inheritance": "AD",
        "Phenotype mapping key": "3"
      }
    ],
    "title": "CAVEOLIN 1; CAV1",
    "hgnc_gene_symbol": "CAV1",
    "entrez_gene_id": "857"
  },
  {
    "phenotypeMap": null,
    "references": "18250325, 9312005, 12198146, 11749039, 9721223, 23883380, 10575216, 16574908, 32499642",
    "prefix": "*",
    "mim_number": "603220",
    "generated": "2021-04-14",
    "ensembl_gene_id": "ENSG00000171303",
    "mim_type": "gene",
    "geneMap": [
      {
        "Location": "2p23.3",
        "Phenotype": "Pulmonary hypertension, primary, 4",
        "Phenotype MIM number": "615344",
        "Inheritance": "AD",
        "Phenotype mapping key": "3"
      }
    ],
    "title": "POTASSIUM CHANNEL, SUBFAMILY K, MEMBER 3; KCNK3",
    "hgnc_gene_symbol": "KCNK3",
    "entrez_gene_id": "3777"
  },
  {
    "phenotypeMap": null,
    "references": "9371779, 18548003, 21920918, 19419974, 21898662, 26122142, 10583507, 24076600, 19211612, 9205116",
    "prefix": "*",
    "mim_number": "603295",
    "generated": "2021-04-14",
    "ensembl_gene_id": "ENSG00000120693",
    "mim_type": "gene",
    "geneMap": [
      {
        "Location": "13q13.3",
        "Phenotype": "Pulmonary hypertension, primary, 2",
        "Phenotype MIM number": "615342",
        "Inheritance": "AD",
        "Phenotype mapping key": "3"
      }
    ],
    "title": "SMAD FAMILY MEMBER 9; SMAD9",
    "hgnc_gene_symbol": "SMAD9",
    "entrez_gene_id": "4093"
  },
  {
    "phenotypeMap": null,
    "references": "6208196, 11474210, 18063578, 2991113, 9711878, 12655559, 21120950, 1840546, 9107685, 8486760, 7590739, 25410056, 3545062, 29801986, 28538732, 19793055, 17310273, 20154341, 16708072, 30842655, 206435, 2991241, 11407344, 6249820, 15465784, 8382576, 21767969, 7587391, 14718356, 12853138, 4944634",
    "prefix": "*",
    "mim_number": "608307",
    "generated": "2021-04-14",
    "ensembl_gene_id": "ENSG00000021826",
    "mim_type": "gene",
    "geneMap": [
      {
        "Location": "2q34",
        "Phenotype": "{Pulmonary hypertension, neonatal, susceptibility to}",
        "Phenotype MIM number": "615371",
        "Inheritance": "",
        "Phenotype mapping key": "3"
      },
      {
        "Location": "2q34",
        "Phenotype": "Carbamoylphosphate synthetase I deficiency",
        "Phenotype MIM number": "237300",
        "Inheritance": "AR",
        "Phenotype mapping key": "3"
      }
    ],
    "title": "CARBAMOYL PHOSPHATE SYNTHETASE I; CPS1",
    "hgnc_gene_symbol": "CPS1",
    "entrez_gene_id": "1373"
  },
  {
    "phenotypeMap": null,
    "references": "21255763, 15779907, 16163389, 24034276",
    "prefix": "*",
    "mim_number": "612804",
    "generated": "2021-04-14",
    "ensembl_gene_id": "ENSG00000104835",
    "mim_type": "gene",
    "geneMap": [
      {
        "Location": "19q13.2",
        "Phenotype": "Hyperuricemia, pulmonary hypertension, renal failure, and alkalosis",
        "Phenotype MIM number": "613845",
        "Inheritance": "AR",
        "Phenotype mapping key": "3"
      }
    ],
    "title": "SERYL-tRNA SYNTHETASE 2; SARS2",
    "hgnc_gene_symbol": "SARS2",
    "entrez_gene_id": "54938"
  },
  {
    "phenotypeMap": null,
    "references": "19165231",
    "prefix": "%",
    "mim_number": "612862",
    "generated": "2021-04-15",
    "ensembl_gene_id": "",
    "mim_type": "phenotype",
    "geneMap": [
      {
        "Location": "6p21.3",
        "Phenotype": "{Pulmonary hypertension, chronic thromboembolic, without deep vein thrombosis, susceptibility to}",
        "Phenotype MIM number": "612862",
        "Inheritance": "",
        "Phenotype mapping key": "2"
      }
    ],
    "title": "PULMONARY HYPERTENSION, CHRONIC THROMBOEMBOLIC, WITHOUT DEEP VEIN THROMBOSIS, SUSCEPTIBILITY TO",
    "hgnc_gene_symbol": "",
    "entrez_gene_id": "100302516"
  }
]

---

6. api

live online queries against the official OMIM REST API (does not touch the local database). Requires an API key (register at https://omim.org/downloads).

# manage your key (stored at ~/.omim_api_key; or set OMIM_API_KEY env var)
omim-cli api config --set-key YOUR_KEY
omim-cli api config --show
omim-cli api config --clear

omim-cli api status                                  # check API status
omim-cli api entry --mim 100100                      # fetch an entry
omim-cli api entry --mim 603903 --include clinicalSynopsis geneMap
omim-cli api search -q "Marfan syndrome" --limit 20  # text search
omim-cli api gene-map --mim 602421                   # gene map data (use a gene MIM)
omim-cli api clinical-synopsis --mim 219700          # clinical synopsis
omim-cli api allelic-variants --mim 602421           # allelic variants (use a gene MIM)
omim-cli api references --mim 219700                 # reference list
omim-cli api batch --file mim_list.txt -o out.json   # batch query to file

Add --raw to any api subcommand for the full JSON response. The API caps entry requests at 20 mimNumbers when an include is set — batch handles this automatically.

---

Use omim-cli in Python

import omim_cli
from omim_cli import util
from omim_cli.db import Manager, OMIM_DATA, OMIM_ALLELIC_VARIANT

manager = Manager(dbfile=omim_cli.DEFAULT_DB)

# show columns
print(util.get_columns_table())

# show stats
generated, table = util.get_stats_table(manager)
print(generated)
print(table)

# count the database
manager.query(OMIM_DATA).count()

# query with key-value
res = manager.query(OMIM_DATA, 'prefix', '*')
res = manager.query(OMIM_DATA, 'mim_number', '600799')
res = manager.query(OMIM_DATA, 'hgnc_gene_symbol', 'BMPR2')
res = manager.query(OMIM_DATA, 'geneMap', '%Pulmonary hypertension%', fuzzy=True)  # fuzzy query

# fetch query result
item = res.first()
items = res.all()

# content of result
print(item.mim_number, item.title)
print(item.as_dict)

# --- v2.0: deep fields (populated by `omim-cli update --with-api`) ---
import json

# text sections: API section names -> text content
text_sections = json.loads(item.text_sections)
print(list(text_sections))
# e.g. ['description', 'clinicalFeatures', 'mapping', 'molecularGenetics', ...]

# clinical synopsis: flat category fields, features carry inline ontology IDs
synopsis = json.loads(item.clinical_synopsis)
print(synopsis.get('inheritance'))
# e.g. 'Autosomal recessive {SNOMEDCT:258211005} {UMLS C0441748 HP:0000007}'

# allelic variants for a gene entry (separate table)
variants = manager.get_variants('602421')
for v in variants[:3]:
    print(v.variant_id, v.gene_symbol, v.mutation, v.rsid, v.clinvar_rcvs)

Query the OMIM API directly

from omim_cli.core.api import APIClient
from omim_cli.core.parser_v2 import api_to_model

# key from: argument > OMIM_API_KEY env var > ~/.omim_api_key
api = APIClient()

entry = api.get_entry('602421', include='all')   # single entry
model = api_to_model(entry)                        # -> OMIM_DATA-shaped dict
print(model['allelic_variants'][0])

for entry in api.iter_entries(['100100', '219700', '602421'], include='all'):
    print(entry['mimNumber'], entry['titles']['preferredTitle'])

resp = api.search('Marfan syndrome', limit=5)      # SOLR search

---

Data & license

Code: MIT License — see LICENSE. Liozhang.

OMIM data: OMIM® and its data are copyrighted by The Johns Hopkins University. Use of OMIM data is governed by the OMIM User Agreement.

• This package is a client tool only — it does not bundle or redistribute any OMIM data. Each user must obtain their own (free) API access and download the data themselves with omim-cli download.
• The API key is a personal, non-transferable credential. Never commit it to version control (the key and downloaded files are gitignored).
• This project is intended for academic research, education, and personal use. It is not intended for commercial use.

Default file locations

Artifact	Default location	Override
Downloaded text files (mim2gene.txt, …)	current directory (.)	omim-cli download -o <dir>
SQLite database	~/omim_data/omim.sqlite3	--dbfile <path> or OMIM_DB env var
API key	~/.omim_api_key	OMIM_API_KEY env var, or omim-cli api config

Responsible use — respect the OMIM API rules

This tool is built to obtain OMIM data legally and courteously, in full respect of the OMIM API terms:

• Official channels only. All data comes from the official OMIM REST API and the official text-file downloads — the HTML scraper was removed in v2.0.
• Authenticated, read-only access. Requests use the ApiKey header (never the URL, to avoid leaking the key in logs) and are GET-only.
• Honors documented limits. Entry requests are capped at 20 mimNumbers when an include is set, gene-map at 100; the tool enforces/batches these for you.
• Polite pacing. A short delay sits between every API request; bulk enrichment (omim-cli update --with-api) is sequential (single-threaded) and skips entries it has already fetched, so it does not re-burn your quota.
• Quota-aware. If OMIM returns 429 (quota/rate limit), the tool backs off and retries once, then stops with a clear message instead of hammering.
• Be mindful of your daily quota. omim-cli update --with-api over the full database is ~1,500 API calls; run it in chunks or only for the entries you need (-t gene, specific MIMs via the Python API) if your quota is limited.