molecular-visualization-3dmollisted
Install: claude install-skill jaechang-hits/SciAgent-Skills
# 3Dmol.js molecular visualization
## Overview
3Dmol.js is a WebGL molecular viewer that runs entirely in the browser. This skill emits
**self-contained HTML** files that load 3Dmol from a CDN and render a structure, a trajectory,
or a vibrational mode — no server, no build step, no Python runtime to view. The bundled
`scripts/mol_viewer.py` generates that HTML from any `.xyz/.trj/.pdb/.sdf/.mol2/.cube` file;
the Core API below shows the underlying 3Dmol.js calls so you can hand-write or customize a
viewer.
## When to Use
- Animate a transition-state imaginary vibrational mode (from a mode trajectory or dx/dy/dz vectors)
- Play back a reaction path (IRC/NEB) or an MD trajectory with a speed control
- Show a protein–ligand docking pose with cartoon + ligand sticks + a binding-site surface
- Display an orbital or electron-density isosurface from a Gaussian `.cube` file
- Hand a colleague one HTML file that opens in any browser, no install
- Use **py3Dmol** instead for inline viewers inside a Jupyter notebook (same engine, Python API)
- Use **PyMOL/ChimeraX** instead for publication ray-traced stills or heavy structural editing
- Use **rdkit-chemdraw-cdxml** for 2D chemical structures, **plotly/matplotlib** for 2D plots
## Prerequisites
- **Viewing**: any modern browser with network access (the HTML pulls 3Dmol.js from a CDN)
- **Generator script**: `scripts/mol_viewer.py` — Python 3 standard library only, no install
- **Optional**: `pip install py3Dmol` for notebook use (