FlowIO: Flow Cytometry Standard File Handler

Overview

FlowIO is a lightweight Python library for reading and writing Flow Cytometry Standard (FCS) files. Parse FCS metadata, extract event data, and create new FCS files with minimal dependencies. The library supports FCS versions 2.0, 3.0, and 3.1, making it ideal for backend services, data pipelines, and basic cytometry file operations.

When to Use This Skill

This skill should be used when:

• FCS files requiring parsing or metadata extraction
• Flow cytometry data needing conversion to NumPy arrays
• Event data requiring export to FCS format
• Multi-dataset FCS files needing separation
• Channel information extraction (scatter, fluorescence, time)
• Cytometry file validation or inspection
• Pre-processing workflows before advanced analysis

Related Tools: For advanced flow cytometry analysis including compensation, gating, and FlowJo/GatingML support, recommend FlowKit library as a companion to FlowIO.