ENA Credentials

To submit data to the European Nucleotide Archive, you need a Webin account. Configure the credentials in SeqDesk so the system can authenticate with ENA’s API.

Getting a Webin Account

If you do not have a Webin account:

Register at ENA Webin Portal
Your account ID will be in the format Webin-12345 (the literal prefix Webin- followed by digits only — the username validator is ^Webin-\d+$)
Note your password and center name

Configuration

Navigate to Admin → Data Upload → ENA Configuration (/admin/ena).

Field	Description
Webin Username	Your account ID (format: `Webin-12345`; digits only after the prefix)
Webin Password	Your account password (see Security — stored as plaintext)
Test Mode	Toggle between test and production servers
Broker Account	Enables broker-account submission mode (see below)
Center Name	Your submission center name (used as the per-submission `center_name` when broker mode is on)

Broker Account Mode

If your Webin account submits on behalf of other centers, enable Broker Account. When broker mode is on and a Center Name is set, that center name is applied as the center_name on each submission. With broker mode off, the center name is not sent. Broker mode can also be set with the SEQDESK_ENA_BROKER_ACCOUNT environment variable (config key ena.brokerAccount).

Test Connection

After entering credentials, use the Test Connection button to verify they work against the ENA server.

Test Mode

Mode	Server	Purpose
Test (default)	`wwwdev.ebi.ac.uk`	Validate submissions, data expires in 24h
Production	`www.ebi.ac.uk`	Create permanent public records

Always start with test mode enabled. Test submissions use the same validation as production but do not create permanent records.

Alternative Configuration Methods

ENA credentials can also be set through:

Environment variables (recommended for secrets):


export SEQDESK_ENA_USERNAME="Webin-12345"
export SEQDESK_ENA_PASSWORD="your-password"
export SEQDESK_ENA_TEST_MODE="true"
export SEQDESK_ENA_CENTER="Your Center Name"
export SEQDESK_ENA_BROKER_ACCOUNT="false"   # set true for broker-account mode

Config file (not recommended for passwords):


{
  "ena": {
    "username": "Webin-12345",
    "testMode": true,
    "centerName": "Your Center Name"
  }
}

Environment variables take priority over the config file, which takes priority over the Admin UI settings. See Configuration Sources for details.

Security

The Webin password is stored as plaintext in the database. It is not encrypted at rest — it is only masked in API responses (the settings API returns a hasPassword boolean, never the value itself). Treat the SeqDesk database as holding a live secret.

The password is written to the database verbatim; there is no encryption layer
API responses mask the password (they expose only hasPassword)
Prefer supplying the password via the SEQDESK_ENA_PASSWORD environment variable or a dedicated secrets manager rather than the Admin UI, so the secret is not persisted in the application database
Restrict access to the database and its backups accordingly
Never commit passwords to config files in version control