Variant Call Format

[1][2] VCF is a common output format for variant calling programs due to its relative simplicity and scalability.

[1][5] The standard is currently in version 4.5,[6][7] although the 1000 Genomes Project has developed its own specification for structural variations such as duplications, which are not easily accommodated into the existing schema.

gVCF is an extended format which includes additional information about "blocks" that match the reference and their qualities.

The header contains keywords that optionally semantically and syntactically describe the fields used in the body of the file, notably INFO, FILTER, and FORMAT (see below).

Arbitrary keys are permitted, although the following sub-fields are reserved (albeit optional):[6] Any other info fields are defined in the .vcf header.