  We describe the topological cluster classification (TCC) algorithm. The TCC
detects local structures with bond topologies similar to isolated clusters
which minimise the potential energy for a number of monatomic and binary simple
liquids with $m\leq13$ particles. We detail a modified Voronoi bond detection
method that optimizes the cluster detection. The method to identify each
cluster is outlined, and a test example of Lennard-Jones liquid and crystal
phases is considered and critically examined.
