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Getting started

Installation

csauto runs as a VS Code extension (recommended) or as a command-line tool with a browser dashboard. Both need Python 3.11+ on the machine and a runtime for your solver (see Prerequisites).

VS Code extension (recommended)

Install csauto from the VS Code Marketplace, or run:

Code
code --install-extension simvia.csauto

The extension embeds the dashboard directly in the editor, including over Remote-SSH sessions on HPC clusters, and manages its own Python environment: no manual csauto install is needed. With Remote-SSH or WSL, install the extension on the remote side. Windows is supported through WSL.

For a machine without Marketplace access, download the .vsix for your platform from the releases page and use Extensions: Install from VSIX: linux-x64 for most Linux machines and WSL, linux-arm64, darwin-arm64 for Apple silicon Macs, darwin-x64 for Intel Macs. These carry csauto's Python dependencies and set up offline. The generic csauto-<version>.vsix downloads them from PyPI instead.

Then open a folder, click the csauto icon in the activity bar and create a campaign with New Campaign…. See the extension guide for the details.

Headless or HPC without VS Code (CLI and browser)

Core features have no external dependencies (pure standard library). The web dashboard needs a few extra packages, which the script installs.

Code
# One-line install (latest release into ~/.local/share/csauto, with a venv and a shell alias)
bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/simvia-tech/csauto/main/install.sh)"

# Reload your shell
source ~/.bashrc   # or: source ~/.zshrc

To update an existing installation, re-run the same command: it installs the latest release over the existing one. Neither git nor Node.js is needed.

Each release also ships a self-contained wheel (dashboard included) for scripted or CI installs:

Code
pip install "csauto-<version>-py3-none-any.whl[web]"

Verify the installation:

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csauto --help

Manual installation (contributors or custom locations)

Code
git clone https://github.com/simvia-tech/csauto.git ~/tools/csauto
cd ~/tools/csauto

# Option A: use the install script (creates venv, adds alias)
./install.sh

# Option B: manual setup
python3 -m venv .venv && source .venv/bin/activate
pip install -e ".[web]"

# Build the dashboard once (a clone does not include it; needs Node.js and pnpm)
cd frontend && pnpm install && pnpm build

The csauto command is available inside the venv. To use it globally, add an alias:

Code
echo "alias csauto='$HOME/tools/csauto/.venv/bin/csauto'" >> ~/.bashrc

To install without a venv: ./install.sh --no-venv.

Prerequisites

You need at least one runtime for your solver:

Next steps

Follow the Quickstart for a complete walkthrough from zero to a running campaign.