Install VIPP¶

VIPP 0.12.0a3 requires Python 3.12 or newer. Because the current release is a pre-release, pip needs the --pre flag to select it from PyPI.

Platform verification for 0.12.0a3

Release CI exercises the application and package on Linux and Windows. A current manual GUI installation/smoke pass is still required before a platform should be described as broadly verified. Treat the commands below as supported installation paths, not evidence that every reader, dataset, display server, or GPU/driver combination has been validated.

Recommended: a dedicated environment¶

A separate environment prevents unrelated scientific packages from changing VIPP's dependencies. The commands below install napari with PyQt6 and the tagged VIPP release.

WindowsmacOSLinux

py -3.12 -m venv vipp-env
.\vipp-env\Scripts\Activate.ps1
python -m pip install --upgrade pip
python -m pip install "napari[pyqt6]"
python -m pip install --pre napari-vipp
napari

python3.12 -m venv vipp-env
source vipp-env/bin/activate
python -m pip install --upgrade pip
python -m pip install "napari[pyqt6]"
python -m pip install --pre napari-vipp
napari

python3.12 -m venv vipp-env
source vipp-env/bin/activate
python -m pip install --upgrade pip
python -m pip install "napari[pyqt6]"
python -m pip install --pre napari-vipp
napari

Conda or Mamba environments are also suitable; use Python 3.12 or newer and activate the environment before running the final python -m pip install ... command.

Stable manual versus nightly manual

The commands above install the release documented by this version of the site. Do not install the development branch just because you are reading the nightly manual. See versions and compatibility.

Confirm the installation¶

After napari opens:

Choose Plugins → VIPP Workflow (napari-vipp).
In VIPP, choose Open example….
Confirm that the example chooser appears.
Compare the version shown by VIPP with the version selector in this manual.

For a command-line check:

python -c "import importlib.metadata as m; print(m.version('napari-vipp'))"

Expected for this release:

0.12.0a3

Optional microscope readers¶

The base package supports the documented TIFF, OME-Zarr, NumPy, and ordinary raster routes. Install only the reader family you need, then restart napari.

File family	Command
Nikon ND2	`python -m pip install --pre "napari-vipp[nd2]"`
Zeiss CZI	`python -m pip install --pre "napari-vipp[czi]"`
Mixed microscope formats	`python -m pip install --pre "napari-vipp[microscope]"`
BioIO/Bio-Formats fallback	`python -m pip install --pre "napari-vipp[bioformats]"`

Support for optional readers is an experimental foundation. A reader exposing a file is not proof that every axis, unit, timestamp, or acquisition field was interpreted correctly. Check representative files from your facility before quantitative use.

Install the development branch¶

Use this only for testing unreleased work:

python -m pip install --upgrade "napari[pyqt6]" "https://github.com/rensutheart/napari-vipp/archive/refs/heads/main.zip"

Development workflows may not reopen in a stable alpha release. Record the commit hash as well as the package version if results depend on an unreleased build.

Before upgrading an existing workflow, read versions and compatibility and preserve the old environment. Schema-1/2 workflows do not open in 0.12.0a3. Valid schema-3 workflows from 0.12.0a1 and 0.12.0a2 load structurally, but cached results are not serialized; recalculate and validate them after upgrading. Regenerate exported Python too, because it requires the exact VIPP runtime version that created it.

Developer installation¶

Contributors should clone the application repository and install it editable:

git clone https://github.com/rensutheart/napari-vipp.git
cd napari-vipp
python -m venv .venv
.\.venv\Scripts\Activate.ps1
python -m pip install -e ".[dev]"

Continue with the development setup.