Installation#

OpenVCAD 3.0 Internal Beta#

OpenVCAD 3.0 beta is installed from internal GitHub release wheels. Do not install the beta with pip install OpenVCAD.

Important

This is a closed internal beta. Do not share the wheel files or release ZIP files outside the approved lab group.

Supported Python versions: 3.11, 3.12, 3.13, and 3.14 on Windows, Linux, and macOS.

Recommended Setup#

We strongly recommend using a virtual environment to keep dependencies clean and avoid conflicts with other Python projects. Use a dedicated virtual environment for OpenVCAD 3.0 beta work, separate from any OpenVCAD 2.x environment if you still need the older version.

1. Create a project directory#

mkdir my_openvcad_3_beta_project
cd my_openvcad_3_beta_project

2. Create and activate a virtual environment#

# macOS / Linux
python3 -m venv openvcad3-venv
source openvcad3-venv/bin/activate

# Windows
python -m venv openvcad3-venv
openvcad3-venv\Scripts\activate

You should see (openvcad3-venv) at the beginning of your prompt.

3. Download the beta wheel ZIP#

Go to the internal OpenVCAD releases page:

MacCurdyLab/openvcad-internal

Download the newest OpenVCAD 3 beta ZIP for your operating system:

openvcad_beta_3.x.x_mac.zip
openvcad_beta_3.x.x_linux.zip
openvcad_beta_3.x.x_windows.zip

Ignore releases labeled Dependencies; those are for development setup.

Extract the ZIP file. It contains several .whl files. The openvcad wheel is Python-version-specific, while the other package wheels are pure Python.

4. Check your Python version and wheel tag#

python --version
python -c "import sys; print(f'cp{sys.version_info.major}{sys.version_info.minor}')"

For example, Python 3.11 prints cp311, Python 3.12 prints cp312, Python 3.13 prints cp313, and Python 3.14 prints cp314.

5. Install all beta wheels together#

From the extracted ZIP directory, install the matching openvcad wheel and the pure-Python package wheels in one command. They depend on each other, so install them together.

Replace cpYY with the tag printed in the previous step:

python -m pip install --upgrade pip
python -m pip install openvcad-3.x.x-cpYY-cpYY-*.whl pyvcad_attribute_resolver-*.whl pyvcad_rendering-*.whl pyvcad_medical-*.whl

For example, if you are using Python 3.11 on macOS, install the openvcad wheel whose filename contains cp311-cp311.

This installs:

pyvcad
pyvcad_compilers
pyvcad_attribute_resolver
pyvcad_rendering
pyvcad_medical

6. Verify the installation#

import pyvcad as pv
print(pv.version())

You can also verify the companion packages:

import pyvcad_attribute_resolver as resolver
import pyvcad_rendering
import pyvcad_medical

print(sorted(resolver.list_modules()))

Updating the Beta#

To update from one OpenVCAD 3.x.x beta version to another:

Activate your dedicated OpenVCAD 3 beta virtual environment.
Download and extract the newest openvcad_beta_3.x.x_<mac/linux/windows>.zip from the internal releases page.
Run the same wheel install command from the extracted ZIP directory, adding --upgrade:

python -m pip install --upgrade openvcad-3.x.x-cpYY-cpYY-*.whl pyvcad_attribute_resolver-*.whl pyvcad_rendering-*.whl pyvcad_medical-*.whl

Keep using a separate virtual environment for OpenVCAD 3 beta if you also need to keep OpenVCAD 2.x installed for older projects.

Getting the Examples#

Clone the internal repository to get started with runnable beta examples:

git clone https://github.com/MacCurdyLab/openvcad-internal.git
cd openvcad-internal/examples

See the Getting Started guide for a walkthrough of the example scripts.

Deactivating the Virtual Environment#

When you are done working, deactivate the environment with:

deactivate

Reactivate later with source openvcad3-venv/bin/activate (macOS/Linux) or openvcad3-venv\Scripts\activate (Windows).