Installation#

Astrocook is available as a standalone app for macOS or as a Python package for advanced users.

Quick Start ( macOS)#

If you are on a Mac and want to use the GUI immediately without managing Python environments:

  1. Download the App: Go to our Latest Release Page and look for Astrocook.dmg.

  2. Install: Open Astrocook.dmg and drag the app to your Applications folder.

  3. Run: Double-click Astrocook in your Applications.

Note

If you see a security warning, you may need to Right-Click the app and select ‘Open’ the first time, or explicitly authorize the app on System Settings).

Developer Installation (Python)#

For Linux/Windows users, or developers who want to modify the code, install from source.

Prerequisites#

Astrocook requires Python 3.9 or later and the following libraries:

  • GUI: PySide6

  • Science: astropy, numpy, scipy

  • Plotting: matplotlib, scienceplots

  • Utils: qtawesome, numexpr

Installing from Source#

  1. Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/das-oats/astrocook.git
cd astrocook

  1. Create a virtual environment (Recommended):

python -m venv ac2
source ac2/bin/activate  # On Windows: ac2\Scripts\activate

Note

If the venv command fails, you may need to install the module first (e.g., sudo apt install python3-venv on Ubuntu/Debian).

  1. Install dependencies:

pip install -e .

Running the App#

To launch the GUI from the source code, run this from the root directory:

python -m astrocook

Note

If the app fails to launch with a Qt/xcb error, ensure your system has the necessary Qt libraries installed (e.g., sudo apt install libxcb-cursor0).