Installation

Version: 0.9.8.1

Installation requires system prerequisites, Python environment setup, and dependency installation. This guide covers both standard user and developer installations.

System prerequisites

Git: required for repository access.
C++ build tools: the roughpy library provides pre-compiled wheels for most platforms, but build tools may be required.

Linux (Debian/Ubuntu):

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install build-essential python3-dev

macOS:

xcode-select --install

Windows: install “Microsoft C++ Build Tools” via Visual Studio with the “Desktop development with C++” workload.

Python prerequisites

Python: 3.10+ required.
pip: ensure up to date (included with Python).

Installation steps

Clone the repository

CreativeDynamics is hosted in a private Git repository. Obtain access through your organisation.

Recommended access methods:

SSH access (your GitHub account key, or a deploy key managed by an administrator)
An internal mirror or package index managed by your platform team

Do not embed credentials in Git remote URLs.

Clone (example using SSH):

git clone git@github.com:tandpds/CreativeDynamics.git
cd CreativeDynamics

Create and activate a virtual environment

python -m venv .venv

# Linux/macOS:
source .venv/bin/activate
# Windows (Command Prompt):
# .\venv\Scripts\activate.bat
# Windows (PowerShell):
# .\venv\Scripts\Activate.ps1

Install dependencies

pip install --upgrade pip
pip install .

Installs core dependencies defined in pyproject.toml.

Optional extras

CreativeDynamics provides optional dependency groups for different use cases:

# With AI-generated narrative reports (requires OpenAI API key)
pip install ".[ai]"

# Just testing dependencies
pip install ".[test]"

# Just documentation dependencies
pip install ".[docs]"

# For development (includes testing, docs, linting, and AI)
pip install ".[dev]"

Developer installation

For contributors, complete the standard installation then:

Install in editable mode with dev dependencies

pip install -e ".[dev]"

Set up pre-commit hooks

pre-commit install