Installation And Launch#

The desktop application is the local Qt interface for pyCSAMT. It is meant for interactive work: loading EDI surveys, inspecting station metadata, opening map and profile views, running quality-control and correction tools, and preparing forward or inversion workflows from one workspace.

Install The Desktop Extra#

From a released package, install the desktop extra:

pip install "pycsamt[desktop]"

If you also want the Dash web app in the same environment, install the application extra instead:

pip install "pycsamt[app]"

For development from a source checkout, install the package in editable mode with the desktop and documentation dependencies:

git clone https://github.com/earthai-tech/pycsamt.git
cd pycsamt
pip install -e ".[desktop,docs]"

The desktop extra installs the Qt runtime and plotting dependencies used by the GUI:

Dependency	Used for
`PySide6`	the desktop windowing toolkit, dialogs, menus, and toolbar controls
`pyqtgraph`	responsive station and signal views
`contextily`	optional map tile support for geospatial views

Launch The Application#

After installation, start the desktop GUI from the active environment:

pycsamt-desktop

The older command remains available as an alias:

pycsamt-gui

From a source checkout, the module entry point is equivalent:

python -m pycsamt.app.desktop

On first launch the application opens with an empty survey workspace. The left panel is reserved for stations, the center panel summarizes the survey, and the toolbar exposes the main workflow windows.

Empty pyCSAMT desktop workspace — Empty desktop workspace before survey data are loaded.#

Load A First EDI Survey#

Use Open / Load EDI… to load one or more EDI files. The loader accepts individual files or a folder containing a survey line. For the sample WILLY data, a typical folder is one of the L18PLT, L22PLT, L26PLT, L30PLT, or L34PLT line folders under data/AMT/WILLY_DATA.

Selecting EDI files in the desktop loader — Loading a line by selecting multiple `.edi` files from the survey folder.#

After loading, the station table, overview panel, profile view, map view, QC tools, correction tools, forward modelling, inversion, interpretation, and agent windows operate on the active session.

Recommended Environment#

Use a dedicated environment for the desktop app so Qt and geospatial packages do not conflict with other Python projects:

conda create -n pycsamt-v2 python=3.12
conda activate pycsamt-v2
pip install -e ".[desktop,docs]"

For day-to-day work in this repository, activate the environment before launching or building documentation:

conda activate pycsamt-v2
pycsamt-desktop

Platform Notes#

Windows users should run the command from Anaconda Prompt, PowerShell, or Git Bash after activating the environment. If the command is not found, verify that the environment’s Scripts directory is on PATH.

Linux users may need system Qt/OpenGL libraries in minimal containers or headless servers. The desktop app is intended for an interactive display; use the Python API, CLI, or web app for non-interactive runs.

macOS users should launch from a terminal attached to the active environment. If a gatekeeper prompt appears for local Python or Qt components, approve the environment that owns the installed dependencies.

Quick Verification#

Check that the command is available:

pycsamt-desktop --help
pycsamt-gui --help

Then launch the GUI:

pycsamt-desktop

If the application reports that PySide6 is missing, reinstall with the desktop extra:

pip install -e ".[desktop]"