From PyPI (with e.g. pip)

When installing using pip it is recommended to install Finesse in a virtual environment. This ensures that dependencies required for Finesse to run do not conflict with other packages installed on your computer.

See also

For more information on virtual environments, see the Virtual Environments and Packages section of the Python documentation.

Finesse is available on PyPI with the package name finesse. There are many package managers available for Python but the most common is pip. Instructions for setting up a virtual environment and installing Finesse via pip are given for each supported platform below.

If you are using Conda then please follow the Conda installation instructions instead!

Linux / macOS

Finesse is not a pure python package, it needs to be compiled. For most platforms, there should be binary wheels available, which avoids compilation during finesse installation.

To create a virtual environment, open up a terminal and run:

$ python -m venv finesse

Activate the virtual environment in your current terminal using:

$ source finesse/bin/activate

You should now see (finesse) before the prompt symbol in your console. Finally install Finesse using your favourite Python package manager, e.g. pip, with:

(finesse) $ pip install finesse

You can quickly verify Finesse is installed correctly by running:

(finesse) $ kat3 --version

If it lists the Finesse version, everything should be set up.

Known issues

If you are using MacOS with Apple Silicon and do not want to use Conda then there is currently (as of Oct 2022) no compiled Scipy wheels. This means when you install Finesse it will try and compile Scipy from source which will give you many errors. You can install Scipy from the Homebrew package manager (recommended) or (if you understand the consequences) cherry-pick it from the Anaconda nightly, for the latest Scipy version: ` pip install --pre -i https://pypi.anaconda.org/scipy-wheels-nightly/simple scipy `

Windows

Installation of Finesse on Windows using pip is not supported. We recommend that you install Finesse using Conda or directly compile it yourself from source.

Limitations

The packaged versions of Finesse hosted on PyPi(pip) should be compatible with most systems: Many Linux distros 64-bit and MacOS (Intel and Apple Silicon). As these packages are built to work on a vast array of different systems you may not get optimal performance for running complex simulations.

  • The PyPi MacOS wheels have OpenMP disabled as it isn’t included by default on OSX systems

  • Specific CPU optimisations have been disabled so that they run on as many different CPUs as possible

If you want the highest performance you can get in Finesse we recommend you install it from source code, where it can then make system specific optimisations.