Installation

This page walks you through setting up Spatial-VTK in a conda environment, installing the package, and running a few quick checks before you start a workflow.

You will need Python 3.10 through 3.13 and conda. If you are new to conda, the conda getting started guide is a good place to start.

Create the Conda Environment

The public repository includes an environment file named svtk_environment.yaml at the repository root. Download that file from the Spatial-VTK GitHub repository, or use the copy that is already present if you cloned the repository.

From the directory that contains svtk_environment.yaml, run:

conda env create -f svtk_environment.yaml
conda activate spatial-vtk

If you already created the environment and want to refresh it after the environment file changes, run:

conda env update -f svtk_environment.yaml --prune
conda activate spatial-vtk

Install from PyPI

This is the simplest route. It installs the base package, the public Python source modules, the svtk command, and the dashboard dependencies.

python -m pip install spatial-vtk

The tutorial notebooks and example data are repository/docs-site assets, not part of the PyPI wheel.

Advanced: install development extras

Use this only if you want to run the public test suite, build the docs, or validate a release from a source checkout.

python -m pip install "spatial-vtk[dashboard,docs,notebooks,validation,waveforms]"

From a source checkout, use the editable form:

python -m pip install -e ".[dashboard,docs,notebooks,validation,waveforms]"

After installing the validation extras, you can run:

python -m pytest

Install from Source

Use this route when you want the repository files too, including docs, tutorial notebooks, example data, tests, and editable source code.

git clone https://github.com/bcbirkel/spatial-vtk.git
cd spatial-vtk
conda env create -f svtk_environment.yaml
conda activate spatial-vtk
python -m pip install -e ".[notebooks,waveforms]"

If you are adding the package to an existing conda environment for interactive notebook work, include the notebook extra and register the kernel:

python -m pip install -e ".[notebooks,waveforms]"
python -m ipykernel install --user --name spatial-vtk --display-name "spatial-vtk"

The editable install means changes in the source checkout are picked up by the environment immediately. That is the most convenient setup while you are working through the tutorial notebooks or developing new analysis code.

Check the Install

Run these checks from the same activated environment:

python -c "import spatial_vtk; print(spatial_vtk.__version__)"
svtk --help

If you installed from a source checkout and installed the advanced validation extras, you can also run the public test suite:

python -m pytest

You are ready to continue once the import prints a version, svtk --help shows the command groups, and the tests pass if you chose to run them.

Common Setup Notes

If conda cannot solve the environment, make sure you are using the conda-forge channel from svtk_environment.yaml. Creating a fresh environment is usually cleaner than trying to reuse an older research environment with many unrelated packages.

If map figures render without a basemap, check your network connection. Spatial-VTK uses contextily for basemap tiles, so basemap-backed maps need network access unless you already have the required tiles cached locally.