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Scope and Limitations

Current Scope​

  • wraps Snakemake to run selected workflow steps
  • keeps project declarations separate from mutable runtime files
  • creates packaged demo project and runtime roots with nipact init
  • validates project and runtime structure with nipact validate
  • compiles selected workflow plans and emits workflow graph JSON
  • records source artifacts, workflow outputs, dependencies, manifest bindings, publications, and workflow runs in runtime/database/registry.db
  • traces registered artifacts backward through recorded dependencies
  • serves a local read-only GUI over the current registry state

TBD​

  • guarantee reproducibility
  • metadata that includes software, container, operating-system, etc. details, for more advanced provenance tracking
  • inspecting Python callable source behind an unchanged module:function string? also something to consider for provenance tracking and reproducibility guarantees
  • integrate formal provenance formats (e.g. BIDS-prov, RO-Crate, W3C PROV) for export and interoperability
  • the local GUI is read-only by design; future development may run workflows, edit workflow files, mutate runtime/database/registry.db, compare workflows, or render dense entity-instance graphs

Installation and Notes on Demos​

  • The first public release is a pre-release (0.0.1a1). pip skips pre-releases by default, so install it with an explicit version: python -m pip install nipact==0.0.1a1.
  • NIPACT requires Python 3.12 or newer. Installing it pulls in Snakemake, FastAPI, and Uvicorn, which workflow execution and the local GUI depend on.
  • colors is the runnable demo. Follow the Colors Processing Demo.
  • The fmri and dfc demos use tiny generated NumPy inputs to exercise neuroimaging-shaped bindings, manifests, and cohort analysis. They are not BIDS downloaders or full real-data tutorials.
  • Real-data fMRI and DFC workflows depend on private source data and maintainer bootstrap scripts.
  • Planned CLI examples in the tutorials are labeled as planned and are not runnable in this release.

Planned, not in this release​

  • real-data fMRI and DFC bootstrap
  • manifest and step inspection commands
  • workflow diff
  • a provider or plugin system
  • docs and provenance export formats
  • concept pages for output addresses, dependency scopes, manifests, the pattern taxonomy, invalidation, and derivatives and multiverse analysis
  • end-to-end neuroimaging and advanced-pattern tutorials

See the CLI usage reference for the exact command surface and its planned commands.