Requirements

• Python 3.10-3.13 (matching python_requires and CI)
• torch, torchvision, snntorch
• matplotlib, Pillow, numpy
• Node.js 18+ and npm (for the client/ dashboard)
• ffmpeg (only when exporting MP4s)

From a clone, ./install.sh installs every distribution in editable mode. Otherwise install the library bundle and, for the dashboard, the server distribution:

pip install "spikeforge[all]"   # core library + targets + hub
pip install spikeforge-server   # FastAPI dashboard/WebSocket server

Optional event datasets (Tonic)

Neuromorphic/event datasets (N-MNIST, DVS128 Gesture, CIFAR10-DVS, Spiking Speech Commands) are powered by Tonic and gated behind the optional events extra so the default image stays lean:

pip install "spikeforge[events]"                 # from PyPI
pip install -e "./packages/spikeforge[events]"   # from a clone

tonic is deliberately kept out of requirements.txt; the event loader and its capability probe work without it, reporting the event datasets as unavailable and raising a clear typed error that names the missing extra until it is installed.

Optional extras

Every capability beyond the core is an opt-in extra; each has an isolated probe, so a missing package is reported rather than raising at import. The all extra bundles the spikeforge-targets and spikeforge-hub distributions. The dashboard/WebSocket server is not a core extra: it ships as its own distribution, spikeforge-server. The model hub is likewise its own distribution, spikeforge-hub (import root spikeforge_hub), whose huggingface_hub dependency is a base dependency of that distribution rather than a core hub extra. norse and lava are extras of spikeforge-targets, not of core.

Extra	Enables	Absent behavior
all	the spikeforge-targets + spikeforge-hub bundles	not installed
nir	NIR export, interpretation, nirtorch extraction	typed unavailable error
events	Tonic event datasets (+ event training)	datasets reported unavailable
onnx	ONNX export/import bridge	typed unavailable error
norse	real Norse simulator backend (targets extra)	norse target available: false
lava	Lava/Loihi 2 backend path (targets extra)	lava_loihi2 target available: false
tracking	TensorBoard sink	local manifest remains the default
tracking-wandb	Weights & Biases sink	local manifest remains the default
docs	MkDocs Material for the docs site	build_docs.sh reports the gap
dev	pytest, pytest-cov, ruff	—

pip install "spikeforge[all]"                       # core + targets + hub
pip install "spikeforge[nir,events,onnx,tracking,docs]"
pip install "spikeforge-targets[norse,lava]"        # backend extras
pip install spikeforge-server                       # dashboard/server
# Editable equivalent from a clone:
./install.sh --dev