METIS Test Runner

A graphical front-end for end-to-end testing of the METIS instrument pipeline. It generates synthetic FITS observations via ScopeSim and then runs the matching EDPS reduction workflow — all from a single, self-contained GUI. A command-line interface (mtr-cli) is also shipped as a fallback for scripted or headless use.

Install

MTR is distributed on PyPI. The recommended installer is pipx, which creates an isolated venv per application and never touches your system Python.

Step 1 — install pipx (one-time, skip if you already have it):

# Debian / Ubuntu
sudo apt install pipx && pipx ensurepath

# Fedora
sudo dnf install pipx && pipx ensurepath

# macOS (Homebrew)
brew install pipx && pipx ensurepath

# Any platform with Python ≥ 3.12 (fallback)
python -m pip install --user pipx && pipx ensurepath

Step 2 — install MTR:

pipx install metis-test-runner
mtr                                  # launches the GUI from anywhere
mtr-cli examples/LMS_RAD_06.yaml     # CLI equivalent

If you'd rather not install pipx, use Python's built-in venv module:

python -m venv ~/.venvs/mtr
~/.venvs/mtr/bin/pip install metis-test-runner
~/.venvs/mtr/bin/mtr                 # or: source ~/.venvs/mtr/bin/activate && mtr

On first launch, open the Install tab and click Install / Update to fetch the METIS_Pipeline, METIS_Simulations, and ESO pipeline dependencies into ~/.local/share/metis-test-runner/ (override with METIS_DATA_DIR=/path). All pipeline dependencies install into the same isolated venv that MTR itself lives in — they never leak into your system Python.

System Dependencies

The GUI requires a handful of system libraries for Qt6 / OpenGL rendering. Python, Git, and basic CLI tools (curl, tar, …) are assumed to already be present.

Debian / Ubuntu

sudo apt install \
  libgl1 libegl1 libglib2.0-0 libxkbcommon0 \
  libfontconfig1 libfreetype6 libdbus-1-3 \
  libxkbcommon-x11-0 libxcb-cursor0 libxcb-keysyms1 libxcb-icccm4 libxcb-shape0

Fedora

sudo dnf install \
  mesa-libGL mesa-libEGL glib2 libxkbcommon \
  fontconfig freetype dbus-libs \
  libxkbcommon-x11 xcb-util-cursor xcb-util-keysyms xcb-util-wm

macOS (Homebrew)

On macOS, Qt uses the native Cocoa backend so X11/xcb packages are not needed:

brew install freetype fontconfig glib

Tip: if the GUI crashes at startup with "could not find or load the Qt platform plugin", set QT_DEBUG_PLUGINS=1 to get detailed diagnostics:
QT_DEBUG_PLUGINS=1 mtr
The output will list exactly which shared library failed to load.

The GUI

The GUI is the recommended way to drive the test runner. It exposes every CLI flag through labelled controls, remembers your settings between sessions, and streams colour-coded live output from the pipeline.

Launch it with:

mtr

A Light / Dark theme button lives in the toolbar and toggles on the fly.

Install tab

The Install tab performs the full pipeline bootstrap non-interactively. Use it if you do not already have the pipeline installed. Clicking Install / Update will:

Clone (or update, if already present) METIS_Pipeline and METIS_Simulations into the user data directory (~/.local/share/metis-test-runner/ by default)
pip install all ESO pipeline Python dependencies — pycpl, edps, pyesorex, adari_core, scopesim, scopesim_templates — into the same isolated venv that hosts MTR (via --extra-index-url against the ESO mirrors). Out-of-band installs such as MetisWISE from the Archive tab are preserved.
Initialise and configure EDPS on port 4444

Re-running is safe — existing repositories are updated in place rather than re-cloned.

Skip this tab if you already have the pipeline installed via one of these paths — jump straight to the Run tab instead:

Bare-metal / ESO docs install — choose runner native
Pipeline container (Docker / Podman) — choose runner docker or podman and supply the container name

Archive tab

The Archive tab connects to the remote METIS AIT archive via the MetisWISE client. It has two pages:

Install & Configure — paste the OmegaCEN credentials from the METIS wiki and click Install MetisWISE to pip-install the package into the same isolated venv that hosts MTR. Then fill in the five database fields (database_user, database_password, project, database_tablespacename, database_name) and click Save & Test Connection. After a successful test, all credentials are stored in the OS keyring (macOS Keychain / Windows Credential Locker / Linux Secret Service) — never in plaintext on disk — and injected into the process environment for MetisWISE at connect time. On later runs, leave fields blank to use the stored values. A legacy ~/.awe/Environment.cfg from older MTR versions is still read as a fallback and is scrubbed of credentials on the first successful test (on keyring-less headless machines it remains the manual fallback); data_server, port and protocol are inherited from the MetisWISE-packaged default (metis-ds.hpc.rug.nl:8013, https).
Query & Download — filter by raw classification tag or master PRO.CATG, click Search, select files and download them to a local directory.

To auto-pull missing master calibrations during a pipeline run, add --auto-fetch-calibrations to the Run tab's options (or the CLI).

Run tab

The Run tab wraps mtr-cli in a file-picker UI. All CLI options are exposed as form controls; runner-specific fields (container name) show and hide based on the selected runner.

Workflow:

Add input files via the file browser — YAML observation blocks (*.yaml, *.yml) and AIT-format CSV test sequences (*.csv) may be added freely and mixed in a single run. A live tally (e.g. 2 YAML · 1 CSV) appears below the list.
Tune options — output directory, CPU cores, auto-calibration, runner mode, pipeline mode (simulate + run, simulate only, pipeline only), simulations directory, instrument packages directory, or Translate CSV → YAML (a dry run that converts a CSV test sheet to YAML without simulating)
Pick a workflow (only for CSV-only runs that include the pipeline) — workflow auto-detection reads YAML content, so when the list contains only CSV files and you intend to run the pipeline, the Workflow dropdown appears and must be set; otherwise it stays hidden
Click Run — the Run button becomes Stop, and pipeline output streams into the log view with ANSI colouring stripped and stderr highlighted
Inspect output — the pane below the option form shows exactly where simulation frames and pipeline products will be written, updating live as you edit the output path

Settings are persisted via QSettings and restored on next launch, so you can re-run the last configuration with two clicks.

Prerequisites (runner modes)

Regardless of whether you drive the runner from the GUI or the CLI, the underlying pipeline tools have to live somewhere. Three layouts are supported — pick the one that matches your install:

Option A — pipx install (runner default, the default)

The Install tab takes care of this automatically. It pip-installs all pipeline dependencies (pycpl, edps, pyesorex, adari_core, scopesim, scopesim_templates) into the same isolated venv that hosts MTR, clones METIS_Pipeline and METIS_Simulations into the user data directory (~/.local/share/metis-test-runner/ by default). The default runner then derives the environment (PYTHONPATH, recipe directories, instrument-packages path) from those locations automatically and invokes every subprocess with the MTR venv's Python interpreter — no .env file required.

Option B — Docker or Podman container (runner docker / podman)

Build and start the pipeline container from METIS_Pipeline/toolbox/:

cd METIS_Pipeline/toolbox
docker build -t metispipeline .
docker run -d --name metis-pipeline --net=host \
  --mount type=bind,source=/path/to/output,target=/output \
  metispipeline

Then in the GUI, set runner to docker (or podman) and enter the container name. The output directory must be bind-mounted into the container so EDPS can write products back to the host.

Option C — bare-metal or inside a container (runner native)

If the pipeline tools (edps, python, ScopeSim) are already on your PATH — either because you are running inside a container, or have installed everything directly — no extra setup is needed. Select runner native.

ScopeSim instrument packages (Armazones, ELT, METIS) will be downloaded into ./inst_pkgs/ in your current working directory on first use. Set the GUI's Instrument packages field (or --inst-pkgs PATH) to download or reuse packages from a fixed location instead.

Tip: always launch the GUI (or invoke mtr-cli) from the same directory — otherwise ScopeSim will download a fresh copy of the instrument packages into every new directory, cluttering your filesystem.

Input Formats

Two input formats are supported and may be mixed in a single run:

YAML observation blocks (*.yaml, *.yml) — the primary, human-authored format. Workflow auto-detection works on YAML content.
AIT-format CSV test sequences (*.csv) — the AIT performance-test sheet exported as CSV. Parsed by metis_simulations.csvParser at simulation time. MTR does not inspect CSV content itself, so for CSV-only runs the workflow is auto-detected from the simulated FITS headers (after the simulation step).

See examples/small_test_img_lm.csv (IMAGE,LM) and examples/small_test_img_n.csv (IMAGE,N) for minimal CSVs; the rest of this section covers YAML.

YAML Format

Each top-level key in the YAML is one observation block. The workflow (lm_img, n_img, ifu, lm_lss, n_lss, …) and the deepest pipeline target task are inferred automatically from the YAML content — primarily from properties.tech, falling back to mode.

Required fields per block:

BLOCK_NAME:
  do.catg: <EDPS classification tag>   # e.g. DETLIN_IFU_RAW, IFU_SCI_RAW
  mode: <scopesim mode>                 # e.g. wcu_lms, lms
  source:
    name: <scopesim source name>        # e.g. empty_sky, star
    kwargs: {}
  properties:
    dit: <float>          # detector integration time (s)
    ndit: <int>           # number of integrations
    catg: <CALIB|SCIENCE>
    tech: <LMS|IMAGE,LM|LSS,LM|…>
    type: <DETLIN|DARK|FLAT|…>
    tplname: <ESO template name>
    nObs: <int>           # number of exposures to simulate

See examples/LMS_RAD_06.yaml for a complete IFU example covering the full calibration + science chain.

The small per-mode examples — examples/small_test.yaml (IFU), examples/small_test_img_lm.yaml / examples/small_test_img_lm.csv (IMAGE,LM), and examples/small_test_img_n.yaml / examples/small_test_img_n.csv (IMAGE,N) — are minimal inputs that exercise the detector linearity + gain step (metis_det_lingain) and the master-dark step (metis_det_dark). Each provides the DETLIN frames that recipe requires: six distinct DITs, each with two illuminated (ON) and two dark (OFF) frames (the OFF frames use filter_name: "closed"), plus ≥2 dark frames for the dark step. Six DITs are used because metis_det_lingain's gain fit — np.polyfit(deg=1, cov=True) — needs at least four DIT points below the linearity limit (len > order+2); fewer raises "the number of data points must exceed order to scale the covariance matrix."

Supported Workflows

EDPS Workflow	`tech` values
`metis_lm_img_wkf`	`IMAGE,LM`
`metis_n_img_wkf`	`IMAGE,N`
`metis_ifu_wkf`	`LMS`, `IFU`, `RAVC,IFU`
`metis_lm_lss_wkf`	`LSS,LM`
`metis_n_lss_wkf`	`LSS,N`
`metis_lm_ravc_wkf`	`RAVC,LM`
`metis_lm_app_wkf`	`APP,LM`
`metis_pupil_imaging_wkf`	`PUP,LM`, `PUP,N`

Output Layout

Output is written under the chosen output directory (default: ./output/<timestamp>/):

<output-dir>/sim/ — synthetic FITS frames from ScopeSim
<output-dir>/pipeline/ — reduced data products from EDPS

The GUI displays the resolved paths live under the Output directory field so you can see exactly where products will land before you hit Run.

Command-Line Fallback

mtr-cli is the headless interface that the GUI drives under the hood. It is useful for scripting, CI jobs, and SSH sessions without a display. It accepts the same options as the GUI.

mtr-cli [OPTIONS] input1.yaml [input2.csv ...]

YAML and CSV inputs may be mixed in any combination.

Options

Flag	Default	Description
`-o / --output`	`./output/<timestamp>`	Root directory for all outputs (env: `METIS_OUTPUT_DIR`)
`--runner {default,native,docker,podman}`	`default`	Execution mode (see below; env: `METIS_RUNNER`)
`--container NAME`	—	Container name/ID for `docker` / `podman` runners (env: `METIS_CONTAINER`)
`--calib [N]`	`1`	Auto-generate N calibration frames (dark/flat) per unique config, inferred from input content. Pass `--calib 0` to disable.
`--cores N`	`4`	CPU cores used for parallel simulations
`--no-sim`	off	Skip simulation; run pipeline on existing FITS data (source defaults to `<output>/sim/` — override with `--pipeline-input`)
`--pipeline-input DIR`	`<output>/sim/`	Directory containing FITS files to feed the pipeline (only with `--no-sim`; env: `METIS_PIPELINE_INPUT`)
`--no-pipeline`	off	Run simulation only; skip EDPS pipeline
`--csv-to-yaml`	off	Dry run: translate CSV input(s) to YAML via METIS_Simulations (`testRun`+`writeYaml`) and stop — writes `<name>.yaml` next to each CSV, with no simulation and no pipeline. Only CSV inputs are affected. Note: the YAML is written next to the source CSV, so don't point it at a bundled `examples/*.csv` whose `.yaml` you want to keep.
`--csv-lines START:END`	all rows	Restrict CSV inputs to a range of 1-based file lines (e.g. `6:12`, `6:` from line 6 to end, `:12` from start to line 12). The header block (column-name row + `component`/`description`/`type` rows) is always kept; MTR writes a sliced copy under `<output>/sliced_inputs/` and feeds that to the simulation. Applies to `.csv` inputs only; ignored with `--no-sim`. Also exposed in the GUI Run tab.
`--simulations-dir PATH`	`./METIS_Simulations` (host) or `/home/metis/METIS_Simulations` (container)	Path to ScopeSim scripts (env: `METIS_SIMULATIONS_DIR`)
`--inst-pkgs PATH`	see below	Path to ScopeSim instrument packages (Armazones, ELT, METIS). Defaults to the user data dir for the `default` runner, `./inst_pkgs` for `native`, and container-resolved `./inst_pkgs` for `docker`/`podman` (env: `METIS_INST_PKGS`)
`--auto-fetch-calibrations`	off	Before running the pipeline, query the remote METIS archive (via MetisWISE) for any master calibrations the input set is missing and download them into the pipeline input directory. Requires MetisWISE to be installed and archive credentials stored via the Archive tab (OS keyring; a legacy `~/.awe/Environment.cfg` also works).
`--prefer-masters`	off	Set EDPS `association_preference` to `master_per_quality_level` for this run, preferring master calibrations over reduced raw data.

Runner modes

Mode	When to use
`default`	You used the GUI's Install tab. Pipeline tools are pip-installed alongside MTR in the same isolated pipx/venv. Subprocesses run with that venv's Python interpreter and an environment derived automatically from the install locations (see Overriding the environment). No external dependencies.
`native`	Tools (`edps`, `python`, ScopeSim) are installed directly on PATH — e.g. you are running inside a Docker/Podman container, or have a bare-metal install.
`docker` / `podman`	Tools live inside a container and you are running the script outside it. The runner wraps every command with `docker exec` / `podman exec`.

Note for docker / podman runners: the output directory (-o) must be bind-mounted into the container so EDPS can write pipeline products to it. The --simulations-dir flag should point to the path of METIS_Simulations/Simulations inside the container (default: /home/metis/METIS_Simulations).

Overriding the environment

For the default runner, the environment (PYTHONPATH, PYCPL_RECIPE_DIR, PYESOREX_PLUGIN_DIR, METIS_INST_PKGS, …) is derived automatically from the install locations — there is no env file to maintain. The same resolved environment is shared by mtr-cli, the GUI, and the mtr-exec / mtr-shell commands.

If you need to override or add a variable, create a .env file in the user data directory (~/.local/share/metis-test-runner/.env); any keys in it take precedence over the derived defaults. For example, to raise the pyesorex log verbosity:

PYESOREX_MSG_LEVEL=info
PYESOREX_LOG_LEVEL=info

The file is entirely optional — it is read if present and ignored if absent.

Examples

# Full run with the pipx-installed pipeline (default runner)
mtr-cli examples/LMS_RAD_06.yaml

# Inside a container or bare-metal install (tools on PATH)
mtr-cli --runner native examples/LMS_RAD_06.yaml

# Exec into a running Docker container from the host
mtr-cli --runner docker --container metis-pipeline examples/LMS_RAD_06.yaml

# Exec into a running Podman container; set runner via env var
METIS_RUNNER=podman METIS_CONTAINER=metis-pipeline mtr-cli examples/LMS_RAD_06.yaml

# Multiple YAML files, custom output dir, with auto-calibration frames
mtr-cli -o /tmp/myrun --calib obs1.yaml obs2.yaml

# Crank up parallelism for big simulation batches
mtr-cli --cores 12 examples/LMS_RAD_06.yaml

# Only simulate, inspect the FITS files manually
mtr-cli --no-pipeline examples/LMS_RAD_06.yaml

# Only run the pipeline on previously simulated data
mtr-cli --no-sim -o /tmp/myrun examples/LMS_RAD_06.yaml

# Pipeline-only with FITS files from a custom location
mtr-cli --no-sim --pipeline-input /data/sim_fits -o /tmp/myrun

# CSV-only input, simulate only (workflow auto-detection not needed)
mtr-cli --no-pipeline examples/small_test_img_lm.csv

# CSV-only input, full simulate + pipeline run (workflow auto-detected from the
# simulated FITS headers)
mtr-cli examples/small_test_img_lm.csv

# Dry run: translate a CSV test sheet to YAML (writes my_sheet.yaml next to it),
# no simulation and no pipeline
mtr-cli --csv-to-yaml /path/to/my_sheet.csv

# Mixed YAML + CSV in a single run
mtr-cli examples/small_test.yaml examples/small_test_img_lm.csv

Direct environment access (`mtr-exec` / `mtr-shell`)

For developers who want to drive the pipeline tools themselves — bypassing MTR's simulation, workflow detection, and EDPS server lifecycle — two commands hand you the fully-resolved environment with no env file to pass (PYTHONPATH, recipe dirs, instrument-packages path, and the MTR venv on PATH are all set for you):

# Run a single command in MTR's environment (everything after -- is verbatim)
mtr-exec -- edps -w metis.metis_wkf -t metis_ifu_dark -i ./sim -o ./out
mtr-exec -- pyesorex --recipes
mtr-exec -- python my_scopesim_probe.py

# Open an interactive shell with the environment pre-applied
mtr-shell
# then, inside it:
(mtr) $ edps -lw
(mtr) $ pyesorex metis_ifu_dark ...
(mtr) $ python        # scopesim importable, instrument packages resolved

Both accept --runner {default,native,docker,podman} and --container NAME (same semantics and env vars as mtr-cli); for docker/podman the command or shell runs inside the named container. These replace the old uv run --env-file .env … workflow.

Repository Layout

MTR/
├── src/metis_test_runner/
│   ├── gui.py              # Graphical front-end (PyQt6) — primary entry point
│   ├── run_metis.py        # Headless CLI (used directly or wrapped by the GUI)
│   ├── archive.py          # MetisWISE archive integration
│   ├── paths.py            # User data directory resolution (platformdirs)
│   ├── indexes.py          # ESO mirror pip-index URL constants
│   └── examples/           # Bundled YAML / CSV example inputs
├── container/
│   ├── Dockerfile          # Ubuntu 24.04 GUI container (Qt6 / Wayland)
│   └── compose.yml         # Podman / Docker Compose for the GUI service
├── tests/                  # Unit tests (pytest)
└── pyproject.toml          # Project metadata (hatchling build backend)

Related Repositories

This runner is designed to work alongside the following repos, which are installed via the GUI's Install tab:

METIS_Pipeline — the core Python/C pipeline, EDPS workflows, and PyEsoRex recipes
METIS_Simulations — ScopeSim scripts that generate synthetic FITS observations for each observing mode

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
Latest commit History 90 Commits
.github/workflows		.github/workflows
container		container
src/metis_test_runner		src/metis_test_runner
tests		tests
.gitignore		.gitignore
CHANGELOG.md		CHANGELOG.md
LICENSE		LICENSE
README.md		README.md
pyproject.toml		pyproject.toml

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METIS Test Runner

Install

System Dependencies

The GUI

Install tab

Archive tab

Run tab

Prerequisites (runner modes)

Input Formats

YAML Format

Supported Workflows

Output Layout

Command-Line Fallback

Options

Runner modes

Overriding the environment

Examples

Direct environment access (`mtr-exec` / `mtr-shell`)

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METIS Test Runner

Install

System Dependencies

The GUI

Install tab

Archive tab

Run tab

Prerequisites (runner modes)

Input Formats

YAML Format

Supported Workflows

Output Layout

Command-Line Fallback

Options

Runner modes

Overriding the environment

Examples

Direct environment access (mtr-exec / mtr-shell)

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Direct environment access (`mtr-exec` / `mtr-shell`)