Installing the ecosystem

Installing the ecosystem#

BrainX is a meta-package that installs a curated set of BrainX components known to work well together.

Requirements#

  • Python 3.10-3.13

  • pip 23+ (python -m pip install --upgrade pip)

  • Optional: GPU/TPU drivers and libraries if you plan to use accelerators

Quick install#

pip install -U BrainX

This installs pinned versions of the core packages:

Hardware-specific installs#

Choose one that matches your platform and CUDA/toolchain:

# CPU only
pip install -U BrainX[cpu]

# NVIDIA GPU (CUDA 12.x)
pip install -U BrainX[cuda12]
# NVIDIA GPU (CUDA 13.x)
pip install -U BrainX[cuda13]

# TPU
pip install -U BrainX[tpu]

For detailed JAX wheel options and compatible CUDA/cuDNN versions, see JAX installation.

Pin a specific BrainX release#

Releases use date-style versions. Example:

pip install BrainX==2025.9.15

See the change log for the exact component versions: docs/CHANGELOG.md

From source (development)#

git clone https://github.com/chaobrain/brain-modeling-ecosystem.git
cd brain-modeling-ecosystem
python -m pip install -e .

Optional docs deps: python -m pip install -r docs/requirements.txt

Verify your installation#

python -c "import BrainX, jax; print('BrainX OK'); print('JAX devices:', jax.devices())"

If using a GPU, you should see a CUDA device listed.

Troubleshooting#

  • Upgrade pip/setuptools/wheel: python -m pip install -U pip setuptools wheel

  • On GPU, ensure the installed JAX wheel matches your CUDA toolkit version

  • If import fails, try a clean env: python -m venv .venv && .venv\\Scripts\\activate && pip install -U BrainX