[!Warning] This project is still in an early phase of development.

The python API is not yet stable, and some aspects of the schema for the blueprint will likely evolve. Therefore whilst you are welcome to try out using the package, we cannot yet guarantee backwards compatibility. We expect to reach a more stable version in Q1 2026.

To see which systems C-Star has been tested on so far, see Supported Systems.

Installation

Install with conda (recommended)

C-Star is published on conda-forge as cstar-ocean.

On a laptop or workstation, install cstar-ocean-standalone, which bundles a complete build toolchain (compilers, MPI, netCDF-Fortran, PnetCDF, CMake) so ROMS can be compiled with no system dependencies:

conda create -n cstar-env -c conda-forge cstar-ocean-standalone

On a supported HPC system (toolchain provided by Environment Modules), install just the package:

conda create -n cstar-env -c conda-forge cstar-ocean

Then conda activate cstar-env and you're ready to go.

Installation from source (developers)

To obtain the latest development version, clone this repository:

git clone https://github.com/CWorthy-ocean/C-Star.git
cd C-Star

Next, install one of the following conda environments, depending on whether you are working on a supported HPC system (environment management by Linux Environment Modules) or a generic machine like a laptop (environment-laptop.yml bundles the same conda-forge toolchain that cstar-ocean-standalone provides, for developers who prefer an editable install):

conda env create -f environment-hpc.yml  # conda environment for supported HPC system
# conda env create -f environment-laptop.yml  # conda environment for generic machine 

Activate the conda environment:

conda activate cstar-env

Finally, install C-Star in the same environment:

pip install -e .

Run the tests

Before running the tests, you can activate the conda environment created in the previous section:

conda activate cstar-env

Check the installation of C-Star has worked by running the test suite

cd C-Star
pytest

Getting Started

To learn how to use C-Star, check out the documentation.

Feedback and contributions

If you find a bug, have a feature suggestion, or any other kind of feedback, please start a Discussion.

We also accept contributions in the form of Pull Requests.

License

C-Star is openly available for use and permissively licenced under Apache 2.0.

Copyright 2025 [C]Worthy LLC.

Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at

 http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0

Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations under the License.