EasyBio.Vibe IMS

EasyBio.Vibe IMS is a modern, local-first Laboratory Information and Inventory Management System (LIMS) designed for molecular biology, RT-qPCR, and academic research laboratories. It provides a secure, streamlined platform to manage reagents and consumables, maintain equipment compliance, track study allocations, and record material consumption with full audit trails.

Key Features

• Inventory & Batch Tracking: Manage material stock, expiration dates, open-container dates, and lot numbers. Real-time depletion alerts and low-stock thresholds.
• Studies & Project Allocation: Centralized management of research, diagnostic, and QC activities. Assign studies to Principal Investigators (PIs) and Departments with automatic cross-mapping.
• Equipment Management: Track lab instruments, maintain service and calibration event logs, and record locations.
• Cross-Platform Native Desktop Integration: Native OS launcher generator creating Start Menu shortcuts on Windows (.lnk) and App Drawer entries on Linux (.desktop), directly bound to isolated Conda environments.
• Smart Semantic IDs: Auto-generated, human-readable IDs tailored to your institution (e.g., MGMMCNERUL-CIRL-INV000001, MGMMCNERUL-CIRL-STU001) with built-in legacy ID migration.
• Unified Personnel & Roles: Role-based access control (Admin, Manager, User) with flexible study assignment controls.
• Document Compliance: Securely upload and link SOPs, SDSs, and compliance certificates directly to materials and equipment.
• Safe Native Backups: Automatic heartbeat database backup on application close or idle, plus manual directory exports.
• Local-First & Offline: High-performance SQLite database with Write-Ahead Logging (WAL) for maximum reliability without internet dependence.

Tech Stack

• Backend: Python 3.11+, Flask
• Database: SQLite3 (WAL mode with concurrent access and foreign keys enabled)
• Frontend: Vanilla JavaScript (ES6 Modules), CSS3, HTML5
• Packaging: Python Wheel (.whl), Conda environment launcher, PyInstaller standalone binaries, Inno Setup (Windows installer)

Installation & Deployment

Option 1: Conda / Virtual Environment via PyPI (Recommended)

EasyBio.Vibe IMS is distributed as a universal Python package on PyPI. It can be installed inside an isolated Conda or virtual environment and integrated directly into your operating system's application launcher.

# 1. Create a dedicated Python 3.11 environment
conda create -n easybiovibe python=3.11 -y

# 2. Activate the environment
conda activate easybiovibe

# 3. Install from PyPI (or via a downloaded .whl from GitHub Releases)
pip install easybiovibe-ims

# 4. Generate native OS desktop launcher / Start Menu shortcut
easybiovibe --install-shortcut

For more details on launcher paths, port overrides, and maintenance, see the Conda Deployment Guide.

Option 2: Running from Source (Development)

# 1. Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/shamshad-ather/EasyBioVibe-IMS.git
cd EasyBioVibe-IMS

# 2. Install dependencies
pip install -r requirements.txt

# 3. Launch the application
python run.py

The application automatically discovers an available local port, starts the Flask server, and opens your default browser.

Command Line Interface (CLI)

When installed via pip/wheel, the easybiovibe command is available directly in your activated environment:

First-Time Setup Wizard

On the very first launch, the Setup Wizard guides you through initial configuration:

• System Mode: Single Lab or Centralized Facility.
• Institution Details: Lab Name, Lab Abbreviation, and Smart ID Prefix.
• Administrator Account: Set up primary credentials.
• Security Questions: Mandatory setup for offline password recovery.

Building and Packaging

Building Packages Locally

pip install build wheel
python -m build

The resulting .whl and .tar.gz packages will be placed in dist/.

Automated Releases & PyPI Publishing via GitHub Actions

GitHub Actions (.github/workflows/build.yml) builds distribution packages, creates a GitHub Release with attached assets, and publishes to PyPI whenever a tag is pushed:

git tag v2026.11.06
git push origin v2026.11.06

See PACKAGING.md for full packaging details and PyPI setup.

License

EasyBio.Vibe IMS is software developed by Shamshad Ather for academic and institutional use.