OpenDSS Designer

A free, open-source graphical user interface (GUI) for OpenDSS, EPRI's distribution system simulator — built on OpenDSSDirect.py. Draw a substation-style one-line (single-line) diagram in your browser — the drawing is the circuit model — then run a power flow and see voltages, loading, and violations right on the diagram. Import existing .dss files, edit visually or in a spreadsheet view, and export runnable OpenDSS scripts.

🚀 Try it: opendssdesigner.ryanmsparks.com — no sign-up, runs in your browser

📖 Documentation: opendssdesigner-docs.ryanmsparks.com

Features (v1)

• Click-and-place palette: Source (Vsource), Busbar, 2-winding Transformer, Breaker/Switch, Load — placement is sticky, so keep clicking to drop several; Esc to stop
• Drag-to-wire: drag between terminals; choose Wire (ideal connection, merges buses) or Line (a real OpenDSS Line with impedance and length). Illegal connections (busbar-to-busbar wires, self-connections, duplicates) are refused with an explanation
• Stretchable busbars with connection points along both edges (top and bottom rows), plus implicit junction buses when you wire elements directly together
• Double-click a breaker to open/close it; double-click a wire or line to add a draggable routing point and shape the run yourself (double-click a point to remove it)
• Properties panel with the OpenDSS parameters for each element (kV, kVA, impedances, phases 1/2/3, wye/delta, load model…)
• Solve button → snapshot power flow → overlays on the diagram: bus voltages (pu), element loading as pie charts + %, power flows, with color-coded violations (undervoltage blue, overvoltage/overload red) and total losses in the status bar — or toggle Auto to re-solve automatically on every circuit change
• Live validation: unconnected terminals, missing source, islands, duplicate names, kV mismatches — errors disable Solve and halo the offending element
• Spreadsheet view: an Elements tab in the bottom panel lists every source, busbar, transformer, line, breaker, and load in an editable table (plus a read-only bus-results table after a solve) — edit values in bulk with an Excel-style fill-down handle, click ⌖ to locate an element on the diagram
• Undo/redo (Ctrl+Z / Ctrl+Y), delete key, grid snapping, pan/zoom, minimap
• Save/Open projects as JSON; Export a runnable .dss file; Import existing .dss files (select the main file plus anything it redirects to) with a hierarchical auto-layout — source at top, loads beneath their buses

Install & run

Requires Python 3.10+.

pip install opendss-designer
opendss-designer            # starts a local server and opens your browser

(Or from a clone of this repo: pip install -e . — see Development below for building the frontend.)

Options: --port 8721, --no-browser.

Try it: pick a circuit from the Samples dropdown, press Solve.

Development

Backend (FastAPI + OpenDSSDirect.py):

pip install -e .[dev]
pytest                      # backend test suite
PYTHONPATH=src python -m opendss_designer.cli --no-browser   # serve API + built frontend

Frontend (React + Vite + React Flow), in a second terminal:

cd frontend
npm install
npm run dev                 # http://localhost:5173, proxies /api to :8721

To bundle the frontend into the Python package (before building a wheel):

python scripts/build_frontend.py

Architecture

• frontend/ — React + Vite app. React Flow canvas with custom ANSI-symbol nodes; zustand store is the canonical circuit model (zundo for undo history). window.opendssDesigner exposes the stores for console scripting.
• src/opendss_designer/core/connectivity.py — union-find translation of the drawn graph into OpenDSS bus names (wires merge terminals; Line edges are series elements).
• src/opendss_designer/core/compiler.py — circuit JSON → ordered OpenDSS Text commands; the same commands back both /api/solve and .dss export.
• src/opendss_designer/core/engine.py — solves and extracts per-bus voltages and per-element loading through the OpenDSSDirect API. Full rebuild per solve; no engine state persists between requests.
• src/opendss_designer/core/importer.py — imports .dss by compiling it with OpenDSS's own parser and reading the model back out.

See FUTURE_IMPROVEMENTS.md for the roadmap.