STRATHMARK

STRATHMARK predicts raw woodchopping times and calculates handicap start marks. Managed event operations add a supplied-data standalone CLI and optional shared workspace over one persistent event. The initial profile uses real V2 numerics for synthetic SB/UH rehearsals; official activation is disabled. Calculation-only access and existing V3 profiles remain independent. STRATHEX is the application judges use to set up events, review marks and enter results. Use STRATHMARK directly when you need the Python library or an API for another application.

Which version should I use?

The reviewed pair for new Linux profiles is STRATHMARK 3.0.0rc14 + STRATHEX 7.4.6. Retained rc7/7.4.2, rc12/7.4.4 and source-pinned rc13/7.4.5 profiles keep their original exact installation, model, signing authority and saved data. Installing the new pair does not migrate or activate a profile. Judges choose V2 or V3 when creating each event or tournament; its events and rounds keep that choice. See engine selection.

Run a competition

Start with STRATHEX's quick start. For Linux V3, follow the competition setup guide. It covers the separate Python 3.13 environment, trained model, signing key, backup location and judge workflow. Private models and competition data are supplied by the operator; they are not included in the public package.

The Linux runtime uses Formula and ML. Its LLM council is unavailable, so judges must explicitly review affected fields. The Windows V7 service has different installation and qualification requirements.

Install the V2 library

Use Python 3.10–3.13; Python 3.13 is recommended. In your virtual environment:

python -m pip install "strathmark==3.0.0rc14"
python -c "import strathmark; print(strathmark.__version__)"

The maintained 3.0.0rc14 package retains the V2 2.0.0 calculation contract. New STRATHEX 7.4.6 installations pin its exact reviewed security source. The older 2.0.0/2.0.1 artifacts remain available for retained installations but do not contain these transport and storage fixes. Install upgrades in a separate environment. Follow the Python example to calculate a small synthetic field, or Installation for API setup.

New package versions publish to PyPI automatically after successful main CI. See the package release policy for versioning and recovery.

The maintained 3.0.0rc14 candidate also separates public and authenticated request capacity, verifies recovery against independently trusted identities, and pins release and qualification tools by their actual bytes. Diagnostic reports cannot authorize operational bundles. See the verification follow-up, rc14 concurrency and archive fixes, and security and upgrade notes. Operational V3 event authority also requires an independently provisioned monotonic witness; see authority trust and migration. Keep saved Linux V3 competitions on their original exact runtime; install upgrades separately for new competitions. The older 2.0.x library releases do not contain these transport fixes.

Try the source-build demo

From this repository, on Linux:

python3.13 -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate
python -m pip install -e .
strathmark demo

Or on Windows PowerShell, with Python 3.13 installed:

py -3.13 -m venv .venv
.\.venv\Scripts\Activate.ps1
python -m pip install -e .
strathmark demo

The demo calculates a synthetic V2 field and opens no competition database. It is included in the current source build; it is not a command in the older V2 PyPI release.

Understand the marks

A smaller mark starts earlier. A faster expected competitor gets a larger mark and waits longer. Marks are calculated for the complete field, so a heat's displayed marks cannot simply be copied into a final with different competitors.

How handicaps work explains cutting time, start counts, rebasing and the role of officials with worked examples.

Accuracy Preview

The separate preview program is implemented. Its frozen candidate reduced average error from 23.12 to 22.47 seconds on 278 previously examined historical results. That 2.81% improvement misses the 5% qualification target and has no independent future validation. The changes are available in the preview; they are not enabled in competition predictions.

More help

• Wiki: installation, examples and explanations.
• V2 and V3: detailed engine specifications.
• Onboarding: contributor instructions and test isolation.
• Deployment: service qualification and recovery requirements.
• Changelog: release history.

Apache 2.0 license.