Installation

Get PRISM Studio running in 5 minutes.

Important

PRISM Studio is the primary software interface for most users. Use the validator CLI (prism-validator) for automation, CI, and advanced terminal workflows.

Quick Start

Alternative: Install from Source (macOS / Linux)

# Clone and setup
git clone https://github.com/MRI-Lab-Graz/prism-studio.git
cd prism-studio
./setup.sh

# Launch PRISM Studio
python prism-studio.py

Your browser will open automatically at http://localhost:5001.

Windows

# Clone and setup
git clone https://github.com/MRI-Lab-Graz/prism-studio.git
cd prism-studio
.\setup.ps1

# Launch PRISM Studio
python prism-studio.py

Tip

If the browser does not open automatically on Windows, navigate to http://localhost:5001.

Requirements

Requirement

Version

Notes

Python

3.9+

Download

Git

Any

Download

Deno

Optional

For BIDS validation (auto-installed by setup)

Windows-Specific Notes

When installing Python on Windows, make sure to:

  • Check “Add Python to PATH”

  • Check “tcl/tk and IDLE” (required for folder picker)

Installation Options

Option 2: PRISM Studio from Source

Use source installation if you need development workflows or custom local changes.

The web interface is still the default way to use PRISM Studio:

python prism-studio.py

Features:

  • Project management with YODA layout

  • Data conversion from Excel/CSV/SPSS

  • Interactive validation with error explanations

  • Survey library browser

  • Recipe-based scoring

Option 3: Command Line (Optional)

For scripting and batch processing:

# Validate a dataset
python prism-validator /path/to/dataset

# Run recipes
python prism_tools.py recipes survey --prism /path/to/dataset

See the CLI Reference for all commands.

Option 4: Validator-Only Binary (Windows)

If you only need validation (without full Studio workflows), use PrismValidator.exe from releases.

Verify Installation

Primary check (recommended):

python prism-studio.py

If Studio opens at http://localhost:5001, installation is successful.

For prebuilt installs, successful launch of the bundled app from the extracted release folder is sufficient.

Optional CLI check:

python prism-validator --version

Updating PRISM Studio

cd prism-studio
git pull
pip install -r requirements.txt

Troubleshooting

“Python not found”

Make sure Python is in your PATH:

python --version
# or
python3 --version

“Module not found” errors

Activate the virtual environment first:

# macOS/Linux
source .venv/bin/activate

# Windows
.venv\Scripts\activate

Windows SmartScreen warning

The standalone .exe may trigger SmartScreen warnings. This is normal for open-source software.

Folder picker not working

On Linux, install tkinter:

sudo apt-get install python3-tk

EDF/EDF+ support (optional)

PRISM Studio can extract metadata from EDF files if pyedflib is installed. This is optional.

Most users: pyedflib installs automatically via setup.sh or setup.ps1.

Windows users without a C++ compiler: pre-compiled pyedflib is bundled in vendor/. Test it:

scripts\test_pyedflib.bat

If you see SUCCESS, EDF support is working. If not, you can:

  • Use the bundled version (automatic)

  • Or install manually: pip install pyedflib (requires Visual C++ compiler)

See vendor/BUNDLE_GUIDE.md for details.

Next Steps