A desktop environment for computational and experimental physics analysis. PDV combines a tabbed code editor, an execution console, and a persistent, typed data hierarchy, the Tree, that lives inside a language kernel. The Tree is what separates PDV from a Jupyter notebook: it is a navigable, save/load-able data structure that persists across sessions, giving you structured data management and reproducible analysis workflows.
Status: Alpha (v0.0.12) — under active development.
- Persistent data tree — hierarchical data model in the kernel with typed nodes (arrays, DataFrames, scalars, scripts, notes, modules) and lazy loading
- Tabbed code editor — Monaco (VS Code style) editor with syntax highlighting, Jupyter-powered autocomplete, hover documentation, and multi-tab workflow
- Execution console — real-time output streaming with inline plots, error display, and rich output
- Script system — reusable analysis scripts stored as tree nodes with typed parameters and a run dialog
- Module system — import, share, and manage reusable analysis packages with declarative GUIs, namelists, and library code
- Editable GUIs — create custom GUIs with a live-editing drag-and-drop interface for setting up and running analyses with complex variable input parameters
- Namelist editor — structured editing for Fortran namelist and TOML configuration files
- Markdown notes — notes stored in the tree with LaTeX math rendering and Edit/Read mode toggle
- Namespace inspector — live view of kernel variables with type, shape, and lazy child inspection
- Project save/load — serialize the full analysis state into a portable directory
- Themes and customization — built-in light/dark themes, VS Code-style appearance, configurable fonts and keyboard shortcuts
Download the latest release for your platform (macOS, Linux currently, Windows support planned for a future release):
After installing the app, you'll be prompted to install the pdv-python kernel package into your Python environment on first launch.
| Resource | Description |
|---|---|
| User Guide | Getting started, tutorials, and API reference |
| ARCHITECTURE.md | Design specification — process model, protocols, data model |
| modules.md | Module system: creating, publishing, and importing modules |
| PLANNED_FEATURES.md | Roadmap organized by release milestone |
PDV welcomes contributions. See the contributor guide for full setup instructions.
PDV uses npm for the Electron app. See a guide on installing Node.js and npm here.
# Clone
git clone https://github.com/matt-pharr/physics-data-viewer.git
cd physics-data-viewer
# Electron app
cd electron && npm install
# Python kernel package
cd ../pdv-python && pip install -e ".[dev]"
# Build & run
cd ../electron && npm run build && npm run dev# Python
cd pdv-python && pytest tests/ -v
# TypeScript
cd electron && npm test -- --reporter=verboseelectron/ Electron app (TypeScript)
main/ Main process — kernel management, IPC, filesystem
renderer/src/ React frontend — tree, editor, console, modules
pdv-python/ Python kernel package (pip install pdv-python)
pdv/ Tree, comm protocol, serialization, handlers
examples/modules/ Bundled example modules
MIT License — see LICENSE for details.
© 2026 Matthew Pharr