Installation Guide

RCAIDE and RCAIDE-GUI are available on macOS, Linux, and Windows.

Install both packages into the same Python environment. RCAIDE-GUI calls RCAIDE directly at runtime. If they are in different environments the GUI will fail to start, aircraft files will not load, and geometry will not render.

Prerequisites

Quick Install (recommended)

Create a virtual environment, then install both packages into it before launching the GUI.

macOS / Linux

python3 -m venv rcaide_env
source rcaide_env/bin/activate
pip install --upgrade pip
pip install rcaide-leads rcaide-gui
rcaide-gui

Windows

python -m venv rcaide_env
rcaide_env\Scripts\activate
pip install --upgrade pip
pip install rcaide-leads rcaide-gui
rcaide-gui

Installing both packages in the same pip install command is the easiest way to guarantee they land in the same environment.

Verify the installation

import RCAIDE
print(RCAIDE.__version__)

Running RCAIDE-GUI from Source

If you want to run RCAIDE-GUI directly from the GitHub repository, clone it into an environment that already contains RCAIDE:

# 1. Create and activate an environment
python3 -m venv rcaide_env
source rcaide_env/bin/activate   # Windows: rcaide_env\Scripts\activate

# 2. Install RCAIDE into that environment first
pip install --upgrade pip
pip install rcaide-leads

# 3. Clone and install the GUI into the same environment
git clone https://github.com/leadsgroup/RCAIDE_GUI.git
cd RCAIDE_GUI
pip install -e .
rcaide-gui

Or launch without installing:

python main.py

Troubleshooting

ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'RCAIDE.Input_Output'

Your pip version is too old. Run:

pip install --upgrade pip

Then re-install:

pip install rcaide-leads rcaide-gui

GUI images and aircraft files do not load / GUI fails to start

RCAIDE and RCAIDE-GUI are in different Python environments. Check which Python each package is installed under:

# macOS / Linux
which python
pip show rcaide-leads
pip show rcaide-gui

# Windows
where python
pip show rcaide-leads
pip show rcaide-gui

Both Location: lines must point to the same environment. If they differ, activate the environment that contains RCAIDE-LEADS and reinstall the GUI into it:

pip install --force-reinstall rcaide-gui

rcaide-gui command not found after install

This usually means the virtual environment is not activated, or the script was installed in a different environment. Activate the correct environment first and try again. If the command is still not found, you can run it directly using the full path:

# macOS / Linux
rcaide_env/bin/rcaide-gui

# Windows
rcaide_env\Scripts\rcaide-gui

Permission errors on macOS / Linux

Avoid sudo pip install. Always install inside a virtual environment or add --user:

pip install --user rcaide-leads rcaide-gui

Keeping RCAIDE Up to Date

pip install --upgrade rcaide-leads rcaide-gui

Platform Notes