Installation

Braincoder requires Python 3.10+ and Keras 3 with at least one backend (TensorFlow, JAX, or PyTorch).

Recommended: conda + editable install

This approach gives you a full development environment with TensorFlow as the backend:

git clone https://github.com/Gilles86/braincoder.git
cd braincoder
conda env create -f environment.yml
conda activate braincoder

The environment.yml installs TensorFlow, Keras, and braincoder itself in editable mode (pip install -e .), so local changes to the source are reflected immediately.

Choosing a backend

Keras 3 supports three backends. Set the KERAS_BACKEND environment variable before importing braincoder:

export KERAS_BACKEND=tensorflow  # default
export KERAS_BACKEND=jax
export KERAS_BACKEND=torch

Or set it permanently in ~/.keras/keras.json:

{"backend": "tensorflow"}

Each backend must be installed separately. The environment.yml includes all three (tensorflow, jax[cpu], torch), but you can install only the one you need.

pip-only install

If you do not use conda, install braincoder and a backend with pip:

pip install braincoder tensorflow   # TensorFlow backend
# or
pip install braincoder jax[cpu]     # JAX backend
# or
pip install braincoder torch        # PyTorch backend

For a development install from source:

git clone https://github.com/Gilles86/braincoder.git
cd braincoder
pip install -e . tensorflow

Additional dependencies

Some features require optional packages:

• MCMC sampling: blackjax (JAX backend recommended)

• Notebooks / tutorials: jupyter, ipykernel

• Tests: pytest (or pip install braincoder[test])

Verifying the install

python -c "import braincoder; print(braincoder.__version__)"
pytest tests/