Using the GUI

While the SimulationStudy class offers powerful programmatic control, sometimes you just need a clean visual interface to explore your data without writing scripts. The DigiQual App wraps the core statistical engine into a modern, user-friendly graphical interface, allowing you to run the entire lifecycle—from design to diagnostics to reliability analysis—in a desktop window.

1 How to Access the App

There are two ways to get the app:

  • The desktop app (Option A) is a normal Windows or macOS application. It doesn’t need Python or a terminal, so it’s the easiest route if you, or a colleague, just want to use the tool.
  • The Python package (Options B and C) includes the same app. Use it if you already work in Python, or are on Linux.

Both run the same app, from the same version of digiqual.

1.1 Option A: Desktop App for Windows & macOS

Download the installer for your computer from the latest GitHub Release. The files are listed under Assets at the bottom of the release:

Your computer Download
Windows 10/11 (64-bit) DigiQual-<version>-Windows-x64.msi Installer (recommended)
Windows 10/11 (64-bit) DigiQual-<version>-Windows-x64-portable.zip Portable version, no installation needed
macOS 12 or later on Apple Silicon (M1 or newer) DigiQual-<version>-macOS-AppleSilicon.dmg Disk image

1.1.1 Windows

Installer (.msi): double-click it and follow the prompts. It installs for your user account only, so it doesn’t need administrator rights. This makes it suitable for university- or company-managed PCs. DigiQual then appears in the Start menu.

Portable (.zip): before extracting, right-click the zip → Properties → tick Unblock → OK. Then extract it anywhere and run DigiQual.exe. Windows marks downloaded files as untrusted, and the app’s .NET components won’t load from an untrusted folder, so skipping the Unblock step can stop the app opening.

Note“Windows protected your PC”

The installer isn’t code-signed yet, so Windows SmartScreen may warn you the first time. Click More info → Run anyway.

The app window uses Microsoft’s WebView2 runtime. This is already included in Windows 11 and up-to-date Windows 10. If the app opens in an Edge or browser window instead of its own window, install the WebView2 Runtime (“Evergreen Bootstrapper”).

1.1.2 macOS

Open the .dmg and drag DigiQual into Applications.

Note“DigiQual can’t be opened”

The app isn’t notarised by Apple yet, so macOS blocks the first launch. To open it anyway, either:

  • right-click (or Control-click) DigiQual in Applications → Open → Open, or
  • run this once in Terminal: xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/DigiQual.app

After that it opens normally.

The app isn’t yet built for Intel Macs; use Option B on those.

1.1.3 If something goes wrong

The desktop app writes a log file, which is the most useful thing to attach to a GitHub issue:

  • Windows: %LOCALAPPDATA%\Digiqual\digiqual.log (paste that into the File Explorer address bar)
  • macOS: ~/Library/Logs/Digiqual/digiqual.log

1.2 Option B: Using uv via CLI

If you use uv for environment management, you can launch the app directly from your terminal as a Command Line Interface (CLI) tool. This is the fastest way to get started if you already have uv.

To run the app instantly without permanently installing it to your environment:

uvx -v digiqual@latest

Note: The -v (verbose) flag is highly recommended here! Without it, uvx runs quietly and the app might appear frozen for a few minutes while it downloads the required statistical packages in the background. Also the ‘@latest’ flag will ensure that you have the most recent release

If you plan to use it frequently, you can install it as a persistent global tool on your machine:

uv tool install digiqual
# Once installed, simply type this from any terminal:
digiqual

Linux Users: To ensure the graphical window renders correctly on Linux distributions, you must include the linux-gui extra during installation:

uv tool install "digiqual[linux-gui]"

1.3 Option C: From a Python Script

If you are already working inside a Python script or a Jupyter environment, you can launch it locally using the built-in UI function.

# Launch the local application
from digiqual import dq_ui

dq_ui()

This starts the app in a separate process and opens it in its own desktop window. If a native window can’t be opened, it falls back to your web browser. dq_ui() returns immediately, so your notebook or script stays usable while the app runs.

The same launch also works from a terminal as python -m digiqual.gui.

Note

Looking for a detailed breakdown of the functionality inside the App? Check out the GUI Desktop Manual.