Note: FireWorks is under active development; major features are yet to be implemented, and the internal code is refactored often and not suitable for production. However, certain components of the code are available for initial testing.
Warning
If you encounter bugs or mismatches between the tutorials and the code, please first make sure that you have the latest version of FireWorks installed. Instructions on how to update your installation are here: Updating an existing FireWorks installation. (This warning will be removed after FireWorks is no longer in development mode.)
FireWorks is a code for defining, managing, and executing scientific workflows. It can be used to automate most types of calculations over arbitrary computing resources, including those that have a queueing system.
FireWorks is intended to be a friendly workflow software that is easy to get started with, but flexible enough to handle complicated use cases.
Some (but not all) of its features include:
Some limitations of FireWorks include:
If you encounter any problems while using FireWorks, please let us know (see Contributing / Contact / Bug Reports).
It can be time-consuming to evaluate whether a workflow software will meet your computing needs from documentation alone. If you just want to know whether FireWorks is a potential solution to your workflow problem, one option is to e-mail a description of your problem to the developer at:
We can tell you if:
To get started with FireWorks, we suggest that you follow our core tutorials. These tutorials will set up a central server as well as worker computers. They will also demonstrate how to define and run basic workflows. We expect that completing all of the core tutorials will take between one and three hours. (You might want to get a snack...)
Depending on your application, you might also be interested in the following tutorials:
Planned future tutorials:
Want to see something added or changed? There are many ways to make that a reality! Some ways to get involved are:
The collaborative way to submit questions, issues / bug reports, and all other communication is through the FireWorks Github page. You can also contact:
The list of contributors to FireWorks can be found here.
FireWorks is developed under a BSD-style License (an open-source license), reproduced below:
FireWorks Copyright (c) 2013, The Regents of the University of
California, through Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (subject
to receipt of any required approvals from the U.S. Dept. of Energy).
All rights reserved.
Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions
are met:
(1) Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
(2) Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above
copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following
disclaimer in the documentation and/or other materials provided with
the distribution.
(3) Neither the name of the University of California, Lawrence
Berkeley National Laboratory, U.S. Dept. of Energy nor the names of
its contributors may be used to endorse or promote products derived
from this software without specific prior written permission.
THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS
"AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT
LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS
FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
COPYRIGHT OWNER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT,
INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING,
BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES;
LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER
CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT
LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN
ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE
POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
You are under no obligation whatsoever to provide any bug fixes,
patches, or upgrades to the features, functionality or performance
of the source code ("Enhancements") to anyone; however, if you
choose to make your Enhancements available either publicly, or
directly to Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory or its
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for such Enhancements, then you hereby grant the following license:
a non-exclusive, royalty-free perpetual license to install, use,
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works thereof, in binary and source code form.