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Getting Started

Let's get you set up! This will only take a few minutes.

Installing Julia and an Editor

To use Tulipa, you first need to install the open-source Julia programming language.

Then consider installing a user-friendly code editor, such as VSCode. Otherwise you will be working in the terminal/command prompt.

Installing Tulipa

Starting Julia

Choose one:

  • In VSCode: Press CTRL+Shift+P and then Enter to start a Julia REPL.
  • In the terminal: Type julia and press Enter

Adding Tulipa and dependencies

In Julia:

  • Press ] to enter package mode, then run:
pkg> add TulipaEnergyModel  # The model builder
pkg> add TulipaIO           # For data handling
Info

Make sure your project environment (folder where you are working) is not called TulipaEnergyModel or you will get a name conflict error when you try to add the package.

Tulipa relies on DuckDB for data-handling:

pkg> add DuckDB
  • Press backspace to return to Julia mode

Using packages in your project

Now that the packages are installed, you need to activate them in your project by running the code below.

using TulipaEnergyModel, TulipaIO, DuckDB
Info

You should always have this line at the top of your code, specifying any packages you want to use.

To check if the packages are installed and active, try accessing the documentation of a package:

  • Press ? to enter help mode, then:
# Search the documentation for a function from TulipaEnergyModel
help?> save_solution!

You should see the documentation for the save_solution! function. If Julia says it does not exist, that means TulipaEnergyModel is not in your environment (you need to activate it with add and using as described above).

Next Step

Now that you're all set up, head over to our Beginner Tutorials to run your first analyses! 🌷