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Local Installation (From Source)

This section describes how to install MSight locally from source for development or advanced usage. This installation mode is recommended if you plan to modify MSight code, develop new modules, or contribute to the project.

🧰 Prerequisites

Before installing, ensure the following dependencies are available on your system:

  • Python 3.10 or later
  • Git – required for cloning the source repository
  • Conda (optional but recommended) – for creating isolated Python environments

💻 Installation Steps

1. Clone the Repository

Clone the MSight source repositories from GitHub:

git clone https://github.com/michigan-traffic-lab/MSight_base.git
git clone https://github.com/michigan-traffic-lab/MSight_Core.git

2. (Optional) Create a Conda Environment

Using a dedicated environment is strongly recommended, especially for development and debugging:

conda create --name msight python=3.10
conda activate msight

3. Install MSight

MSight can be installed in two different modes, depending on whether you intend to use the system or actively develop it.

Option A: Standard Installation (Usage-Oriented)

Use this option if you want to run MSight locally without modifying its source code:

cd MSight_base
pip install .
cd ../MSight_Core
pip install .

This installs MSight as a regular Python package into the active environment.

Option B: Editable Installation (Development-Oriented)

Use this option if you plan to:

  • Modify MSight source code
  • Develop new modules or algorithms
  • Debug internal components
cd MSight_base
pip install -e .
cd ../MSight_Core
pip install -e .

Editable mode ensures that any local code changes take effect immediately without reinstalling.

4. Set Your Edge Device Name (Mandatory)

MSight is designed to run on a field-deployed edge machine. Each running MSight instance must be assigned a unique edge device name, which is used as the identifier for the edge node in logging, messaging, and distributed coordination.

Set the device name using the following environment variable:

export MSIGHT_EDGE_DEVICE_NAME=msight_test

Replace msight_test with a meaningful identifier for your deployment (for example, an intersection name, site ID, or node label). For local testing or experimentation, a dummy name such as msight_test or testing is sufficient.

By default, this command sets the environment variable only for the current terminal session. If you open a new terminal or reboot the machine, the variable must be set again unless it is persisted.

To ensure MSight works consistently across terminal sessions and system reboots, persist the environment variable in your shell configuration.

Bash / Zsh (Linux, macOS)

echo 'export MSIGHT_EDGE_DEVICE_NAME=msight_test' >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc

If you are using zsh, replace ~/.bashrc with ~/.zshrc.

5. Verify Installation

Verify that MSight is installed correctly:

python -c "import msight_core; print(msight_core.__version__)"

If no errors occur, the installation was successful.