Quick Start

This page gives the fastest path to run SpaceTracer on your data.

1) Prepare environment

Complete Installation first.

Make sure you have installed the package into your environment (for CLI usage):

pip install .
spacetracer --help

2) Prepare inputs and references

At minimum you need:

  • aligned BAM file from spatial transcriptomics
  • tissue position file (for Visium)
  • reference genome FASTA and required resources from Resources
  • writable output directory

3) Edit config file

Create config.yaml from the template in Configuration, then update all sample-specific paths and run parameters.

Pretrained mutation-prediction models are already provided under SpaceTracer_new_github/models:

  • spatial_free_model
  • spatial_feature_preserved_model

Set these via model_dir and model_name in your config. For full parameter/input meaning, use Config Reference.

Warning

SpaceTracer validates input/resource paths on startup. Every configured file path must exist before running.

4) Run full workflow

SpaceTracer run --config config.yaml

Fallback command:

python -m SpaceTracer.cli.run --config config.yaml

5) Resume or rerun when needed

SpaceTracer run --config config.yaml --start-from genotyping
SpaceTracer run --config config.yaml --stop-at merge_feature
SpaceTracer run --config config.yaml --only-steps "RNA_feature,phasing,merge_feature" --force
SpaceTracer run --config config.yaml --force

Notes:

  • --start-from <step> skips earlier completed steps and resumes from the specified step.
  • --stop-at <step> runs up to that step and then exits.
  • --force reruns requested steps even if checkpoint metadata says they are complete.
  • --only-steps runs exactly the listed steps (topologically ordered within that subset) and does not auto-include external dependencies.
  • If required upstream outputs are missing, --only-steps will fail with missing-key or missing-file errors.

6) Check outputs and step details

Use these pages for interpretation and debugging:

Common output files from downstream feature and prediction stages include:

  • output_dir/all_feature.txt
  • output_dir/all_feature.parquet
  • output_dir/mutation_prediction/results/Sample_total_pred_truesites.vcf
  • output_dir/mutation_prediction/results/Sample_total_pred_truesites_PASS.vcf