> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.ionworks.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Which package do I need?

> Choose between Ionworks Studio, the ionworks-api Python client, ionworks-schema, and ionworksdata

Ionworks is one platform with several front doors. Most people need one of
them, and picking the wrong one is the most common way to get stuck early.

## Start here

| If you want to…                                                                    | Use                                                   |
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------- |
| Click through cells, measurements, and simulations without writing code            | [Ionworks Studio](/introduction) — nothing to install |
| Script the platform: upload data, run simulations, submit pipelines, fetch results | [`ionworks-api`](/api-client)                         |
| Describe a pipeline — what to fit, against which data, with which optimizer        | [`ionworks-schema`](/pipelines/overview)              |
| Convert raw cycler files into the Ionworks data format on your own machine         | [`ionworksdata`](/data/preparing-data)                |

Most scripted workflows use **`ionworks-api` and `ionworks-schema` together**:
`ionworks-schema` describes the pipeline, `ionworks-api` submits it and
collects the result.

## The packages in full

| Package           | Install                       | Import                          | Reach for it when                                                                                                       |
| ----------------- | ----------------------------- | ------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Ionworks Studio   | —                             | —                               | You want the UI. Everything below is also available in the browser.                                                     |
| `ionworks-api`    | `pip install ionworks-api`    | `import ionworks`               | You are automating the platform from Python — data upload, simulations, pipeline submission, results.                   |
| `ionworks-schema` | `pip install ionworks-schema` | `import ionworks_schema as iws` | You are building a pipeline config: `iws.Pipeline`, `iws.SimplePipeline`, `iws.DataFit`, objectives, costs, optimizers. |
| `ionworksdata`    | `pip install ionworksdata`    | `import ionworksdata`           | You have raw cycler exports (Arbin, Maccor, Basytec, Neware, …) to convert locally before upload.                       |

<Warning>
  **The distribution name is not always the import name.** `pip install
      ionworks-api` gives you `import ionworks`, and `pip install
      ionworks-schema` gives you `import ionworks_schema`. There is no package
  called `ionworks` on its own — `pip install ionworks` will not get you the
  API client.
</Warning>

## Next steps

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Quickstart" icon="rocket" href="/quickstart">
    Get from nothing to a first result.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Python API client" icon="code" href="/api-client">
    Install, authenticate, and meet the sub-clients.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Pipelines" icon="diagram-project" href="/pipelines/overview">
    Describe fits and validations with `ionworks-schema`.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Preparing data" icon="database" href="/data/preparing-data">
    Convert raw cycler files with `ionworksdata`.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>