User Guide

Table of Contents

• 4. Repository Orientation
• 5. Competencies You Should Gain

This section is for day-to-day run authoring, execution, and troubleshooting. If Getting Started proves the toolchain works, this section is where production workflow lives.

1. Standard Extension Workflow

• The Conductor Script: pic.flow: command model and flag contracts.
• Anatomy of a Simulation: runtime artifact graph and execution stages.
• Cluster Run Guide (Slurm): Slurm submission path for single runs.
• Sweep and Study Guide: parameter studies and array jobs.

2. File-Grid Configuration

• Configuration Reference: Case YAML: physics/domain/grid/BC controls.
• Configuration Reference: Solver YAML: numerical strategy and solver tuning.
• Configuration Reference: Monitor YAML: logging/profiling/output cadence.
• Configuration Reference: Postprocessor YAML: analysis tasks and VTK export controls.
• Boundary Conditions Guide: detailed BC handler options and validation rules.
• Particle Initialization and Restart Guide: particle seeding/restart behavior by mode.

4. What This Means For Users

• User How-To Guides: goal-driven recipes ("how do I ...").
• Capabilities Summary: feature matrix and support status.
• Common Fatal Errors and Fixes: known failure signatures and fixes.
• Testing, Smoke, and Quality Gates Guide: smoke/quality checks before pushing changes.

4. Repository Orientation

• Repository Navigation and Directory Guides: directory map and linked local guides.
• Changelog: recent behavior/contract changes.
• Documentation Map: categorized index across lifecycle and artifact types.

5. Competencies You Should Gain

After completing this section, you should be able to:

• create or modify a case safely without breaking YAML contract assumptions,
• run local and cluster workflows with reproducible artifacts,
• execute sweeps and interpret study outputs,
• diagnose and fix common runtime/configuration failures quickly.