install: Built-In Scientific Package Management

One central idea of FermiLink is to provide the full source code tree for agent reasoning, instead of only providing API-level documentation. This allows agents to have more context and flexibility in using the scientific packages, which is crucial for complex scientific simulations.

However, because the source code trees of scientific packages can be very large, FermiLink builds an Agent Skills layer on top of the source code tree, which provides an entry point for agent reasoning. This design allows agents to efficiently locate and access the most relevant documentation, tutorials, and source code functions for reasoning. Common pitfalls for using the package are also highlighted in Agent Skills.

FermiLink package management controls which scientific knowledge base is available at execution time and how that context is overlaid into workspaces.

Built-in package catalog

FermiLink has a built-in curated channel (Github: skilled-scipkg) containing more than 150 scientific packages across multiple domains. Each package in this channel has an associated knowledge base, including the full source code tree and the Agent Skills layer. This built-in channel allows users to quickly access a wide range of scientific packages.

For the live list of built-in curated packages (package_id, title, and repo), see Built-in Supported Scientific Packages.

Check curated package availability

Use avail to check whether a package exists in curated channels.

fermilink avail ase
fermilink avail quantum

Install package knowledge base

Use install to download the curated package knowledge base (source code tree + agent skills) to the local machine. This command does not really install the package for execution, but it makes the package knowledge available for agents to use.

fermilink install ase --activate

Install multiple curated packages:

fermilink install ase meep qutip
fermilink activate ase

--activate sets this package as the default option for new sessions (if the user’s prompt cannot fit any installed package). You can switch later using fermilink activate.

Package lifecycle commands

# check the list of locally installed packages
fermilink list

# switch active package, the default package for new sessions
fermilink activate maxwelllink

# delete the package knowledge base from local machine (but keep the files if --keep-files is provided)
fermilink delete maxwelllink

fermilink delete maxwelllink --keep-files

In some cases, you want to expose multiple packages simultaneously for agents to use.

For example, when doing LAMMPS MD simulations (the main package for agent reasoning), the agent might also need to use Packmol (a common package for preparing molecular initial geometry) for the pre-processing step. In this situation, use:

fermilink dependencies lammps --package packmol

This will allow the agent, when lammps is loaded as the main package, to also use packmol for reasoning and execution.

Overlay entry controls

Use overlay to control which top-level package entries are linked into the workspace during exec/chat/loop runs.

# set explicit exposed entries
fermilink overlay lammps --entries "skills,docs"

# remove one entry from current exposure (for example, skip skills/)
fermilink overlay lammps --remove skills

# clear restriction and expose all exportable entries again
fermilink overlay lammps --clear

Where are the package files stored?

Once installed, these package data are stored within FermiLink under FERMILINK_SCIPKG_ROOT or ~/.fermilink/scientific_packages/:

  • packages/<package_id>/... installed package trees.

  • registry.json package metadata and active package.

  • router_rules.json keyword router configuration for each package.

See also: