CLI Usage

This page shows the practical command-line workflow. Use Workflow for the phase layout and CLI Reference for full command lookup.

The CLI is self-discoverable:

1
2
3

lst-tools --help
lst-tools -V
lst-tools setup parsing --help

Initialization and Meanflow Preparation

Create the starting config file:

1

lst-tools init --geometry cone

Add --flow flow_conditions.dat when flow conditions are already available. Add --merge to preserve existing values when refreshing an lst.cfg scaffold.

Prepare meanflow.bin for lst.x:

1

lst-tools lastrac

lst-tools --debug lastrac writes conversion diagnostics and a Tecplot debug snapshot to ./debug/.

Inspect meanflow.bin when needed:

1

lst-tools info meanflow.bin

Add --profiles-out profiles.dat to write all station profiles as Tecplot ASCII.

Extract Wall-Normal Profiles

When the baseflow data is a CFD mesh file (Tecplot FE-quad format), extract wall-normal profiles before running lst.x:

1

lst-tools extract mesh.dat --station 0.10 --station 0.20 --station 0.30

Station locations can also be set in lst.cfg under [extract] stations or with the complete x_s, x_e, and d_x range. By default, profiles are interpolated at those exact x-coordinates. Use --snap-to-wall or set snap_to_wall = true to use the nearest defined wall points instead.

Use --all-wall-points or set all_wall_points = true to extract one profile at every unique x-point on the selected wall branch without defining stations. This mode takes priority over explicit or range-based station coordinates. Set [extract] eta_max, eta_distribution, eta_stretch, and eta_wall_spacing to control the wall-normal sampling grid. The default is a tanh distribution with a stretching factor of 2.0. Set eta_distribution = "geometric" and provide eta_wall_spacing to prescribe the first off-wall interval. Freestream metadata is written directly from [flow_conditions] into the HDF5 output.

Setup Runs

Prepare the broad sweep input deck:

1

lst-tools setup parsing --auto-fill

--auto-fill fills sweep bounds or index ranges when they are unset in lst.cfg.

Prepare tracking cases from the parsing solution:

1

lst-tools setup tracking --auto-fill

Prepare spectra cases when the fixed-station spectra branch is needed:

1

lst-tools setup spectra

lst-tools prepares input decks and scripts; run lst.x separately.

When an HPC scheduler is configured, the setup phase also writes scheduler scripts for generated decks and case directories. lst-tools hpc regenerates the run script for the current directory when needed.

Check tracking runs from the directory containing the kc_* cases:

1
2

lst-tools status tracking
lst-tools status tracking --all-issues

The first command summarizes cases and previews convergence issues with their station x-coordinate and frequency. The second lists every issue. Neither queries a scheduler or modifies the cases.

Postprocessing and Cleanup

After the tracking solves finish, process the results:

1
2

lst-tools process tracking --interpolate
lst-tools visualize tracking

To combine the extracted maxima curves into separate surfaces for each matched physical mode, run lst-tools process modes. This is a separate stage from the tracking volume assembly; it reads the nfac_max_mode_* and alpi_max_mode_* folders created by maxima extraction. It writes each matched maximum surface and a maximum-over-beta envelope for that same physical mode.

Repeat --dir to process selected kc_* directories only.

Render parsing preview PNGs after parsing when needed:

1

lst-tools visualize parsing

visualize renders quick contour PNGs on the remote machine. --out writes the PNGs to a specific directory.

Post-process spectra output when needed:

1

lst-tools process spectra

Clean generated artifacts when they are no longer needed:

1
2
3

lst-tools clean parsing --force
lst-tools clean tracking --force
lst-tools clean spectra --force