Generate, convert, and resolve configurations

The chronaxis config command group works on configuration files: init creates a template with inputs, convert changes file representation, resolve writes the expanded configuration, and origins identifies where definitions or fields were declared. These commands do not run the business analysis. Complete installation, then run the commands in a terminal.

Configuration tool options

SCENE and INPUT below are command-line placeholders; replace them with a scene name or file path. Options such as --output belong to the command line, not to analysis.yaml. An option is only valid for the listed subcommands. Choose your own paths and obtain supported scene names with config init --list.

Argument or option	Command	Purpose, accepted values, and omission behavior
`SCENE`	`init`	Required when generating a template. Select a name from `--list`, such as `can-asc` or `can-blf`.
`INPUT`	`convert`, `resolve`, `origins`	Required existing configuration path. Relative paths start at the current working directory.
`--list`	`init`	Flag without a value. List all scenes and exit; do not also supply a scene or output directory.
`--style`	`init`	`annotated` (default) includes full comments; `minimal` represents the same configuration with fewer comments. It does not remove functionality.
`--output`	`init`	Required new template directory; its parent must exist.
`--output`	`convert`	Required new file. `.yaml`/`.yml` writes YAML and `.json` writes JSON. Configurations with relative paths must remain in the same directory.
`--output`	`resolve`	Optional new file; otherwise print to the terminal. The suffix selects the format; the parent directory must be available.
`--format`	`resolve`	`yaml` or `json`. Terminal output defaults to YAML. When writing a file, an explicit format must match its suffix.
`--defaults`	`resolve`	Flag without a value. Include applicable defaults; otherwise preserve explicit declarations. Only determinable configuration defaults are expanded. Missing CAN types, input/target units, or enum information may require reading the specified DBC.
`--fields`	`origins`	Flag without a value. List individual user-declared field locations; otherwise list source, signal, and derived-definition origins.
`--format`	`origins`	`text` (default) or `json`. JSON is an origin report for tools, not an expanded analysis configuration.

Generate a template

The AI guide can help an assistant choose a scene or look up fields. It uses the same published configuration definitions and includes offline field lookup, runnable examples, and diagnostic explanations.

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chronaxis config init --list
chronaxis config init can-asc --output demo
chronaxis validate demo/plan.yaml
chronaxis explain demo/plan.yaml
chronaxis run demo/plan.yaml --output result

The scene must come from the catalog. --output must name a directory that does not exist, with an existing parent. The default annotated style explains individual fields; --style minimal produces the same values with fewer comments. ASC, BLF, and batch scenes include the small synthetic inputs they need; CSV-specific scenes are also available. Ordinary templates omit unnecessary default fields and retain parameters that serve the selected task.

Existing directories are never overwritten, even if empty. On failure, the command removes content it created; any path it cannot clean up remains in the original exception details.

The can-export and signal-export templates omit metadata.device_label, so runs use pending. To record the device associated with an output, add this optional field with any nonblank label. The program does not detect your current computer; see Outputs. The catalog's own device_label and data_kind describe bundled resources and are not copied automatically into a run manifest.

Edit the existing blocks in demo/plan.yaml. Do not paste commands or dotted reference paths as YAML keys. See Configuration syntax for indentation, lists, and block replacement.

For BLF, replace can-asc with can-blf. Both templates include a matching DBC and runnable input. When using your own logs, replace their paths and bindings; converting the logs to CSV first is unnecessary.

Convert between JSON and YAML

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chronaxis config convert demo/plan.yaml --output demo/plan.json

Conversion supports analysis configuration version 4 and batch version 1 as separate document types. It changes representation, not an older configuration structure. Types, numbers, key order, and path text are retained; comments are not. The output is parsed again to check preservation, including large integers and floating-point negative zero. The destination must not exist.

When paths are relative, conversion is allowed only within the same directory, so unchanged text continues to identify the same files. Use resolve to write a configuration elsewhere with fixed input locations.

Inspect the effective configuration

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chronaxis config resolve demo/plan.yaml
chronaxis config resolve demo/plan.yaml --defaults --format json
chronaxis config resolve demo/plan.yaml --defaults --output elsewhere/effective.yaml

resolve expands one level of imports in declaration order, then writes preset-generated derived signals, rules, windows, and calculations as ordinary declarations. It removes imports and expanded presets so they will not create duplicate objects when loaded again.

Without --output, the terminal contains only configuration text, in YAML by default. Use --format json for JSON or redirection to another program. For file output, the extension selects the format; a conflicting explicit --format is an error.

--defaults also writes applicable execution budgets, backend, output and diagnostic switches, decoder/CSV settings, signal hold and same-time policies, rule confirmation settings, calculation units and coverage/inheritance policies, sequence capacities, and effective node intervals. It uses the current reader, conversion, time.clock, object scope, and node interval structures. It does not add irrelevant rule fields, guess business thresholds, or invent a period without reading the DBC. Loading a CAN plan can read the DBC to fill omitted dtype, unit, or enum choices. Version 4 also fills omitted conversion.input_unit and obtains the original enum code type when required. No extra DBC read for defaults is needed only when all required information is explicit. Without --defaults, explicit values are retained.

Input, DBC, and batch-child plan paths become absolute paths based on their declaring files. They are joined and normalized lexically; symlink and directory-junction targets are not resolved. The command does not read messages or physical signal data, copy data, or modify original files. Directory/glob expansion enumerates filenames, and missing CAN metadata may require a DBC read.

The output can be loaded independently from another directory. On another computer, its input paths must still be accessible. Explicitly adding defaults or expanding a preset changes hashes derived from configuration declarations; that does not mean the algorithm changed.

Exit codes are 2 for configuration errors, 1 for file errors, and 130 for cancellation. Existing destinations, including hard links, are never overwritten.

Use config origins INPUT to locate definitions. --fields lists explicitly declared fields that supply effective values, such as signals[0].unit, without program-generated defaults. This dotted expression describes a location, not a literal key. --format json gives a structured report, not a runnable analysis configuration. The command does not write files or mix this report with resolved configuration text. See Shared definitions.