Interactive Console

EEGPrep can run the main GUI and a Python console against one shared session. This is the recommended workflow when you want to move back and forth between menu-driven actions and Python commands.

Launch it with:

uv run eegprep-console --full

EEGPrep uses IPython for this console because it provides a mature Qt input hook, tab completion, command history, and rich interactive inspection. If IPython is not installed, the command fails with an install hint instead of falling back to a different console.

The console uses Qt file dialogs by default because native macOS file pickers can close immediately when opened from IPython’s Qt input hook. To opt into native file pickers, launch:

uv run eegprep-console --full --native-file-dialogs

The console starts with familiar workspace names already defined:

EEG
ALLEEG
CURRENTSET
ALLCOM
LASTCOM
STUDY
CURRENTSTUDY

Actions taken in the GUI update these names in the console. Commands run in the console update the same GUI session.

For the full mixed workflow and implementation model, see GUI and Console Together.

Sample Data Walkthrough

Start the console and load the tutorial dataset from the GUI with File > Load existing dataset. Select sample_data/eeglab_data.set. Then inspect the shared state:

EEG["setname"]
EEG["data"].shape
CURRENTSET
LASTCOM

Now run a preprocessing step from the console:

pop_resample(EEG, 64)

The current dataset is stored back into the session, the GUI refreshes, and the returned command is appended to ALLCOM. The console-local eegprep object wraps pop_* functions the same way, so this also updates the shared session:

eegprep.pop_reref(EEG, [])

Assignment-style calls also work:

EEG, LASTCOM = pop_reref(EEG, [])

This console behavior is specific to eegprep-console. Normal Python imports keep standard Python semantics, where returned values must be assigned manually.

History Replay

Use LASTCOM for the most recent menu or console command and ALLCOM for the ordered session history:

print(LASTCOM)
for command in ALLCOM[-5:]:
    print(command)

When you move commands into a script, keep the explicit assignment:

EEG, com = pop_resample(EEG, 64, return_com=True)

GUI Help, STUDY, and Extensions

Help and admin menu actions use the same shared session. For example, loading or creating a STUDY from the GUI updates STUDY and CURRENTSTUDY in the console, while retrieving a dataset from the Datasets menu returns CURRENTSTUDY to 0. Dialog Help buttons and Help-menu topics open packaged EEGPrep Markdown resources; missing help is treated as a packaging error rather than falling back to the vendored EEGLAB reference tree.

The same session also tracks Extension Manager metadata. Choose File > Manage EEGPrep extensions in the GUI, then inspect the mirrored inventory from the console:

PLUGINLIST = session.PLUGINLIST
[plugin["plugin"] for plugin in PLUGINLIST]

Headless scripts can use the same public API without opening Qt:

import eegprep

session = eegprep.EEGPrepSession()
plugins = eegprep.plugin_menu(session=session, show=False)
eegprep.plugin_status("ICLabel", exactmatch=True)

The inventory combines installed registry records with curated catalog metadata when available. Install and update guidance is displayed as copyable package manager commands; EEGPrep does not execute those commands or manage extension package installation for you.