# python-appimage-module

This is an example of using AppImageBuilder to bundle a Python module as an AppImage (only supported on AArch64 for now), and then running it on a robot.

Use this as a reference for:
- An alternative to managing Python version/dependencies directly for your robot.

## Robot config

Replace `module_id` and `model` with the values you choose for your module.

```json
TODO: add example config after the module is on the registry
```

## Quick tour of this repo

- `packaging/`: the directory containing the Dockerfile that configures the Docker image to run the builder in, the AppImageBuilder.yml config file, and the icon
- `src/`: Python module code for the Viam module
- `Makefile`: `make` commands to build the module in different ways
- `meta.json`: the metadata config file used when uploading/updating module info on the registry
- `requirements.txt`: list of Python packages the module depends on
- `run.sh`: the entrypoint execution script that starts up the module process

## Using this repo as boilerplate

If you fork this and want to deploy to a robot, you'll need to change all placeholder names and references to the [viam namespace](https://docs.viam.com/appendix/glossary/#term-model-namespace-triplet). Follow the [fork instructions](https://github.com/viam-labs/python-example-module#forking-this-repo) from the Python example repo.

If you aren't making a camera module, you may want to use a different component's repo along with this repo as boilerplate in place of the `src` folder. When doing this, make sure to maintain the structure of a Python module i.e. keeping the outermost `__init__.py` to ensure the build doesn't break. Moreover, in this case, be sure to update your `meta.json` with the updated models.