cantera

library3.2.0pypypi✓ verified 88d ago

Cantera is an open-source suite of tools for problems involving chemical kinetics, thermodynamics, and transport processes. Current version is 3.2.0, released November 2025. Major releases approximately yearly, with minor patches as needed.

data ai-ml

pip install cantera

github ↗package ↗homepage ↗docs ↗

INSTALL

IMPORT

SIG · CANTERA

cantera

datapythonv3.2.0

Install

5.0s avg

Import

376ms

Disk

149MB

Pass rate

5/ 10

Env Coverage5 / 10

glibc

3.9–3.13

musl

3.9–3.13

Install & Compatibility

Where this runs

tested against v3.2.0 · pip install

no network on importno background threads

Install × environment matrix

Each cell = how many times install + import succeeded across repeated harness runs. Partial = flaky.
glibc = Debian/Ubuntu slim · musl = Alpine Linux

musl

py 3.10–3.95 runs

build_error

glibc

py 3.10–3.95 runs

installs and imports cleanly · install 5.0s · import 0.376s · 147MB

149MB installed

● package 149MB

Code

Verified usage

Verified import paths — ran on the pinned version, not inferred.

cantera

✓ import cantera as ct

✗ from Cantera import *

The package is lowercased 'cantera'. 'Cantera' may refer to the old Fortran/Cantera 2.x module name.

Solution

✓ gas = ct.Solution('gri30.yaml')

✗ gas = ct.Solution('gri30.xml')

Cantera 3.x dropped XML support. Use .yaml files.

Load GRI 3.0 mechanism, set temperature and pressure, and compute chemical equilibrium.

import cantera as ct gas = ct.Solution('gri30.yaml') gas.TP = 300, ct.one_atm print('Mole fractions:', gas.X) # Simple equilibrium gas.equilibrate('HP') print('Adiabatic flame T:', gas.T)

cantera --version

Debug

Known issues

breakingCantera 3.0 removed support for .cti and .xml input files. Only .yaml (or .yml) mechanism files are supported.

fix

Convert .cti files to .yaml using provided conversion script (cti2yaml) or update paths to use .yaml mechanisms.

affects: 3.0.0+

breakingThermoPhase objects no longer have methods like 'setTemperature' or 'setMoleFractions'. Use property assignment: gas.TP = (T, P); gas.X = composition_dict.

fix

Replace old-style setters with direct property assignment. See migration guide.

affects: 3.0.0+

deprecatedThe 'importInterface' function is deprecated and will be removed in Cantera 4.0. Use 'Interface' class directly.

fix

Replace ct.importInterface('file.yaml', 'phase_name') with ct.Interface('file.yaml', 'phase_name').

affects: 3.2.0

gotchaCantera on Windows may require Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable. Missing it leads to 'DLL load failed' errors.

fix

Install VC++ Redistributable from Microsoft (see Cantera installation docs).

affects: all

Errors

Common errors & fixes

ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'cantera._cantera'

Cantera compiled extension missing; common when installed as source without proper build prerequisites.

fix

Use a precompiled wheel: pip install cantera --only-binary cantera. Or install build tools (Cython, compilers) for source build.

RuntimeError: No such thermo XML node: 'NASA'

Attempting to load a YAML file that contains XML remnants or using XML parser on YAML. Cantera 3.x only reads YAML.

fix

Ensure the mechanism file is in YAML format. Convert .cti or .xml using cti2yaml or ck2yaml.

AttributeError: module 'cantera' has no attribute 'Solution'

Old import style (from cantera import *) or very outdated version (<2.3).

fix

Use import cantera as ct then ct.Solution(...). Ensure Cantera >= 2.3.

Upgrade

Version history

3.2.0latest on PyPI · released Nov 18, 2025

Audit

Dependencies

numpyrequiredRequired for array handling and scientific computing

libpythonoptionalCantera compiled extension requires Python development headers at build time

Agent activity

14 hits · last 30 days

node

OpenAI (training)

Resources

githubhttps://github.com/Cantera/cantera ↗

packagehttps://pypi.org/project/cantera/ ↗

homepagehttps://cantera.org ↗

docshttps://cantera.org/stable/reference ↗