Mesa Blocks

Visual, block-based model builder for Mesa agent-based models.

Mesa Blocks allows you to rapidly prototype agent-based models by dragging and dropping blocks representing agents, spaces, and behaviors. It provides a live simulation preview and generates clean, idiomatic Python code using the Mesa framework.

Features

• Visual Editor: Drag blocks onto a canvas and wire them together to define your model.
• Live Preview: Run simulations directly in the browser with real-time grid and chart visualizations.
• Code Generation: Instant preview of runnable Python code that matches your visual model.
• Save/Load: Export your model configurations as JSON to share or resume later.
• Standard Mesa: Generated code uses standard mesa.Model and mesa.Agent patterns.

Installation

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/falloficarus22/mesa-blocks
cd mesa-blocks

# Install in editable mode
pip install -e .

Usage

Launch the visual editor:

mesa-blocks

Or from Python:

import mesa_blocks
mesa_blocks.run()

Navigate to http://127.0.0.1:8765 in your browser.

Block Types

• Model: The main container for your simulation. Set initial seed and max steps.
• Grid Space: Configure the environment (Width, Height, Torus).
• Agent Type: Define agent classes with specific colors and starting counts.
• Behaviors:
  • Move Random: Standard random walk.
  • Move to Empty: Jump to a random empty neighbor.
  • Die: Probabilistic agent removal.
  • Reproduce: Probabilistic creation of new agents of the same type.
• Data: Count Agents to track population over time in the live chart.

Architecture

Mesa Blocks follows a clean client-server architecture:

• Frontend: Vanilla JS/CSS/HTML with SVG for connections.
• Backend: Flask server that dynamically generates and runs Mesa models.

License

Apache-2.0