Neptune UI

Vue 2 + Vuetify frontend for Neptune_2026.

How to run locally

All commands below are run from the project root (the folder that contains package.json).

# 1. Install dependencies
npm ci

# 2. Start backend + frontend in one command
#    (Ctrl+C to stop both processes)
npm run server:install   # only needed once (or when server deps change)
npm run start

Then open http://localhost:8081 in your browser.

Dependency install note:

• Use npm ci for a clean, reproducible install.
• You do not need to run npm ci every time you start the app.
• Run npm ci on first setup, or after package-lock.json/dependencies change.

How to stop running commands:

• In the terminal where npm run ... is running, press Ctrl + C to stop it.
• If both backend and frontend are running together (for example via npm run start), Ctrl + C stops the combined process.
• If a process does not stop on the first try, press Ctrl + C again.

Ports and conflicts

• Backend/API (npm run server): http://localhost:8080
• Frontend/GUI (npm run serve): http://localhost:8081
• Local 3DuF dev server: http://localhost:8082

If you see EADDRINUSE: address already in use when starting the server, it means one of these ports is already taken by another process. Stop the process using that port and restart (or run the services on different ports, if you adjusted the code/config).

Local 3DuF integration (offline/local workflow)

NeptuneGUI can work with a local 3DuF instance, so users do not need to rely on the public website.

1) Start NeptuneGUI locally

From this repo:

npm run start

This starts:

• Backend at http://localhost:8080
• GUI at http://localhost:8081

2) Start 3DuF locally (sibling folder)

Assume 3DuF is next to this repo, for example:

• /home/<you>/Downloads/NeptuneGUI_2026
• /home/<you>/Downloads/3DuF

If you do not already have 3DuF locally, clone the recommended branch:

cd ..
git clone -b webpack-build-2 https://github.com/CIDARLAB/3DuF.git

Recommended upstream branch: webpack-build-2
Repository: https://github.com/CIDARLAB/3DuF/tree/webpack-build-2

Then run:

cd ../3DuF
npm ci
npm run vue-serve

3DuF should run at http://localhost:8082.

Log warning note:

• During npm run vue-serve, you may see many warnings (Sass/tooling deprecations, webpack notices, etc.).
• These warnings are expected in the current Vue CLI/Webpack toolchain and usually do not mean the local integration failed.
• If the terminal shows that the app is running on http://localhost:8082, you can continue using NeptuneGUI + 3DuF locally.

3) Use one-click JSON -> 3DuF in NeptuneGUI

1. Open NeptuneGUI: http://localhost:8081
2. Go to Dashboard and select a workspace
3. For a .json file, click the 3DuF button on the file card
4. NeptuneGUI opens local 3DuF (localhost:8082) and sends JSON via postMessage

This flow is local-to-local and does not require 3duf.org.

• Admin: username cidar, password 12345

• Guest: click “Continue as Guest” to try without an account (data is temporary)

• Run LFR and compile: see RUN_LFR.md (connect Editor to Neptune_2026 and store output in Data).

• More details: TESTING.md, Data/README.md.

About deprecation warnings

When you run npm run dev or npm run build, you may see Sass / tooling deprecation warnings, for example:

• DEPRECATION WARNING [legacy-js-api]: The legacy JS API is deprecated…
• DEPRECATION WARNING [import]: Sass @import rules are deprecated…
• DEPRECATION WARNING [global-builtin]: Global built-in functions are deprecated…

These mostly come from the Vue CLI 4 + Vuetify 2 toolchain and their internal Sass code, not from your application logic. In this project:

• We have updated our own Sass to avoid the global-builtin issue (e.g. rgba() now uses the modern sass:color API).
• Remaining import / legacy-js-api warnings are from third‑party build tooling and will only fully disappear after a future stack upgrade (e.g. Vue 3 + Vuetify 3).

So:

• They do not mean the app is broken or insecure by themselves.
• You can safely ignore them during normal development and testing.