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Run Your First Simulation

Step-by-step guide to run your first SCHISM simulation on Inductiva.AI. Easily launch, monitor and analyse results.

This tutorial will show you how to run SCHISM simulations using the Inductiva API.

We will cover the Test_HydraulicStruct use case from the verification tests collection in the official SCHISM documentation to help you get started with simulations.

Prerequisites

Download the required files here and place them in a folder called SimulationFiles. Then, you’ll be ready to send your simulation to the Cloud.

Running an SCHISM Simulation

Here is the code required to run an SCHISM simulation using the Inductiva API:

"""SCHISM example"""
import inductiva

# Allocate cloud machine on Google Cloud Platform
cloud_machine = inductiva.resources.MachineGroup( \
    provider="GCP",
    machine_type="c2d-standard-4",
    spot=True)

# Initialize the Simulator
schism = inductiva.simulators.SCHISM(\
    version="5.11.0")

# Run simulation
task = schism.run(input_dir="/Path/to/SimulationFiles",
    n_vcpus=3,
    num_scribes=2,
    on=cloud_machine)

# Wait for the simulation to finish and download the results
task.wait()
cloud_machine.terminate()

task.download_outputs()

task.print_summary()

In this basic example, we're using a cloud machine (c2d-highcpu-4) equipped with 4 virtual CPUs. For larger or more compute-intensive simulations, consider adjusting the machine_type parameter to select a machine with more virtual CPUs and increased memory capacity. You can explore the full range of available machines here.

Note: Setting spot=True enables the use of spot machines, which are available at substantial discounts. However, your simulation may be interrupted if the cloud provider reclaims the machine.

To adapt this script for other SCHISM simulations, replace input_dir with the path to your SCHISM input files. Be sure to specify the SCHISM version compatible with your input files.

When the simulation is complete, we terminate the machine, download the results and print a summary of the simulation as shown below.

Task status: Success

Timeline:
    Waiting for Input         at 08/04, 14:50:11      1.405 s
    In Queue                  at 08/04, 14:50:12      58.599 s
    Preparing to Compute      at 08/04, 14:51:11      4.892 s
    In Progress               at 08/04, 14:51:15      104.461 s
        ├> 1.07 s          mkdir -p outputs
        └> 103.196 s       /opt/openmpi/4.1.6/bin/mpirun --use-hwthread-cpus --np 3 /schism/build/bin/pschism 2
    Finalizing                at 08/04, 14:53:00      16.287 s
    Success                   at 08/04, 14:53:16

Data:
    Size of zipped output:    540.46 MB
    Size of unzipped output:  705.32 MB
    Number of output files:   31

Total estimated cost (US$): 0.0113 US$
    Estimated computation cost (US$): 0.0013 US$
    Task orchestration fee (US$): 0.010 US$

Note: A per-run orchestration fee (0.010 US$) applies to tasks run from 01 Dec 2025, in addition to the computation costs.
Learn more about costs at: https://inductiva.ai/guides/basics/how-much-does-it-cost

As you can see in the "In Progress" line, the part of the timeline that represents the actual execution of the simulation, the core computation time of this simulation was 104.5 seconds (approximately 2 minutes).

Test Your Inductiva Setup

Test your Inductiva.AI setup by running a quick SCHISM simulation in the cloud before scaling to larger coastal studies.

The Inductiva Guide to SFINCS

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