Getting started

Requirements

Petal requires:

bash

uv tool install petal-ros

To use the colcon deps verb, install the colcon extra:

bash

uv tool install "petal-ros[colcon]"

For local development:

bash

git clone https://github.com/matthewyjiang/petal.git
cd petal
uv tool install --editable .

For one-off local runs without installing the petal command:

bash

uv run petal --help

Run from a ROS2 workspace root:

bash

petal init

This creates:

Apt-resolved package:

bash

petal add numpy

PyPI package:

bash

petal add huggingface

Version spec:

bash

petal add ultralytics ">=8,<9"

Rosdep-resolved ROS package:

bash

petal add cv_bridge

By default, Petal resolves dependencies apt/ROS-first and only uses PyPI when needed. You can force a source when necessary:

bash

petal add --apt numpy
petal add --pip some-pypi-only-package

bash

petal sync
petal status

petal status exits with code 2 when the workspace is out of sync.

For bash or zsh:

bash

source <(petal activate)

For POSIX shells:

. .petal/activate