seiza-cli 0.12.1

Command-line interface for seiza: star detection, plate solving, and dataset management
seiza-cli-0.12.1 is not a library.

seiza-cli

The seiza command-line tool: star detection, hinted and blind plate solving, and star/object dataset management for astrophotography. The library lives in the seiza crate.

Install

Windows

Download the x86-64 MSI from the latest GitHub release. The installer supports all-users and current-user installs, adds seiza to PATH by default, and can launch the guided catalog setup when installation finishes. All-users installs place catalogs in the shared %ProgramData%\Seiza\catalogs directory; current-user installs use the user's local application-data directory.

A portable x86-64 ZIP is available on the same release page. See the Windows installer documentation for feature selection, unattended installation, and catalog-directory details.

Cargo

cargo install seiza-cli

Solving

# Hinted: approximate center (or FITS RA/DEC headers) plus pixel scale.
# --data takes a catalog file or a directory of catalogs; after
# `seiza setup` it can be omitted entirely.
seiza solve image.jpg --data data --ra 324.8 --dec 57.5 --scale 2.8
seiza solve light.fits --scale 1.45

# Blind: no position, just a plausible scale range. A directory supplies
# the deepest catalog and the blind index automatically.
seiza solve-blind image.jpg --data data --min-scale 0.5 --max-scale 15

# Annotate detections or list objects in a solved field
seiza detect image.jpg --annotate out.png
seiza solve image.jpg --data data ... --objects data

# Predict tracks for one exposure from a cached current OMM set, or from an
# offline/historical OMM JSON or TLE file. FITS supplies time and OBSGEO when
# present; explicit metadata is also accepted.
seiza solve light.fits --scale 1.45 --satellites-celestrak --annotate tracks.png
seiza solve light.fits --scale 1.45 --satellites elements.json \
  --time 2026-07-18T08:30:00Z --exposure-seconds 30 \
  --observer-lat 37.3 --observer-lon -122.0 --observer-alt-m 50

# Query objects when sky bounds are already known; no image or solve needed
seiza catalog objects --data data --ra 10.6848 --dec 41.2691 --radius 3
seiza catalog objects --data data \
  --corner 8.91,42.14 --corner 12.47,42.02 \
  --corner 12.31,40.35 --corner 9.02,40.46 \
  --sort prominence --format json

# Resolve exact IDs/names or complete names; no image, solve, or network needed
seiza catalog object --data data "M 31"
seiza catalog object --data data "openngc:NGC224"
seiza catalog object --data data "andro" --prefix --limit 10
seiza catalog star --data data "TYC 5949-2777-1" --format json
seiza catalog star --data data "HIP 32349"
seiza catalog star --data data "RR Lyr"
seiza catalog star --data data "STF 2382 AB"
seiza catalog star --data data "RR L" --prefix --limit 10

Explicit file paths still work everywhere a directory is shown, for custom-built catalogs or unusual layouts.

Star detection defaults to --detection-backend auto: decoded 8-bit images (including color JPEGs) and MTF-compressed FITS use the compact u8 pipeline, while other higher-precision images use f32. Pass --detection-backend f32 to retain fractional luma during an 8-bit solve or to detect directly from linear, native-precision FITS samples; pass --detection-backend u8 to explicitly quantize any input. The option is global and applies to detect, solve, solve-blind, and local worker solves.

Auto solves default to --detection-fallback f32. After an Auto/u8 solve miss, converted 8-bit color is redetected as f32 and FITS is reopened so detection can use its linear high-precision samples. --detection-fallback none disables the retry. Explicitly selected detection backends never fall back.

catalog objects accepts a cone or a convex polygon whose vertices are in boundary order. It can filter by object kind, magnitude, angular size, and common-name availability; results can be emitted as a table, JSON, or CSV. JSON and CSV include primary and alternate stable IDs, primary and contributing source provenance, aliases, and parent IDs when the catalog provides them. The prominence score is a catalog-based prediction, not proof that the object is visible in the image pixels.

catalog object resolves primary/common names, aliases, and stable or alternate IDs. Both object viewport queries and name completion use indices embedded in the memory-mapped objects.bin; normal open does not decode every record or touch every index page. Add --all-sources to audit every normalized upstream row, preferred facet selection, and source-qualified geometry.

Background extraction

Fit and remove a smooth background from a calibrated linear FITS or XISF image:

seiza background stack.fits --output corrected.fits \
  --model-output background.fits --diagnostics background.json

The default is a robust, per-channel quadratic surface with shared sample positions. Use --degree 1 for a conservative plane, --mode divide for a multiplicative field, and --border-fraction to keep sample windows away from registration edges. --sample-radius, --samples-per-axis, rejection sigmas, and refit count are available for controlled tuning.

Corrected and model outputs are linear 32-bit floating-point FITS and preserve a valid input WCS. The JSON diagnostics include coefficients, reference levels, sample positions, weights, and rejection reasons. The input, corrected output, model, and diagnostics must be distinct paths. Raw Bayer mosaics are rejected because fitting the interleaved CFA colors as one channel would create a false surface; debayer or stack them first.

Light deconvolution (experimental)

seiza deconvolve applies a conservative damped Richardson-Lucy pass to a calibrated or stacked linear mono/RGB FITS/XISF image. Measure the FWHM of several unsaturated stars in pixels and use their median as the explicit Gaussian PSF:

seiza deconvolve stack-bg.fits --output stack-light-dc.fits \
  --psf-fwhm 3.1 --iterations 4 --amount 0.35 --noise-fraction 0.001

Run this after calibration, stacking, and background correction and before a display stretch. Start with 3-5 iterations and a 0.25-0.4 blend. Compare input and output with the same stretch, paying particular attention to bright-star rings, background noise, and image borders. Raw Bayer mosaics are rejected; debayer or stack them first. Missing registration borders marked with NaN stay masked in the output.

This prototype uses one circular Gaussian PSF across the whole field. It does not infer detail, estimate a spatially varying PSF, or replace a model-based restoration workflow. See the deconvolution design note for the algorithm, guardrails, and next experiments. Four real-corpus comparisons record the first measured trial, and the model-based restoration plan defines a safer path from synthetic degradations and expert before/after pairs to a provenance-bearing learned operation.

Image stacking

seiza stack calibrates, registers, and incrementally integrates FITS or XISF light frames. The first light is the fixed output/reference grid:

seiza stack light-001.fits light-002.fits light-003.fits \
  --output stack.fits --preview stack.png --report stack-report.json

seiza stack lights/*.fits --output stack.fits \
  --bias master-bias.fits --dark master-dark.fits --flat master-flat.fits \
  --normalization local --local-tile-size 256 \
  --max-registration-drift 256 \
  --max-registration-drift-fraction 0.15 --min-overlap 0.60

Raw calibration sequences can be integrated into reusable masters first:

seiza master bias bias/*.fits --output master-bias.fits --report master-bias.json
seiza master dark dark/*.fits --bias master-bias.fits \
  --output master-dark.fits --report master-dark.json
seiza master flat flats/*.fits --bias master-bias.fits \
  --dark-flat master-dark-flat.fits --output master-flat.fits \
  --report master-flat.json

Master construction uses a two-pass, leave-one-out sigma-clipped mean. It rereads inputs for the second pass, so memory is proportional to image size, not frame count. Dimensions, channels, CFA layout, and available camera, binning, gain, offset, temperature, filter, and dark-exposure metadata are checked before incompatible frames can be mixed. Flat frames are calibrated and normalized individually before integration.

Calibration, registration, normalization, online delta-sigma rejection, and integration all operate on linear f32 samples. --preview is an optional display-only stretch and never feeds pixels back into the stack. Incoming frames are admitted atomically: incompatible images, weak registrations, excess transform drift, low overlap, or implausible normalization leave the existing additive stack unchanged. The optional --report JSON records SHA-256 identities for every source and calibration master, the complete configuration, and the ordered accepted/rejected disposition ledger. The reference is the first light and is always integrated, so it counts toward accepted_frames but has no entry in the per-frame frames ledger; that ledger lists only the frames pushed after it. FITS and report outputs are published atomically after they are complete.

Mono inputs produce a one-plane linear FITS stack. Three-plane FITS/XISF inputs remain RGB, while raw one-shot-color frames with BAYERPAT are calibrated in their native CFA sampling before debayering. Star detection uses a temporary luminance view, but registration is applied to all three channels and global or local normalization is estimated per channel. The output is an unstretched three-plane float32 RGB FITS; --preview writes an RGB display stretch.

The registration search is explicitly bounded at the center of the reference frame. Its effective default is whichever is larger: 256 pixels or 15% of the reference frame's larger dimension. Configure those components with --max-registration-drift and --max-registration-drift-fraction. Increase either for a sequence with larger dithers or crop-origin offsets; lower values make the expected motion constraint tighter. Set the fractional component to zero when a strict pixel-only limit is desired. Light frames may have different dimensions: valid samples are mapped onto the first frame's fixed grid, pixels outside a source crop remain masked, and --min-overlap controls how much usable overlap is required for admission.

Meridian-flipped frames are handled automatically. The default 10-degree rotation gate measures deviation from the nearer of the reference orientation and its 180-degree counterpart, so a measured transform of 179.3 degrees has a 0.7-degree admission deviation. The complete measured transform—not a header flag—is then used to rotate and resample the incoming pixels onto the reference grid before normalization and integration. Accepted-frame diagnostics and the JSON report retain the full measured rotation.

--flat accepts an integrated master flat in the light frame's raw sampling. For legacy masters, --bias removes the flat's pedestal before normalization. Masters built by seiza master carry FITS calibration-state headers, so a bias-subtracted dark or calibrated flat is not subtracted twice. Planar RGB flats are normalized independently per channel. CFA flats remain one-channel and are applied before debayering. See the stacking design for the live API, rejection semantics, and PSF Guard integration boundary.

Color composition

seiza color consumes mono float32 FITS stacks. It can emit an RGB FITS, a quick-look PNG, or both:

seiza color rgb --red r.fits --green g.fits --blue b.fits \
  --output rgb.fits --preview rgb.png

seiza color lrgb --luminance l.fits --red r.fits --green g.fits --blue b.fits \
  --luminance-weight 1.0 --output lrgb.fits --preview lrgb.png

seiza color lrgb --luminance l.fits --red r.fits --green g.fits --blue b.fits \
  --luminance-mode super --output super-lrgb.fits --preview super-lrgb.png

seiza color narrowband --ha ha.fits --oiii oiii.fits --sii sii.fits \
  --palette sho --output sho.fits --preview sho.png

seiza color narrowband --ha ha.fits --oiii oiii.fits \
  --palette foraxx-hoo --preview foraxx-hoo.png

Direct palettes are sho, soh, hso, hos, osh, ohs, and hoo. Dynamic palettes are foraxx-sho and foraxx-hoo. The default independent 0.1%/99.5% percentile scaling is intended for fast visual matching; use --normalization none for masters whose backgrounds and scales are already matched. Foraxx additionally requires those unnormalized samples to lie in [0, 1]; keep the default percentile mode for sensor-unit masters. Foraxx working channels use a median/MAD midtones transfer; tune it with --foraxx-target-median and --foraxx-shadows-clip.

LRGB defaults to linear luminance replacement. --luminance-mode super instead sets the target luminance to L + R + G + B after normalization while preserving RGB chromaticity. Its linear output may exceed one. --luminance-weight applies only to replacement mode. color rgb accepts the same flag: --luminance-mode super scales the triplet to a synthetic R + G + B luminance with no luminance stack, marked SEIZACLR='SUPER-RGB'.

Linear RGB/LRGB, super-LRGB, super-RGB, and direct-palette FITS files carry SEIZATRF='LINEAR'. Foraxx follows its published stretched-channel formula and carries SEIZATRF='DISPLAY'; previews therefore do not pretend it is a linear stack. Input dimensions and path roles are validated, and WCS comes from the command's reference channel. See the color-composition design.

By default, non-reference filter stacks are star-registered and resampled onto L for LRGB, R for RGB, or H-alpha for narrowband. The command reports matched stars, RMS, drift, and rotation, rejects RMS above 2 pixels, and uses the normal 256-pixel-or-15% drift bound. Configure those gates with --max-registration-rms, --max-registration-drift, and --max-registration-drift-fraction; use --no-register for masters already registered to the same reference.

Persistent worker

Applications performing repeated solves can keep a catalog and blind index open behind a newline-delimited JSON-RPC 2.0 process:

seiza worker --data data --index data

The same protocol can adapt local image paths to a queued seiza-server (self-hosted, or the hosted instance at seiza.fyi):

seiza worker --server http://solver-host:8080

Remote mode defaults to a compact grayscale PNG upload. Use --server-upload fits to stream the original FITS file and preserve headers, or --server-timeout SECONDS to change the default five-minute deadline. Bearer authentication uses --server-token or SEIZA_SERVER_TOKEN. See the versioned wire contract for request and response details.

Use with N.I.N.A.

seiza speaks ASTAP's CLI contract: set N.I.N.A.'s plate solver to ASTAP and point the ASTAP path at the seiza binary (a copy named astap.exe also works). On Windows, use the Seiza Catalog Setup Start-menu shortcut installed by the MSI; on every platform, seiza setup installs a usable selection into a directory ASTAP mode discovers automatically. For a manual layout, run seiza download-data prebuilt --output <directory> and point SEIZA_CATALOG_DIR at that directory. Advanced SEIZA_STAR_DATA and SEIZA_BLIND_INDEX file-or-directory overrides remain available. Hinted and blind-slot solving both work; see the ASTAP-compatible mode design.

Use with Siril

seiza also speaks astrometry.net's solve-field CLI contract, and answers Siril's Windows bin/bash launch wrapper itself (no cygwin needed). Run seiza install-solve-field --dir <dir>, point Siril's astrometry.net directory preference at that directory, and Siril's normal astrometry.net solving works unchanged, including SIP distortion orders. Catalogs resolve the same way as ASTAP mode. Siril reports PSF amplitudes rather than photometric flux, so seiza automatically re-measures star flux from the source image next to the star table when present — see the solve-field mode design for details.

Datasets

The quickest route is the prebuilt, SHA-256-verified set hosted at downloads.seiza.fyi (Tycho-2 and Gaia solver tiles, the blind index, the unified object catalog, minor bodies, the Tycho/Bright Star/GCVS/WDS/IAU identifier sidecar, and a nightly-refreshed transient list):

# Running this by itself prints the recommended prebuilt and setup routes:
seiza download-data

seiza download-data prebuilt --output data
seiza download-data prebuilt --output data --file objects.bin --file transients.bin
# The optional ~9 GB Gaia G≤20 catalog is explicit; pair it with the blind index
# for deep blind solving.
seiza download-data prebuilt --output data \
  --file stars-deep-gaia20.bin --file blind-gaia16.idx

The other download-data subcommands acquire upstream source material for custom catalog builds; they are not required for normal Seiza use.

Historical satellite elements use the same resolver as applications: a nearby entry in the durable cache first, then the rolling Seiza mirror, with IAU SatChecker as the on-demand fallback. Operators can prewarm one or more epochs without teaching an application which provider to call:

seiza download-data satellite-history \
  --epoch 2025-10-17T12:00:00Z 2025-10-18T12:00:00Z \
  --cache /var/lib/seiza/satellite-mirror/cache

seiza build-data satellite-manifest converts that cache into a validated, content-addressed publication tree. The complete cron, S3 publication order, backfill, retention, and public verification procedure is in the satellite mirror runbook. The mirror publisher uses --origin so its scheduled bucket is fetched from IAU SatChecker rather than resolved from the mirror it is updating.

For an interactive selection, run seiza setup. This is also the command offered by the Windows installer. It presents lightweight, Gaia, deep-blind, optional G≤20, and every-catalog presets, then delegates to the same verified prebuilt downloader. Every preset includes object search, Solar System objects, and active transients.

The downloader reads one standard bundle from /data/v4/manifest.json and caches its immutable, content-addressed files by SHA-256 before copying the requested selection into the same flat local output directory. The shared platform cache can be overridden with SEIZA_CACHE_DIR. The optional G≤20 catalog is hosted alongside the bundle but is never included in a bare download-data prebuilt; name it with --file or choose the relevant setup preset. It never combines catalogs from different hosted bundle versions. Previously released /data/ and /data/v2/ paths remain frozen for classic v1 and v0.4.1/v0.5 readers. The historical /data/v3/ probe used by v0.4.0 remains reserved and may be absent; those readers retain their existing fallback behavior.

Library integrations can use seiza-download directly for async, automatic cache management. The raw catalog commands below are implemented by the separate seiza-sources crate so applications do not inherit Gaia/VizieR/MPC source-acquisition behavior.

Building from primary sources stays supported for custom depths, epochs, or tile granularity — note the Gaia TAP download alone can take many hours:

seiza download-data tycho2 --output raw/tycho2
seiza download-data star-identifiers --output raw/star-identifiers
seiza build-data tycho2 --input raw/tycho2 --output stars-lite.bin \
  --identifier-index stars-lite.ids.bin \
  --identifier-sources raw/star-identifiers

seiza download-data gaia --output raw/gaia        # Gaia DR3 via TAP, resumable
seiza build-data gaia --input raw/gaia --output stars-gaia.bin

seiza download-data objects --output raw/objects
seiza download-data curation --output raw/curation --commit <git-sha>
seiza build-data objects --input raw/objects --output objects.bin \
  --curation-dir raw/curation \
  --source-manifest objects.sources.json
seiza download-data transients --output raw/transients
seiza build-data transients --input raw/transients --output transients.bin
seiza download-data mpc --output raw/minor-bodies
seiza build-data minor-bodies --input raw/minor-bodies --output minor-bodies.bin

The optional curation directory is a pinned local checkout; the builder never fetches it. Its curation.json records repository, commit, and schema version. Each objects/<id>.toml file owns the corrections, relations, selections, exceptional outline remappings, notes, and structured evidence for one canonical target. Normally named OpenNGC outlines are associated directly during upstream ingestion and do not require curation documents. The optional source manifest records the output hash and size, metadata coverage counts, source URLs, curation revision, and hashes of every raw catalog and curation file used. The optional identifier sidecar provides memory-mapped exact TYC/HIP/HR/HD/ SAO/FK5 lookup plus exact and prefix search over IAU proper names, Bayer/Flamsteed names, GCVS variables, and WDS double-star designations. It does not change the solver's compact star tile file.

To publish new transient and Solar-system data without rebuilding the object or star catalogs, put only the replacement transients.bin and minor-bodies.bin in a directory and roll forward each complete manifest:

seiza build-data manifest --dir next-dynamic \
  --base-manifest current-v2.json \
  --version catalog-bundle-v2-YYYY-MM-DD --output next-v2.json
seiza build-data manifest --dir next-dynamic \
  --base-manifest current-v4.json \
  --version catalog-bundle-v4-YYYY-MM-DD --output next-v4.json \
  --artifact-dir next-v4-artifacts

The v2 output retains flat keys for released v3-object readers. The v4 output uses content-addressed artifact keys and stages both uncompressed and maximum-compression zstd artifacts in one upload-ready tree. The manifest retains the uncompressed artifact for old v4 readers; new readers stream-decompress into the normal uncompressed mmap cache. Both commands require the resulting bundle to contain every required catalog.

Normal catalog opens do not perform exhaustive validation. Validate any seiza star tile, identifier sidecar, blind index, object catalog, or minor-body catalog explicitly when required; the file format is auto-detected:

seiza catalog validate --data stars-lite.ids.bin
seiza catalog validate --data stars-lite.bin
seiza catalog validate --data objects.bin

FITS and XISF files are read natively through seiza-fits and seiza-xisf. Both provide typed linear pixels, an automatic MTF stretch for u8 detection and previews, a linear normalized representation for f32 detection, and RA/DEC hints from FITS-compatible metadata. PNG, JPEG, and TIFF continue to use the Rust image decoders. Commands that save linear images write FITS by default and monolithic Float32 XISF when the output path ends in .xisf.

Parameterized display stretching

seiza stretch applies an explicit reusable seiza-stretch model to a linear mono or RGB FITS/XISF image and writes a display-referred PNG, JPEG, or TIFF:

seiza stretch stack.fits --output preview.png percentile-asinh \
  --black-percentile 0.01 --white-percentile 0.995 --strength 10

seiza stretch stack.fits --output preview.png auto-mtf \
  --target-median 0.2 --shadows-clip -2.8

seiza stretch color.fits --output preview.png \
  --color-strategy luminance-preserving asinh \
  --black 0 --white 1 --strength 8

seiza stretch stack.fits --output preview.png ghs \
  --stretch-factor 4 --local-intensity -1 --symmetry-point 0.35 \
  --protect-shadows 0.1 --protect-highlights 0.8

Other model subcommands are identity, linear, and explicit mtf. The ghs subcommand exposes the deterministic GHS parameters; informed automatic selection can be layered over it later. RGB may use linked, unlinked, or luminance-preserving analysis/application. Stretching is never applied to linear stack output unless this command or a library caller explicitly requests it. See the stretching design.

License

Apache-2.0