ChimeraX Developer Meeting

Attendance: Tom, Zach, Eric, Greg

June 8, 2026

Agenda

• Release?
• If so: daily build updates?
  • Python 3.14 (blocked by #20335 and #16848)
  • PySide 6.11.1
• Ubuntu 26.04 builds - when Github Actions supports 26.
• Inside ribbon color?
• Toolshed reduce query result size.
• Chimera not working with macOS 26, graphics pane positioned over command-line.
• Work in progress reports
• Make Chimera end-of-life bug report and registration changes.

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Discussion

• Ready to make ChimeraX 1.12 release?
  • Will release on Thursday June 11, 2026 if nothing new comes up.
  • Discussed Windows error "An Application Control policy has blocked this file." Happens in 1.11.1 and 1.12 release candidates. Seems to happen only for a small number of users (23 reports in 3 months). Greg has contacted user who reported it 4 days ago to see if it is reproducible.
  • Eric as an alignment fix to make in release candidate. Will be small, or if hard will postpone it to after release.

• Python update to 3.14
  • After release we will decide whether to update Python 3.11 in ChimeraX.
  • Python 3.14 has a getrefcount() change that requires a simple ChimeraX fix.
  • Python 3.14 would need numpy 2 since numpy 1 not build for 3.14.

• Generic Python API for toolshed bundles
  • Can bundle developers with compiled code use the Python generic C API so they don't have to recompile for new ChimeraX versions that use newer Python?
  • Greg believes that is already possible.
  • Discussed whether ISOLDE could use this. It links against ChimeraX atomic library so any change to that library API would prevent reusing ISOLDE in newer ChimeraX. Eric says atomic API has seldom changed.

• Ubuntu 26.04 builds
  • Github Actions still does not have an Ubuntu 26.04 runner so we are not yet making a build of ChimeraX.
  • Greg tested the ChimeraX 1.11 ubuntu 24 distribution on an ubuntu 26 VM and it started.

• Ubuntu

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Action Items