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Install bharat-judgements

Choose the dependencies for the workflow you need. The Python package and command keep the name bharat-judgements; Field Guide is the documentation identity.

Requirements

Use Python 3.11 or newer and an isolated environment. Queries need outbound network access to the selected source. OCR and ONNX dependencies have their own Python and platform compatibility requirements.

python -m venv .venv

Activate it with the command for your shell:

.\.venv\Scripts\Activate.ps1

source .venv/bin/activate

Choose an install

Workflow Command Included support
Python SDK only python -m pip install bharat-judgements Core live clients; manual CAPTCHA fallback
Historical research python -m pip install "bharat-judgements[archive]" DuckDB archive queries
CLI and archive python -m pip install "bharat-judgements[cli,archive]" Command-line queries without OCR
CLI, live portals and archive python -m pip install "bharat-judgements[cli,ocr,archive]" Recommended for assistant workflows
Alternative solver python -m pip install "bharat-judgements[onnx]" ONNX runtime; configure the solver explicitly
Development and all extras python -m pip install "bharat-judgements[all]" OCR, ONNX, CLI, archive and test tools

The base install does not include Click or Rich. Add cli before running bharat-judgements commands, including install-skills.

The default live solver prefers OCR when installed and otherwise asks for manual input. Installing the ONNX extra does not make it the default. Its model download may require Hugging Face access; see CAPTCHA solving.

Verify without querying a court

python -c "from bharat_judgements import Judgments; print(Judgments.__name__)"
bharat-judgements version
bharat-judgements --json courts --type hc

The last two checks require cli. These commands verify imports and the bundled registry; they do not verify live portal availability.

Install the skill bundle

In your research or project folder, run:

bharat-judgements install-skills

This writes .claude/skills/bharat-judgements/ relative to the current folder and overwrites existing bundled files. Review it before enabling it in an assistant. Execution access is separate from skill discovery; see Claude Code setup.

Troubleshooting

  • If python is unavailable, install a supported version from python.org and check your shell's PATH.
  • If the command is unavailable, activate the environment where you installed the cli extra and check its scripts directory.
  • If an OCR dependency has no compatible wheel, use a Python version supported by that dependency or use manual CAPTCHA input. Archive-only research does not require OCR.
  • If an import fails, use python -m pip show bharat-judgements to confirm the active environment.

Next: run a first query or configure the client.