Mac OS Installation

Warning

Due to current cscore restrictions, the PhotonVision server backend may have issues running macOS.

Note

You do not need to install PhotonVision on a Mac in order to access the webdashboard (assuming you are using an external coprocessor like a Raspberry Pi).

VERY Limited macOS support is available.

Installing Java

PhotonVision requires a JDK installed and on the system path. JDK 17 is needed (different versions will not work). You may already have this if you have installed WPILib 2025+. If not, download and install it from here.

Warning

Using a JDK other than JDK17 will cause issues when running PhotonVision and is not supported.

Downloading the Latest Stable Release of PhotonVision

Go to the GitHub releases page and download the relevant .jar file for your coprocessor.

Note

If you have an M1/M2 Mac, download the macarm64.jar file.

If you have an Intel based Mac, download the macx64.jar file.

Warning

Be careful to pick the latest stable release. “Draft” or “Pre-Release” versions are not stable and often have bugs.

Running PhotonVision

To run PhotonVision, open a terminal window of your choice and run the following command:

$ java -jar /path/to/photonvision/photonvision-xxx.jar

Warning

Due to current cscore restrictions, the PhotonVision using test mode is all that is known to work currently.

Accessing the PhotonVision Interface

Once the Java backend is up and running, you can access the main vision interface by navigating to localhost:5800 inside your browser.

Warning

Due to current cscore restrictions, it is unlikely any streams will open from real webcams.